Will you get a flu shot this winter?

[Wingshooter]

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 for 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.

:shrug: I'm sure you know more about the science of the shot than I do. It's true though... each year she felt fine, got the shot, got sick within a couple days (maybe not actual flu sick but made her feel horrible for several days). She made the decision not to get it anymore last year and didn't get the flu. :shrug:

I made the decision for myself because IT'S A SHOT! :) I hate shots. Plus I haven't had the flu in at least a decade (fingers crossed so I don't jinx it :) ) I'm in airports and airplanes all the time for my job rubbing shoulders with everybody, so I've aquired a pretty strong resistance maybe. It works for me.

How effective is the nasal immunization? Edited October 9, 2015 by Wingshooter

[KahrMan]

Yes.  Plus I am bringing in a nurse to the office to give them to all my employees if they want one.  

[tennesseetiger]

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

I've always wanted to find how many people die every year after getting the vaccine but I can never find those numbers...guess they aren't published?

[TMF]

:shrug: I'm sure you know more about the science of the shot than I do. It's true though... each year she felt fine, got the shot, got sick within a couple days (maybe not actual flu sick but made her feel horrible for several days). She made the decision not to get it anymore last year and didn't get the flu. :shrug:

I made the decision for myself because IT'S A SHOT! :) I hate shots. Plus I haven't had the flu in a decade (fingers crossed so I don't jinx it :) ) I'm in airports and airplanes all the time for my job rubbing shoulders with everybody, so I've aquired a pretty strong resistance maybe. It works for me.

How effective is the nasal immunization?

 

The effectiveness changes from year to year and different depending on your age bracket, if I remember correctly. 

 

I never had the flu (maybe when I was a kid) until a few years ago.  The whole time I was in the Army I had to get one each year, but after I got out I got kinda lazy about it.  I missed two years in a row, then caught it last year.  It was f'ing miserable.  I wouldn't put it in the same ballpark as a cold. 

 

I suppose I got lazy because I'd never caught it before, and figured if I caught it I could just tough it out.  Well, I don't want to tough it out ever again, and now that I understand that by getting the vaccine, I'm helping prevent the deaths by not being a carrier, I'm all for it.  You'll never know how many people you saved by getting a vaccine, but considering the number of people who die or are hospitalized due to the flu, you are certainly saving others from a great deal of pain. 

[TMF]

I've always wanted to find how many people die every year after getting the vaccine but I can never find those numbers...guess they aren't published?

 

In the link I posted is said 36,000 people will die this year from the flu, and 210,000 will be hospitalized.

[tennesseetiger]

In the link I posted is said 36,000 people will die this year from the flu, and 210,000 will be hospitalized.

I meant how many get the vaccine and then die from the flu. I'm looking for something specific.

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[TMF]

I meant how many get the vaccine and then die from the flu. I'm looking for something specific.

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Oh, I doubt that is a statistic even possible to determine.  I guess you could estimate if you knew the number of people who get vaccinated each year and bounced that off the percentage of effectiveness and number of deaths from the flu, adjusted to remove the deaths of people with compromised immune systems (that wouldn't be valid data to enter).

 

So if half of the number of those who die from the flu don't have compromised immune systems we have a number of 18,000.  If 30% of Americans get vaccinated and the median effectiveness percentage of the vaccine was around 55%, you'd get just shy of 3,000 people.  But that equation was with unknown numbers... just illustrating an example.  The number could be more or much, much less. 

[btq96r]

The effectiveness changes from year to year and different depending on your age bracket, if I remember correctly. 

 

I never had the flu (maybe when I was a kid) until a few years ago.  The whole time I was in the Army I had to get one each year, but after I got out I got kinda lazy about it.  I missed two years in a row, then caught it last year.  It was f'ing miserable.  I wouldn't put it in the same ballpark as a cold. 

 

I suppose I got lazy because I'd never caught it before, and figured if I caught it I could just tough it out.  Well, I don't want to tough it out ever again, and now that I understand that by getting the vaccine, I'm helping prevent the deaths by not being a carrier, I'm all for it.  You'll never know how many people you saved by getting a vaccine, but considering the number of people who die or are hospitalized due to the flu, you are certainly saving others from a great deal of pain. 

 

I had the shot or the mist (which I truly hated) every year in the Army, and I was able to get it as a contractor as well.  Maybe I felt a little off for a day or two later, but I never got the flu.  End of 2013, I come home from Afghanistan, move to Murfreesboro and enrolled at MTSU.  Had the flu twice that year, one of those times coming at mid-term time for spring semester and making me miserable while writing papers and taking exams. 

 

Lesson learned.  Needless to say I'm getting it on my own every year from here on out.

