Flu shots. Anyone ever get them?

[mav]

I have only taken a flu shot twice in my adult life. I am hardly ever sick and never go to the doctor. However, I wish I would have taken one late last year. Over the past five days I have felt like total s**t, which prompted a doctor visit last Friday.

Would the flu shot have helped? I don't know, but it certainly couldn't have hurt.

Anyone here take a yearly shot?

[Mike.357]

I don't do it. My wife does and she gets sick every time in spite of doing it.

[xd shooter]

Chances are it would not have helped this year but I guess it never hurts.

My little girl has the flu now & she acually had a flu shot in October.

Her doctor said she had type B flu & the shot she got was for type A.

All I'm saying is it is a guessing game.

I never take one & I'm not going to say I never get it but the last time I got sick I beleive was(Hold on while knocking on wood:) ) from the one & only Flu shot I got 6 yrs ago when she was born a little too early.

Edited February 6, 2011 by xd shooter

[Westwindmike]

I never get a flu shot and rarely get sick. I do wash my hands a lot, especially after shaking hands. I don't hug either. I think huggers get sick more too.LOL

[Guest KCSTEVE]

I asked my doctor if he ever got sick and he said yes, that he gets exposed to a virus early in the season when it is not as strong and easier to treat. He said that it gains strength as it is passed along. After you are exposed to virus A you have some immunity to it.

I follow his advice with flu shots and 1000 to 2000mg vitamin C daily. I haven't had even a cold in over 3 years! (knock-on-wood). But my kids are out of school. I would bet that teachers have some advice on how to avoid the flu. They come in contact with everything as well.

[Erik88]

never get shots. I avoid the doctors office at all costs because I don't want to go somewhere where sick people are 24/7.

I never get sick and rarely take medicine of any kind.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Nope!

[Guest Red5]

Nope. The company I work for has offered them for no charge for the past 5 yrs or so but I have never gotten one. I can't remember the last time i had the flu either.

[dats82]

I work in health care, so I get one every year. I have had the flu once while I was in undergrad, and I did not get vaccinated that year. There are a ton of rumors about vaccinations and such; however, most of them are founded on psuedoscience if anything at all. With this said, if you do get the shot, you should do so early in the season, and understand that the shot does not stop you from getting the flu. If the shot is given at least two weeks prior to exposure, it should lessen the severity and speed your recovery.

Edited February 6, 2011 by dats82

[DaveTN]

I never got sick in my 20’s or 30’s either; most people don’t.

But I can assure you getting old sucks.

I have been fighting a cold the last couple of days, but I don’t think it’s the flu.

[Punisher84]

Working in a hospital we have to either take it or sign a form and decline it. I always take it. I usually still get it, but I do notice it doesn't take me out as much as when I don't get the shot.

[VERO1]

I have had two. Also had the Flu 3 times. Apparently a different strain than I was shot for. I just skip it now! Saves time.

[Mechanic_X]

The government gives you tracking implants in the flu shots. Its real. I saw it on the internet.

Seriously I don't get them. I haven't been sick in years until this year. Before Christmas and still can't shake the cough completely.

[Guest Jcochran88]

Only year I ever got the flu is the year I got the shot.

[Guest Guy N. Cognito]

I get one every year. I haven't had the flu in 20 years, until this year. It was quite mild for me, which my dr attributes to the flu shot giving me some immunity.

[Guest db99wj]

Every year, don't get the flu, have 4 kids and they are always bringing stuff in. Hope I didn't jinx myself.

[musicman]

Don't think I've ever had a flu shot. I get the flu once every 5-6 yrs it seems. I'm actually just over it as of 2 days ago, and me being the generous soul I am, I gave it to my wife! The silver lining here is that we both qualified to take part in a flu study and are getting paid $350 each to keep a journal over 1 week and provide blood samples. I never knew the flu could pay so well!

While I am definitely tempted to finally buy myself the M&P .40 I've been fawning over for 4 yrs now, we're gunna use the coin to pay off more stuff. I'm super stoked, cuz that's gunna move us forward like 2 months on our financial plan! I asked them how much for a broken arm and they just stared at me. I was like "Hey, I've got a hammer in the garage, we can do this!" Then they finally started laughing.

