I've never gotten a flu shot

[DeeBye]

Why are people freaking out about flu shots? I've never received a flu shot, and I'm still alive. Unless you are young enough to be mewling and puking in the nurse's arms, or old enough to do the same, the flu isn't a big deal.

I get the flu once a year, without fail. I can handle the flu. I feel lousy for a few days, and maybe I barf a bit. Big deal. So why is everyone suddenly concerned about the availability of flu shots?

(I'd rather have the flu instead of getting a needle)

[Lord_Olf]

Hail DeeBye,

I guess it becomes a problem when you have a lot of people living in very close proximity. I seem to remeber that you're from Canada, where that may not be that much of a problem, but think, for example, Japan.

Agreed, the Japanese may have a tendency to overdo some things, but with people living in such close proximity there, especially when commuting to work, flu shots do seem to have an advantage. Otherwise, it would spread around rather quickly among a lot of people, and half of Japan would be ill during flu season...

Agreed, I don't think a flu is that bad, but if you run the risk of spreading it around to people who might have a different opinion of that, a flu shot is worth a thought.

Well, just my two cents!

Take care,

Lord_Olf

[Armin]

I get the flu once a year, without fail.  I can handle the flu.  I feel lousy for a few days, and maybe I barf a bit.  Big deal.  So why is everyone suddenly concerned about the availability of flu shots?
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Your description proves a single thing: You've NEVER in your life had a genuine flu (aka a real viral influenza). :P
What you describe is often called a flu but indeed is no more than a common cold caused by a pleuthera of members from the rhinoviridae family.

Had you ever experienced the real deal and been introduced to one of the lovely strains of actual influenza virus, you'd realize what people are talking about. Even for a healthy young person, Influenza A means 2 weeks of utter misery, temperatures above 40 degrees centigrade, inability to rise from bed for several days and a level of head- and jointaches that put a harmless little cold to shame. And trust me, I *know* :D

The 1917 strain (so called "spanish flu") killed 18 million people worldwide (even the young and healthy!) during WW1 and was recently recovered from graves in permafrost areas. Genetically it was much more closely related to many modern strains than virologists were thinking.

Even the recent years' more "harmless" strains killed an average of 6000 people here in Germany. Admittedly, they were mostly the elderly and already weakened folks, but who do you think they received their infection FROM?

Each single person immunized is one potential host, breeder and carrier less for the next strain to spread by. Actually, ESPECIALLY those lucky folks who indeed handle a genuine influenza exceptionally well (as with every disease, there are always people who suffer way less than the average) would do good to get inoculated. Because THEY are the most mobile and active distributors...

The very young, the elderly and the weakened should protect themselves by getting their shot. Everyone else should protect THEM and get immunized IMHO B)

- Armin
Still fondly remembering my own stupidity, when I caught a 1962 strain of Influenza A / Puerto Rico from the institute stock :blink:

[eppie]

Each single person immunized is one potential host, breeder and carrier less for the next strain to spread by. Actually, ESPECIALLY those lucky folks who indeed handle a genuine influenza exceptionally well (as with every disease, there are always people who suffer way less than the average) would do good to get inoculated. Because THEY are the most mobile and active distributors...


- Armin
Still fondly remembering my own stupidity, when I caught a 1962 strain of Influenza A / Puerto Rico from the institute stock  :blink:
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I think I belong to that lucky and extremely dangerous group of people than. But I don't really fancy the idea of taking a flu shot. Is it true that people can die from getting a flue shot?? (I thought there were some shots for deseases which were lethal for a small percentage of people)?

[ShadowHM]

This is a very contentious issue.

I fall on the side of DeeBye in it. I too have had influenza once in my life. I was damned sick for two weeks. However, flu shots are dangerous too.

This link discusses some of the problems with them.

On a more personal note, there are potential side effects from the flu. Without spending more time searching than I have to spend right now, I offer my own anecdotal observation of two otherwise healthy seniors who both contracted acute demyelinating disease following their first flu shots. In both cases they were, in fact, told by their doctors that they had most likely contracted this from the flu shot. Being sick for two weeks beats the heck out of being paralysed for a year. The toll on the health care system and their families was immense, and certainly not comparable to being sick for two weeks.

And Armin?

Even the recent years' more "harmless" strains killed an average of 6000 people here in Germany. Admittedly, they were mostly the elderly and already weakened folks, but who do you think they received their infection FROM?

Did anyone do any questioning to find out how many of them had taken a flu shot themselves or lived in close proximity to someone who had taken a flu shot? Those with already compromised immune systems certainly are among the more vulnerable to influenza. But I question the logic of insisting that exposing them to the virus is a reasonable way to protect them.

Edit: grrr The forum software wanted to make one of my options a smiley. Sentence structure changed.

[jahcs]

My vote is to immunize if possible, don't get wound up in a knot if you can't. Many of the people around me who get flu shots get sick (Not as sick as if they actually got the flu.) while most of the others around me don't.