[peejman]

We'll get the shot. We usually wait another month or so as flu reason rarely gets rolling here before January.

[bersaguy]

I will be seeing my doctor on the 14th for my semi annual checkup and I will be getting my flu shot while there. I had the Pneumonia shot last year along with the flu shot but only have to get one of those every 2 years. I contracted the Hong Kong Flu back in the mid 70's and I gave it to both my boys and wife in less than 24 hours. It was the worst flu I have ever had and very contagious. I made up my mind right than I and my family will be protected. Even though it is just me and the Mutt now, I still don't want that nasty stuff.........jmho 

[blueheeler47]

Got it this morning while at the allergist, better safe than sorry, I think....

[Lumber_Jack]

I've never understood the tin foil hattery surrounding the flu shot.  Most people who get the "flu" after the shot don't actually have the real influenza, just a virus that makes them sick, probably pickeud up at the doctor office or pharmacy. I never used to get the shot, just because I was young and lazy.  I get it now because my wife works at a major hospital and I don't want to catch what she brings home.  Plus, if you do get the shot and still happen to get the flu, it can help mitigate the length and severity of the virus you do catch.  Most of all, I'm just trying to support the herd immunity and help protect those most susceptible, children and elderly.  Oh, and possibly not have to be practically living dead for a week if I catch the flu.. 

Edited October 9, 2015 by Lumber_Jack

[raildog]

Yes whole family got it Monday only had flu once in my life and it sucked I'll do whatever it takes to try and not get it again Edited October 9, 2015 by raildog

[-boatman-]

I've never had one and I'm not going to start now. I've had the option at work for free but I've always been healthy. Right or wrong, I don't know.

[Ted S.]

Not getting a flu shot. 

 

Hey, TMF, do you know where that article derives the "36,000" number from? Because the CDC's statistic for total deaths from influenza is very different. Most sources lump influenza and pneumonia together, which is probably what that article did.

 

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr63/nvsr63_03.pdf

 

[TMF]

Not getting a flu shot.

Hey, TMF, do you know where that article derives the "36,000" number from? Because the CDC's statistic for total deaths from influenza is very different. Most sources lump influenza and pneumonia together, which is probably what that article did.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr63/nvsr63_03.pdf

Hmmm, I wish they would have left a reference on that page for their numbers to better explain that, but the assumption would be a patient being admitted with the flu and developing pneumonia as a complication? I dunno. That number seems extremely low considering what I've heard in news stories over the years.


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[Ted S.]

Hmmm, I wish they would have left a reference on that page for their numbers to better explain that, but the assumption would be a patient being admitted with the flu and developing pneumonia as a complication? I dunno. That number seems extremely low considering what I've heard in news stories over the years.


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That's what I was thinking, but so many things can cause pneumonia, not just influenze. The rhinovirus can cause pneumonia, and it's much more common to catch a cold than to catch the flu.

 

Either way, the vast majority of deaths in both cases are in older age brackets.

 

If I was much older I'd definately consider a pneumonia shot.

 

Edit, also, here's a slighly more up to date data table: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_02.pdf

Edited October 9, 2015 by Ted S.

[LagerHead]

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.

 

The problem with "research" is that most anti-vax folks confuse Google searches and confirmation bias with research. I don't care what kooky theory you have cooked up in your head, there is somebody out there that will tell you you're right.

 

However, in this case, some of those folks have "authority" because they have Dr. in front of their name. Of course, they are chiropractors and don't even see patients. But they do have stores where you can buy their rainwater from and will gladly take your money if you want to substitute that for actual medicine.

[K191145]

Got my flu shot last Friday and also updated my tetanus shot. I feel fine.

[Appalachian]

I rarely catch anything, but the two times I've had the flu I was completely out of commission for a week.  Seven full days of fever up to 102, body aches, fatigue, to the point that I did not get out of bed except when I had to.  Anybody who has had the flu will probably be in favor of getting a flu shot.

[Oh Shoot]

Yup, have taken it the last six or eight years. Didn't take it most of my life, and seldom got the flu, but did maybe once every five years, and each time I swore I'd take it the next year but usually didn't. :)

 

Being official Gummit Geezer now, they're free. Have had the shingles vaccine and both of the newmonie ones too.

 

I have no tin foil layer regarding vaccines. They're significant reason we can be as over populated as we are. :)

 

- OS

[jgradyc]

So far, it's 20-12 in favor of flu shots... a bit higher than the national average of 46%.

[Erik88]

No. I never do.

[Omega]

Well, plus me up here. I usually get my shot but there have been years that I skipped, not on purpose just overlooked it. I get my shots free but civies get theirs after the active duty guys, so it should be soon.

[Ted S.]

Why wasn't this thread a poll!!!

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