Will you get a flu shot this winter?

[jgradyc]

For me... no.

[TMF]

My wife and daughter already had their shots.  My son was supposed to get his at school this week when they were doing them there.  He caught the flu sometime last week and was down for 4 days.  Neither my wife or daughter caught it from him.  I know the perception is that the flu shot is not that effective when you just look at the percentages, but the more people who get the shot, the less it spreads.  It's math.

[Wingshooter]

Nope.

My wife used to get it every year..... and get sick from it every year. I had better luck by washing my hands often and trying not to touch my face. I never get the shot and won't this year either.

[DaveTN]

I don’t know; it’s a tough call.

[Hozzie]

Yep.  Never had an issue from getting it and haven't been sick in many years.  Then again, I am not around a lot of kids or anything like that either.  But I spend enough time in planes where I should probably catch anything going around.

 

I believe it has also been proven that if you do get sick, it typically does not last as long and isn't as bad as when you didn't have a shot.  In the end, I don't know that it helps, but I certainly don't think it hurts.

Edited October 9, 2015 by Hozzie

[Ugly]

No

[nightrunner]

I have never had one and doubt that I ever will. This year certainly won't be the first time I get one.

[shotgunshooter]

Nope. Always get sick from the shot and never get the flu from being out and about.

[Joe357]

Both wife and myself already received our flu shot.

[TMF]

Nope.

My wife used to get it every year..... and get sick from it every year. I had better luck by washing my hands often and trying not to touch my face. I never get the shot and won't this year either.

 

This is impossible with modern flu shots.  If your wife gets sick after getting the shot, she likely contracted the flu virus before or shortly after getting the shot.  It takes a week or two to be effectively protected.

 

My son caught it last year and this year.  Last year he caught it before shots were available, and this year just before he was supposed to get it.  Had he gotten the shot last week, he still would have gotten sick, and a lay person would attribute that to the flu shot.  That isn't how it works.

 

ETA: The vaccine isn't 100%.  Not even close.  So many people get the shot and get the flu anyway.  This tends to be the argument for not getting a shot, which actually makes the flu spread even worse.  If people would simply do a little research and accept that science holds more water than wives tales, we might save a few thousand lives this year.

Edited October 9, 2015 by TMF

[ironsniper1]

I have never gotten the flu and have never gotten a flu shot but this year I HAD to get a flu shot cause I work at Vanderbilt even know I am never around patients


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CommsNBombs]

I never get vaccinated if I have a choice.

I hate needles. I do not trust doctors.

The Army makes us get the nasal one but the Flu is such a capricious virus that it does not matter how many vaccines you get - it will just get mutated

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk Edited October 9, 2015 by CommsNBombs

[GKar]

Wife and I will both have one.  Seen too many deaths from influenza sequelae in the 55+ population (of which we are both members). 

 

TMFs observation about the "herd immunity" effect are quite valid.

[TMF]

I never get vaccinated if I have a choice.

I hate needles. I do not trust doctors.

The Army makes us get the nasal one but the Flu is such a capricious virus that it does not matter how many vaccines you get - it will just get stronger.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

That's not how it works.  The flu virus doesn't get "stronger" by any means, it simply mutates.  The flu vaccine is like a medical whack-a-mole.

[CommsNBombs]

That's not how it works. The flu virus doesn't get "stronger" by any means, it simply mutates. The flu vaccine is like a medical whack-a-mole.

Hey I just woke up! It is too early to argue biowarfare lol.

No, you are right, it just mutates. The only time that the "Flu" has gotten "stronger" is when it cross-species mutates and gains another transmission vector - H1N1 and crap like that the media loves using. Which as you pointed out - is a misnomer

It will have to be one hell of a pathogen to reach epidemic proportions due to the advances in medicine and virology.

[Shepherd Master]

No.

[crossfire]

NO

[LagerHead]

Absolutely. Vaccines are one of the greatest inventions in the history of mankind and there's no way I am going refuse medicine that saves literally millions upon millions of lives every year. Besides that, there are kids with cancer or that have received heart transplants and are taking immunosuppressants that are counting on all of us for herd immunity.  

[BigK]

My new job is offering flu vaccines free. Mine is scheduled for Tuesday. Better to have one than not, IMO.

[TMF]

Absolutely. Vaccines are one of the greatest inventions in the history of mankind and there's no way I am going refuse medicine that saves literally millions upon millions of lives every year. Besides that, there are kids with cancer or that have received heart transplants and are taking immunosuppressants that are counting on all of us for herd immunity.  

 

I've always been a fan of medical science, but I've never been a vaccine crusader until recently.  My cousin, who is in her 20s, was diagnosed with an extremely aggressive and rare type of breast cancer earlier this year, and was stage 3 at time of diagnosis.  This changed my whole outlook on the subject of vaccines, as going through chemo destroyed her immune system.  We've been very careful, and luckily she didn't get sick.  It more than I can say for some of the people she met during her treatment.

 

For all the unfounded mistrust, not rooted in science, that people have for vaccines, I would like to believe they'd be willing to research and gain some knowledge after seeing a 7 year old child with cancer die from something that could have been vaccinated against in a healthy person.  Or they would just default to whatever random government conspiracy they cling to in order to justify their decision.

[tennesseetiger]

Nope.

[TMF]

Just to add, over 30,000 of your fellow Americans will die this year from the flu.  Many of them will be people with compromised immune systems who depend on herd immunity to protect them from contracting the virus.  Since a good chunk of us here will get cancer at some point in our lives and will undergo chemo treatment, you might want to at least do some research on these vaccines to better understand them.  I'm sure if your kid was getting chemo, your opinion on getting a simple vaccination would drastically change.

 

http://www.healthline.com/health/flu-shot-side-effects#FluShots1

 

http://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/10-flu-myths

[TGO David]

I already did.  Whatever microchip tracking device the Government is putting into us, is already deep inside my arm by this point.

[Woody]

I never have before, so, nope....

[btq96r]

The student clinic at my school has them already.  I'm just going to knock it out when I go in for my annual checkup & blood work next week.

 

If nothing else, I have to protect myself from all of you who don't get a shot.