Pretty simple, will you get the flu shot this season? Do you get it daily or do you opt for just washing your hands daily and being cautious with germs?
I have gotten it some years and haven't others. I know people who don't get it and don't get the flu, I know people who get it and then still get very sick.
I know it can be polarizing on here, just curious what your plans are this season?
I got it...didn't see any reason not to. Had a sore arm but that's about it.
The entire family got the shots last year but then ended up getting the "other" strain of the flu. The strain that they don't have a shot for. Which, ironically, is the worse strain of the two. That sucked.
But, still, I don't see any reason to not get the shot.
I guess I grabbed a strain not covered by the shot.
I'll add that 10-15 years ago, I felt a bit under the weather for 24 hours after taking the flu shot and I did have a bit of a sore shoulder. I never get either any more.
If you have the chance to get the shot, I'd advise you to do it.
How could it feel like a placebo if you never got the shot?
I'm soooo confused.
Will it help combat Ebola? I mean Ebola is a new beast - ( New Window )
So I researched a bit and found that year the shot was only 60% effective and the older you got the less effective it seemed to be(this is quite common with flu shots). You get the shot it is the strain but you don't respond to the vaccine.
So I researched some more and found a oral supplement used most commonly for a diet aid 7-keto that in a study was found to enhance the immunological response to the flu vaccine.
So since then I have taken that supplement and the flu shot. Only a couple of years but so far so good.
7-keto is sort of like a DHEA supplement without the negative side effect of DHEA, which includes potential prostate problems and male pattern baldness.
It is converted differently and mainly as a diet aid seems in some people to up the metabolism a bit. I find I also probably as a result of that, seem to not get bothered by the cold temperatures at all anymore. Feeling warm often depute the temps when others are cold.
Of course. The flu shot doesn't come with a guarantee that you won't get the flu. According to the CDC's website, it reduces the overall risk in varying degrees by year (e.g., 2004 versus 2014) and population (e.g., adults versus older adults). I have to get as a condition of my employment, but I can't of a good reason not to get one. The flu sucks and I welcome any reduced risk.
Does that mean you shouldn't wear a seatbelt, unless you've been in an accident before?
And as far as the placebo comment goes, the shot protects against the 3 most common strands. You are protected from those, but can still get influenza from the hundreds of others out there. (Though very unlikely)
But it is not always 60%. I would quote the CDC in their morbidity and mortality report from which this is based but it is just to technical….
but here is a quote from the national vaccine group….
"The news may be well known now about the influenza vaccine being only 56 percent effective overall and 9 percent effective for the type A H3N2 strain in adults aged 65 years or older during the 2012-13 flu season."
9% that year for old people. It varies by age group health and all the rest, and by year. And a shot does seem to prevent the severity of the illness. You still end up going to a doc but you don't die as easily from the flu.
So yes by all means get it it is for free. But the media gives a way way overblown view on the protection it offers. To a old person that year, virtually none if prevention from getting sick at all was your concern.
Conspiracy hat on..the industry wants to appear proactive and that this is all about our health and they do things to that aim. They can make shots now that cover three variants why not make shots that cover ten or twenty?
Take a walk down any pharmacy and see how much in the way of flu medicines they sell each year.
The vaccines suck and like as not do not protect from the flu. But why do better when none complain and there is not a financial reason under the sun to do better.
But yeah it is all we have…get it, its free. The media nonsense I can do without. It a piece of crap they sell us medically wise. None complain about it nor will they till we have a killer flu season. Like who cares about hospital isolation or infectious control till ebola…..yes we are all prepared everything is fine….:)right.
Never again.
And, I have never had the flu since then and I have never had a shot either.
If it ain't broke...
I've looked into how "the flu shot" is developed and its essentially hit or miss. The shot can be effective if they guess the correct strain. As with anything you inject to your blood, there can be unintended consequences.
My point has always been, hey, flu isn't going to kill me even if I get it and I probably won't get flu so why bother with the shot?
And they still can't get it right so when you get the shot and you are exposed to the same strain that you were immunized for…..you still run a 40% chance of getting the flu?
Nah…they are not trying is my take. I don't see people even using phones two years ago and this thing which has just worked marginally for 50 years…and they still can't make it right 90 or 95% effective?
And again why not ten or twenty strains. They can make it now for 3 and pneumonia I think is five….so why not a bunch of strains not just 2 or 3.
Nah..they are giving us a piece of garbage and painting it as a prize.
It works just barely and not near always.