From what I've seen the scientists developing each flu vaccine for that year make an educated guess as to which strain will be prevalent in the population. Sometimes they are right and sometimes wrong. The way the flu vaccine has been made, created, and distributed has been largely unchanged for many years. This panic in the US, I would guess, largely developed because it's an election year. Certain political figures are finger pointing at the current administration when the real cause of this year's shortage is in the UK. Chiron had a large portion of their vaccine become contaminated and the UK pulled their manufacturing license for a time.

BBC article on Flu Vaccine shortage

[Chaerophon]

An aside: Canada actually has a slightly more urban population than the US, with nearly 80% of Canadians living in urban settings. What's more, Japan does not actually have a much higher "urban" population than Canada; however, their urban settings are clearly much closer together than are those in Canada! Germany, on the other hand, does have a more urban population than Canada, around 87% according to these statistics (which I have found to differ from other, text-based stats that I have, but can't post).

[Guest]

People are scared about the flu because the vaccine is like in shorter supply because they messed up in making it. The flu isn't just a cold it actually kills people. And it might be worse this year. Be scared. Get the shot.

[jahcs]

...Be scared. Get the shot.
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Please don't "Be Scared." Enhance your calm and be well. Get vaccinated if you can but don't panic. Panic is stressfull and stress increases your chance of contracting an illness.

[Zarathustra]

People are scared about the flu because the vaccine is like in shorter supply because they messed up in making it. The flu isn't just a cold it actually kills people. And it might be worse this year. Be scared. Get the shot.
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I've had the flu. (Yes, the real flu, not a common cold). A few times. You know what? I'm not scared.

And I'm not getting the shot. There are elderly that are actually at risk for complications during the flu. I can understand them getting it, and I'll not take a dose that could serve a better purpose for them.

This reminds me of a few years ago when the news on every station was talking about the "BLIZZARD OF '99!" It was... two feet of snow. It snows in Chicago. Quit freaking out, people. I drove to the Hard Rock for dinner when the so-called "blizzard" hit.

To repeat, I AM NOT SCARED. And I don't think it serves any good to try and scare healthy people into getting the shot. If you're at risk for further complications as a result of getting the flu, go get the shot. But everyone else out there, stop acting like it's Armageddon. It's the flu.

[Hal]

I found the 'flu to be quite dehabilitating the only time I have caught a genuine case of it. I was moaning in bed just out of sheer frustration more than anything else :)

People on this thread have talked about the risks associated with vaccination. Many vaccines including the one for influenza have their side-affects and risks - at the end they have to be weighed up with the chances of coming into contact with the disease and the potential consequences if you contract it.

Given the statistics, I personally think that the young, the elderly, and those in contact with either on a regular basis should be vaccinated as a precaution. Those that are not can do so at their own discretion as there is always the flip side of wasting precious vaccine on perfectly healthy people.

Given the above statements, while I have been vaccinated against many diseases in my life, influenza is not one of them.

- Hal

[Chaerophon]

I'm actually allergic to the flu shot. It is 'cultured' (?) in raw egg. I received one about six years ago and spent the night in the hospital with horrendous asthma. But that's not all! Shortly after the onset of my asthma attakc, I proceeded to break out into "giant hives" for the first time since my fifth Christmas. Mmmmmm... swollen hands and feet and great big itchy sore blotches disappearing and reappearing intermittently... nothing like it!

I have to say though, it's a damn shame. No egg nog! It's what got me in trouble the first time, when I was five. To this day, I can think of few things that I crave more. :) Supposedly there is another means of receiving the vaccination; however, from what I understand, the price is definitely not right.

[kandrathe]

I was almost killed by the influenza pandemic of 1965 and stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks. But, as an adult, I would never get the shot myself unless I was at risk. My 2yr old and 4yr old got the shot this year. They are the primary vectors of disease in my household.

About mild flu, versus severe flu. I think DeeBye is accurate in his description of the typical wave of bird flu that we get here every year, but he, I, and numerous adults are partially immune as we have experienced numerous strains over the years. When the flu makes the jump from birds to swine to humans, the flu can be extremely severe as it has more completely adapted to a mammalian host before spreading to humans. It is a destructive disease, and I try to avoid getting it.

[Munkay]

When the flu makes the jump from birds to swine to humans, the flu can be extremely severe as it has more completely adapted to a mammalian host before spreading to humans. [right][snapback]57983[/snapback][/right]

Thank goodness I don't live in the country! *hides in the city*

I've lucked out and avoided the real flu my entire life, the worst I've ever recieved was a 7 day viral infection that left me crippled. Symptoms were similar to the flu (headache, fever, severly achy joints, throwing up). I remember sleeping for 19 hours straight, being awake for 4, and then going back to sleep for 26 hours. I wish I was kidding.

By the 6th day the over the counter drugs I was taking for it had caused my sinus' to dry out so severely that they decided to rip open and give me the worst bloody nose I've ever had.

Somewhere I have a picture my brother took of me, the rings around my eyes were quite literally black. I look like a racoon :lol: .

