January 14, 2013
-
Flu Shot
I just recovered from the flu and I had it for a month in a half. It was pretty bad. I have to go back to my childhood to remember a time when I was that sick.
But still I have no plan to get the flu shot. In fact, I am afraid it will give it to me if I do.Apparently 64.8% of people have not received a flu shot. Here is the link: LinkDo you ever get a flu shot?
Comments (89)
yes.. i got one for the first time in years last week..
No, i haven’t probably since i was really little
Yes, here most people do. But it doesn’t do me much good.
Yes I get it every year. Last time I had the flu and they actually tested me for it I decided that nothing is as bad as a nasal swab. I cried so hard I stopped breathing. I’ll have a sore arm and maybe some body aches instead. Also, no you can not get the flu from the shot. It is a dead virus. It does activate your immune system to make antibodies so you might feel crummy for a few days, but it’s nothing like a full blown case of influenza.
Nope!
I get one every year, and I don’t get bronchitis nearly as often as I used to.
I haven’t this year. I rarely get sick anyway.
@sarahsmurfette - Vaccines’ effectiveness varies based on the mutation rates of the disease in question. Because the flu virus mutates so rapidly, it’s much more difficult to make a vaccine that can give longer immunity.
A vaccine is not defined by whether or not it only needs to be taken one-time. That sort of thinking, not the flu shot, is bullshit.
I’ve never had the flu, and this was the first year I’ve ever gotten the shot. I only got it because it was required for my clinicals at school.
I’ve never received a flu shot, but I don’t get sick very often.
I don’t. I just drink lots of green tea, and take vitamins and immunity-boosting herbs. I haven’t had the flu in seven years.
Sure did (by the way I can’t recall a time I’ve had the flu in the 9 years I’ve been getting it)
Now that i have little kids, yes i get the flu shot. I hear it’s 62% effective against the one going around right now.
I haven’t had a flu shot since 2010 when I traveled to India. I think I caught something this year but I kicked 80% of it out of my system in less than 7 days. I’m still coughing but feel fine otherwise.
I have had one flu shot. It’s the only time I have ever gotten the flu since I was 3. Never again.
I never get the flu shot because I believe I am healthy enough to get over it without additional medicine. In fact, it only took me three weeks to almost completely kick it.
Never would I ever. I don’t believe in flu shots or the ones you get in school.
Nope.
I was at my pcp in October and they asked if I wanted a flu shot, so I just said yes and got it over with. I can’t remember the last time I got one but I’m thankful I did considering how much influenza has been in the news.
@Jenny_Wren - I do the same thing only I am sick all winter every year.
@snarkius - I must have some really potent stuff..
I have not and will not ever get a flu shot.
I got five of them.
No
Nope. If I get sick, I get sick. I typically get better in about a week or so anyhow so it’s not a big deal. Besides, the strain changes so much it must be pretty difficult to keep it up to date.
Hmmm only ever had a few flu shots in my life…personal metabolism is one factor that definitely comes into it. I really don’t think it makes any difference with me…quite often go a few years without catching the flu at all. I am the same as a lot of people here….do what works for you. I drink green tea, consume immune-boosting herbs, and BEST form of treatment to ovoid contagion personal quarantine. Needle vs Lifestyle is the real question…or slackness vs effort….hehe
I got one about 7 years ago. It was slow at work and the medical department was offering it for free so I figured 1/2 hour away from the office and maybe there would be work when I returned. I got sick afterwards for the first time in many years. The thing is though I’m allergic to eggs that are not fully cooked. Maybe that had something to do with it. Apart from that year I haven’t gotten flu shots since I was a kid and I haven’t gotten the flu in decades. I don’t recommend NOT getting a flu shot based on my experience. It’s just my personal experience not to need one so far.
It’s lupus.
@sarahsmurfette - Again, the effectiveness of the vaccine is dependent upon the variability and strain count of the disease in question.
As for your household getting sick after your hubby getting the flu vaccine – given that the flu shot is done with dead pathogens, it is more likely that someone in the family brought the flu from outside. It was originally believed that flu strains lay dormant in populations during the summer season and become active during winter, but there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the flu migrates more effectively than previously found, which explains its seasonal occurrence.
There are also other viruses and pathogens that can cause flu-like symptoms – such as rhinoviruses, etc.
And, last but certainly not least, the vaccine can sometimes fail, for a multitude of reasons, which means that your husband, or someone else in the family, was vulnerable to the flu and contracted it anyways.
All of these explanations are far more probable, and reasonable, than your “coincidental” implication that the vaccine shot, which consists of dead viruses, is the cause for the flu.
Everyone I know got really sick RIGHT after getting it. Perhaps that’s not a good thing to base my decision upon, but no way would I get a flu shot.