There is some statistically based evidence that the getting of the shot may make one susceptible to later strains of the flu Some of the comments here. not the studies showing that but self experiences mention that here it appears.
Maybe there is some substance to that.
But I still advocate for getting it, piece of garbage it is it is free and all we have. I can see why some nurses don't get it, though it is required by most hospitals.
When you get the shot, it is not just for yourself. You are contributing to the herd/community immunity of everyone.
1 - for those people (ie antdog) who say they have had the flu in the past - unless you got tested, chances are you never had the flu. The flu isn't just a bad cold/fever it knocks you out for nearly a week with a terrible fever/shivers and beyon . Despite how sick all of you have gotten I suspect most have not had the actual flu.
2 - its 100% impossible to get the flu as a result of the shot. Sure its not 100% foolproof in protecting against all strains, but in no way is it possible for the vaccine to cause the flu
This year, need to get to the doctor to get the damn thing sooner. I know they give them at pharmacies but for some reason (likely unwarranted) I don't trust them to administer it.
You get the shot. You are exposed to the strain that you were immunized for it in the year you got the shot…..and you still get the flu.
here is a quote from the national vaccine group….
"The news may be well known now about the influenza vaccine being only 56 percent effective overall and 9 percent effective for the type A H3N2 strain in adults aged 65 years or older during the 2012-13 flu season."
It was in that year not that it was a different strain but that the vaccine did not work.
81% of the time if you were 65 or older.
Most because of the CDC don't know that it just doesn't work a large part of the time.
If you are elderly you need to know that and not think you are protected by the shot. YOu may be helped but you may not. In that year not more than likely.
The flu shot…because of the CDC most people just do not know the shot often flat does not work. It is not that a different strain surfaces, it is that the shot doesn't work. Especially for the elderly. It gives a false sense of protection.
Still get it but know it often doesn't work. Wash your hands often, that would probably protect at least as well if you are elderly.
You get the shot. You are exposed to the strain that you were immunized for it in the year you got the shot…..and you still get the flu.
here is a quote from the national vaccine group….
"The news may be well known now about the influenza vaccine being only 56 percent effective overall and 9 percent effective for the type A H3N2 strain in adults aged 65 years or older during the 2012-13 flu season."
It was in that year not that it was a different strain but that the vaccine did not work.
81% of the time if you were 65 or older.
Most because of the CDC don't know that it just doesn't work a large part of the time.
If you are elderly you need to know that and not think you are protected by the shot. YOu may be helped but you may not. In that year not more than likely.
So you quoted an organization with an agenda against vaccination as proof of your theory? Why not someone at least semi-credible?
I'd bet a bunch. They might not die from it as often as it does help in that regard a bit but still get plenty sick and may need hospital admission.
Most of the stats are derived from peoples that visit docs because of the sickness. Which means they got sick enough to need to see a doc.
I am not elderly but it takes me plenty sick, to go see a doc and I'd say most are the same. If you did not have the flu and went to a docs office around flu time you are bound to get it.
And its a pain in the ass to get a appointment and go there anyway.
So it gives a sense of artificial protection which may be as bad as not having the shot.
I do say still get it, but really people need to know that. The CDC is not telling anyone that publicly. It is all lost in internal stuff that is read by docs only.
Morbidity and mortality reports usually, like reading volume numbers on trading charts it doesn't say a lot unless you can interpret the numbers.
Really?
You can't make sense of the numbers unless you spend a hour or so with it or you are a doc or epidemiologist or someone with equal qualification.
Perhaps you are way way more intelligent then me, I can retrieve them right quick and post them here, the numbers and stats that showed that conclusion if you want.
You want them?
In the meanwhile, provide some figures that justify your statement that most people engage in risky behavior like not washing their hands because they've had a flu shot. I'll admit I don't take those pamphlets after I've had one, for all I know the CDC is telling people 'Relax, you've had the flu shot, stop washing your hands and go make out with the first stranger you find.'
This year, need to get to the doctor to get the damn thing sooner. I know they give them at pharmacies but for some reason (likely unwarranted) I don't trust them to administer it.
Not that it should change your opinion and how you seek healthcare, but my wife is a pharmacist and has to go to immunization courses and get licensed by the state annually. They also require her to be CPR certified and carry a few other certificates to be allowed to give anyone a shot.
Its still likely a bit more comfortable to get poked in the privacy of a doctor's office, but only certified pharmacist can administer the shot. I know a few pharmacist that I'm honestly shocked that they can tie their own shoes, but if you trust your pharmacist its not a crapshot as to whether or not they can do it correctly.