[jay1313g]

Mav,

I'm right there with you. I never get the shot and am back to about 90% today after being in the bed since Wednesday night! The last time I had the flu was about 10 years ago. I guess that's not too bad of a record.

[vontar]

I don't take the flu shot.

I rarely get sick.

I took it once in college when they offer them for free. It was one of those like the student nurses practice days.

I took the flu that year and had it bad about 2 months later.

Funny, since they have been yelling about the bird flu, they can't seem to give those shots fast enough, you walk in wal greens they even sell gift cards for flu shots.

I will go with herd immunity.

Plus I figure i am building up my immune system some over time by getting exposed a little and letting my body build a natural defense.

Like George Carlin, link is no safe for work

Not work safe, bad language

^^^^Not work safe, bad language^^^^^

BTW, Musicman,hang onto that contact information for that study if I happen to get the flu. I sure would not mind taking part in a study like that. Heck I wouldn't mind getting it to miss some work and still get paid (work off time) plus that. I would be willing to make it happen as well

Edited February 6, 2011 by vontar

[Daniel]

I have gotten the shot every year for the past 10. The army kind of insists on it. I do not get the flu to my knowledge. I do not go to the doc unless severly injured though. I have had a cold for the last week. In my defense I was stuck in a tent for a month with people from all over the country coughing day and night though.

[GKar]

Several thoughts here. First off, I've been receiving the vaccine yearly for the last 10 years or so, with the exception of getting the monovalent H1N1 vaccine last year...and yep, contracted that strain and felt like I'd been hit by a train for about a week. As a microbiologist in a former life, I am quite familiar with the development and manufacture of influenza vaccines, and will agree with a previous post: a lot of the negative you hear about influenza vaccines is inaccurate, and just plain wrong. If you develop symptoms of a respiratory illness or "the flu" after receiving a vaccine, it is almost assuredly NOT from the vaccine itself: the manufacturing techniques utilized to inactivate the virus have been shown to be effective in killing of more than 40 log (that's 10 with about 40 zeroes after it) excess of influenza virus. It takes several weeks for protective immunity to develop in most folks, so you certainly can contract the disease within that time period. A relatively small proportion of folks simply will not develop a protective imunity after vaccincation...unfortunately, it is not usually possible to screen for those folks, or to even know they fall into that category after vaccination. And in any given year, there are myriads of circulating viruses that result in "flu-like" symptoms for some folks, but are not true influenza and thus not affected by the vaccine. Fortunately, these similar viruses differ in one aspect: they are not as deadly as true influenza.

In an average year, the complications from influenza kill an average of almost 25,000 Americans. Pneumonia secondary to influenza is probably the biggest culprit. At highest risk are those over 50, those under 6, and those with any type of chronic debilitating disease or chronic respiratory problem. So you say "OK, I dont fall into that category, why should I get the shot?" The reason is two-fold: first, if you do come down with influenza, even a very mild case, you can easily transmit it to someone who is less capable of fighting it off than you are...and you are contagious and capable of transmitting the infection anywhere from 24-48 hours BEFORE you become symptomatic. Secondly, there is a dynamic called "herd immunity" that is very important in protecting large populations of susceptible folks: the idea being that, if a certain percantege af a given population is immunized, those remaining susceptible folks are of a sufficiently low number that a true epidemic cannot get started. Thats a big reason why you see mass vaccination programs in a lot of long-term care institutions and their associated caregivers.

[DuallyNewt]

Yes.Every year..

[Mike.357]

most people who claim to have the flu have a common cold.

[vontar]

most people who claim to have the flu have a common cold.

You are probably right

I would claim to have the common flu but rarely due I even get a cold.

I guess I have enough migraines though the year to average out to enough pain.

[Lumber_Jack]

I was going to reply about why I do get the shot but Gkar said it better than I ever could so "ditto" on that. Great info and exactly what my physician father-in-law says every year