@sarahsmurfette - Oh quit the victimization bullshit. Just because you have an opinion doesn’t mean it’s immune to criticism. And if you don’t want to waste your time arguing back, then why are you responding to my comments?
@sarahsmurfette - Semantics. Let me know when you have something relevant to say about the topic at hand.
@sarahsmurfette - Just let me know when you have something to say regarding the topic at hand.
I had the flu once when I was a teenager and haven’t had it since. I don’t remember ever getting a flu shot. My husband is adamant about me getting one though.
@QuantumStorm - Hearsay is hard to kill.
@sarahsmurfette - Your case is based purely on speculation and faulty logic with no scientific evidence to prove it. I saw it, it happened just like this, so it must be so.
Over in Holland only the elderly and (concidered) risk grouped people get it. I have no problem with that, as it would be kinda weird to give it to 17+ million people..
@sarahsmurfette - though I’ll agree that “anecdotal” is somewhat better than “hearsay”
Yes we get out shot every year and have not had the flu in years. This year we got ours in Sept.
Never. Don’t trust those drug companies…
I just stick to tequila shots. Oh, and I never get sick.
I didn’t realize that so many hadn’t received the flu shot, but I had wondered if we were being told the fly was really bad this season because sales were down. This kind of reinforced that idea.
I haven’t had the flu even one time since I stopped getting the vaccine, but in contrast, when I got one every year, I had the flu every year. They don’t work for me and I don’t want mercury in my veins. I’m not saying I’ll never very the flu again, but I feel my system will be able to fend it off if I do.
It’s been like ten years since I got one.
@Kellsbella – Those are my kind of shots as we aha.
@ShimmerBodyCream -
Our employer offered them for free, but the folks (a few of us) that didn’t get them have not been sick so far. No science here, just observation.
Yup…and the P shot too! At my age, Flu can kill ya!
@jdortiz - That, and anecdotal evidence. All the studies in the world don’t matter if so-and-so had it happen to them, because in their minds that first-hand experience FEELS more reliable and real to them than some impersonal meta-study or journal article regarding the way the vaccine actually works for hundreds of thousands of other people. So it becomes very easy to then say, “Well if it happened that way before my very eyes then OBVIOUSLY that’s how it works for everyone else!” Not to mention, that assumes they even understood how and why it happened that way to begin with.
nah.
@sarahsmurfette -
1) I don’t think you know what ironic means.
2) Your comment implied that the flu vaccine was somehow responsible for your husband getting the flu.
3) Stop saying dumb things (see, e.g., your first comment on this post) and people might stop trying to correct you.
@Lithium98 - I just died at your comment. LOL
No flu shots in Thailand. On some islands down south they might do some other form
Of shots, though, during the full moon festivals.
@forever_musing - I appreciate the unintentional ironic pun in your comment.
I haven’t gotten one. I don’t know if I will. I think it’s funny looking at all of the people who haven’t gotten it saying that they haven’t been sick in years or if I get sick, I get sick… To me, it seems that getting a flu shot is more beneficial for others, in case you do contact the flu, you won’t spread it to others… Maybe getting the shot is being responsible. I should probably get on that.
I did, and that was the one and only time I ever got the flu…. hmmm
yes,every year for the last 40yrs and when my kids asked ,”why do just nurses get the flu shot.” I told them they could and was surprized when they took me up o it when they were in grade school.
I had one couple that I gave the shot to from the same bottle and she got the flu and he didnt’ and she said,”you told me that 5% could get the flu from the shot and you weren’t kidding.
She came in a few hours after the shot and had high fever -I think 103. She’s the only one I ever knew who got sick that I gave the injection to. Most everyone else says the next week I was sick and crap like that.
I never get flu shots. They don’t have the sense of urgency that they do in Americaland, where panic seems to be the usual reaction to a negative situation.
The majority of my diet consists of vegetables, coffee, and water and I haven’t gotten sick in over 7 years (a faint runny nose but that’s about it). I do have schizophrenia however and I’d rather get a cold ever so often than deal with what I have to deal with.
i haven’t gotten one… i should, though. is it too late?
Haven’t gotten it in years, but the bf is making me get it tomorrow. He says the flu strain this year is suppose to be pretty nasty so better be safe than sorry. Not looking forward to it. I hate needles. >.<*
I’ve gotten the flu shot every year for more than a decade. I’m a strong supporter of vaccines and would recommend the shot to anyone who does not have a medical reason not to get it. It is not possible to get the flu from the injected version of the shot, and anyone who says differently has no idea what they’re talking about.
Yes.