Thankfully things began to improve by the 7th day and I stayed clear of a hospital visit.

I've never recieved a flu shot, and hopefully will never need to get one. That one infection is enough to scare me into considering one though.

Cheers.

Munk

[Minionman]

I got sick like that a few times when I was younger. I didn't get the black circles or take any drugs, but was asleep must of the time with a high fever and my mind went a little wacko, once I think had some hallucinations and most of the time things just seem scarier or stranger, there are probably some drugs that do the same kinds of things to people's minds.


Anyway if the flu shots are only for the "real" flu, I probably won't bother with any.

[Occhidiangela]

Why are people freaking out about flu shots?  I've never received a flu shot, and I'm still alive.  Unless you are young enough to be mewling and puking in the nurse's arms, or old enough to do the same, the flu isn't a big deal.

I get the flu once a year, without fail.  I can handle the flu.  I feel lousy for a few days, and maybe I barf a bit.  Big deal.  So why is everyone suddenly concerned about the availability of flu shots?

(I'd rather have the flu instead of getting a needle)
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For the past 28 y ears, I have allegedly been given the flu shot due to the rules that are supposed to be followed. I'd have to check my shot record again, but I think I got it 15 times in the last 28 years. In 1977-78 winter, when the Russian flu hit, a good half of the midshipmen at the Naval Academy, who had had their flu shots (we were unable to avoid the serum gun there, 15 demerits if you missed it and weren't on the football team . . .) were sick as dogs and unable to get out of bed to get to class. I was barely hit, drank about a gallon and a half of mixed lemonade per day, got over it. My roomie was floored for six days.

Flu shots: some folks need it more than others, but the hysteria is complete BS.

I have not noticed myself getting any sicker during any winter than another, flu shot or no. When it was convenient, I'd take it in the hopes that I'd not get sicker that season.

Media hysteria serves no one, but you see, it is election year, so everything is full of drama, eh? I spit.

Occhi

[kandrathe]

...

Media hysteria serves no one, but you see, it is election year, so everything is full of drama, eh?  I spit.

Occhi
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What is ironic is that the US tried to ramp up to 100 million doses from the prior year, as the demand in 2003 was higher than the 70 million anticipated. So, the 50 million that did get produced this year should be sufficient to meet the need, but not the demand. The real need is for critical personel, and those with compromised immune systems. The rest of us, even children and the elderly, could suffer through with proper traditional medical treatments.

[Taem]

Only TWO times in my entire life was I ever so severely incapacitated and sick with fever that I thought I might be near death.

Before the age of 15 I had gotten the flu many times. Once when I was a child I got so sick I had to go to the hospital. They told my parents there wasn't anything they could do for it except a decongestant and lots of water/juice and that I'd just to wait it out. I was sick for 2-3 weeks.

I consider myself in fair health (I exercise and eat healthy), have four kids who pass on infections all the time, and I NEVER get sick. The past four years I have not received one single cold but my entire family was BED-RIDDEN three times. I don't recall being sick between the ages of 16-21, but after the age of 23 I have only gotten the flu once, and this time happened to be when I got the flu shot! I was so sick, I had to go to the hospital again for a temperature above 105 (they gave me a shot of some kind to bring my temperature down), constant chills that made my head split and my bones ache when my body shook, some vomiting, and a overall feeling that I was going to die any moment. Everyone I know that actually GOT the flu shot that year got sick. The people that did NOT get the flu shot got mildly sick.

Call it just a hunch, but I'll NEVER get the flu shot again as long as I live!

[Occhidiangela]

Only TWO times in my entire life was I ever so severely incapacitated and sick with fever that I thought I might be near death.

Before the age of 15 I had gotten the flu many times.  Once when I was a child I got so sick I had to go to the hospital.  They told my parents there wasn't anything they could do for it except a decongestant and lots of water/juice and that I'd just to wait it out.  I was sick for 2-3 weeks.

I consider myself in fair health (I exercise and eat healthy), have four kids who pass on infections all the time, and I NEVER get sick.  The past four years I have not received one single cold but my entire family was BED-RIDDEN three times.  I don't recall being sick between the ages of 16-21, but after the age of 23 I have only gotten the flu once, and this time happened to be when I got the flu shot!  I was so sick, I had to go to the hospital again for a temperature above 105 (they gave me a shot of some kind to bring my temperature down), constant chills that made my head split and my bones ache when my body shook, some vomiting, and a overall feeling that I was going to die any moment.  Everyone I know that actually GOT the flu shot that year got sick.  The people that did NOT get the flu shot got mildly sick.

Call it just a hunch, but I'll NEVER get the flu shot again as long as I live!
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According to the info passed on by our medical folks, there are entire classes of people who should not get the flu vaccine, for example those allergic to chicken feathers, and it seems that each year that list gets longer.

Maybe you hit a sweet spot that they had not discovered yet.

105 degrees? Ouch! That's nasty.

Occhi

[LavCat]

I got my flu shot this morning, and I'm very glad I did. (...well, I wish that it had been afternoon, but that's a different story.)