Every time I got the shot I got sick anyway. So this year I didn’t get one and still got sick. Not sure if it is helpful or not to be honest.
it’s not a shot that they make me get, it’s the spray that shoots up your nose. i can’t remember what it’s called. but yes, i’ve had like 5 so far this year. they keep losing my paperwork and making me get it over and over. either way, i’m still sick right now so. that’s nice.
I didn’t but I haven’t had so much as a cold in several years so it’s not something I worry about too much. Even when I’m around people that are sick I don’t seem to even get the sniffles.
The last time I had a flu shot which was long ago I was so sick. No flu shot for me. Bro. Doc
Me neither….
NO and I want. Immune builders work great for me when I get sick so I’m better in just a couple of days….
There are other things you get besides flu that make you get really super sick and feels like the flu. I got cytomegalovirus (CMV) one year, one of many strains of mono that most people just think is the ‘crud’ but makes some people super sick for about 6 weeks. Unless you are actually tested for flu, you do not know what what you HAVE is the flu. My immune system is compromised, I depend on the flu shot, as do millions of health care workers in hospitals and clinics around the world, and I haven’t had to deal with having the flu, thank goodness. CMV sucked bad enough, I never want to get that sick again. If you think you have the flu and it hasn’t gone away after two weeks, get your butt to a doctor. You might have something worse than the flu.
I have never gotten the flu shot and i’ve only had the flu once. I don’t think its necessary.
I don’t usually but I’m thinking about it this year.
Nope. Hermits don’t need flu shots.
yes.
i always had gotten the flu shot, never the flu. but this year i got lucky and got it. i will say i am glad i have my appetite back
I most certainly do! I get the flu shot every single year. As a Canadian who has not yet been affected by this year’s bug *knock on wood*, I believe in the flut shot 120%. I have gotten the flu shot every year for as long as I can remember, and have not been affected by the flu any of those times. Yes, I have gotten minor colds, but not the flu. There is a reason I believe in the flu shot, it’s the exact same thing for my parents – they get the shot, they may get minor colds (a long time afterwards), but no flu.
I’ve been getting a flu shot for about ten years now, even though needles terrify me. Before I was sick with it every year (sometimes twice a year) for up to about three weeks each time, but now I rarely get the flu –and if I do, it’s a really mild case that lasts no more than a week. Hospitalization is much worse than taking an hour of my time to go get the vaccine.
no, as i dont trust them..something tells me that there is something not natural about them..
I did not get a shot. It came early in our area.
Look:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/01/14/snapshot-influenza-activity-in-all-50-states/
http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/20561619/2-new-jersey-children-die-of-flu
It takes two weeks to have a protective effect, so, I’m going to ride it out this year. Wish me luck. Sorry you were so sick.
where’s the unsubscribe button?
…..to be honest, I haven’t taken a flu shot since 1997, at all, because I don’t need the illness period brought on by the shot. I also have never suffered the flu in all that time, so….! I do not think that everyone needs it but there are those that would disagree with me, so…… Do as you must and are driven to do, just respect my right to not have my system messed around with….. Peace, inspite of them all…..
Nah, never have. No need for it. I can get and lose the flu at-will. Why would I choose to get the flu? So I can lose it.
I have gotten the shot the last 2 years but since everyone I know who’s gotten the shot THIS year has come down with the flu, I’m not getting it this year.
I always get the flu shot and have never had the flu. My husband has asthma, so the flu would be fatal for him; plus we’re raising our granddaughter, and kids bring home germs!! So we all 3 get the shot and we stay well
@QuantumStorm - Exactly. It doesn’t matter that half the people in the country have the flu. It doesn’t matter that the flu virus is easily tranmittable/contangious. That people are in closer proximity to each other because of the cold weather, so everyone stays inside, the healty and the sick. It had to be the shot of dead virus or a goverrnment conspiracy.
I got it every year while in the Navy. The first flu season I wasn’t in the Navy, I didn’t get the flu shot and I got the flu bad… hard to say but I randomly sometimes get the shot now. Haven’t gotten the flu since 1999.
I have that fear too. But, I usually try to get one each year. Working in retail, in pharmacy, I figure it’s better safe than sorry. The cough/cold aisle is always so crowded, & I touch the products all these people have fingered through. I rarely get sick, but I still don’t want to risk it.
So, I face my fear about once a year. n_n
You actually cannot get the flu from the flu shot – it’s dead/inactivated – so no worries on that!
I saw a show where it has been suggested that it was the Bilderburg Group that came up with the flu vaccine in an attempt to decimate the population, thus making their goal of world conquest, and one-world government, with them at the head, easier. As the Bilderburg Group is made up of JEWS, I would not be surprised to find this to be Truth.
@CanuckFascist - your comment has been noted.
Repeat after me.
You. Cannot. Get. The. Flu. From. A. Flu. Shot
. They are shooting you up with a DEAD virus so your body can build up antibodies.