Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

Are you getting a flu shot this fall?

Yes, as soon as my workplace offers them. I get one every year. My kids just got theirs. Last year, my sister had cancer and was obviously immuno-compromised; she caught the flu earlier this year. My parents had it last year too, and we thought my dad was going to die, as he got a secondary lung infection.
 
Mine will be after October 1 along with pneumococcal.
 
No plans on getting one!
 
FYI -- this year's flu vaccines contain A/Michigan (H1N1), A/Hong King (H3N2), B/Brisbane (Victoria), and for quadrivalent vaccines, B/Phuket (Yamagata).

elle_71125 said:
Nope. I've never had it and hopefully never will. I'm a total introvert so that probably helps. :lol: I have a serious needle phobia so I avoid them at all costs. Is there a no needle version of the flue shot? I'd consider that. :oops:.
Click to expand...

I believe you can get the flu vaccine as a nasal spray.
 
It depends on whether my doctor thinks the shot will help. He thought last year’s vaccine was useless.
 
No.
 
Tekate said:
Got it this past Thursday. Can't get the over 65 yet as I hit that in December :( but I will try it in December.
Click to expand...

You'll be 65 in December?!?! :dance: :dance: :dance:
I'll be 60 in December.
Hold steady for the next five years and let me catch up! =)2
 
I am a double transplant recipient so it is one of the few vaccinations that I can receive. Also due for an pneumonia vaccine this year too.
 
I'm definitely getting it, and so are my DD and DH. We've been doing this for years now. None of us has ever had a worse reaction than a slightly sore injection site.

During the years before I began getting the flu shot every year, I had influenza 4 times. It was nasty enough that I'd rather reduce my risk by having the vaccine, even if it isn't 100% effective.
 
elle_71125 said:
Nope. I've never had it and hopefully never will. I'm a total introvert so that probably helps. :lol: I have a serious needle phobia so I avoid them at all costs. Is there a no needle version of the flue shot? I'd consider that. :oops:

My husband's job brings him into constant contact with other people so he does get his shot every year.
Click to expand...

Elle, this is interesting. I once got a flu which was horrible. I mean, really horrible. I was 8 or 9. And my mom got it, too. Also in a very severe form. Since that time, I did not have flus for 40+ years. I think this immunity is waning, but I sure wish to know what strain it was. Unfortunately, I do not remember the exact year (one could potentially look up the strain) and there is no one around to remind me, either...
 
Arkteia said:
Elle, this is interesting. I once got a flu which was horrible. I mean, really horrible. I was 8 or 9. And my mom got it, too. Also in a very severe form. Since that time, I did not have flus for 40+ years. I think this immunity is waning, but I sure wish to know what strain it was. Unfortunately, I do not remember the exact year (one could potentially look up the strain) and there is no one around to remind me, either...
Click to expand...

There is seasonal flu, and then there is the genuine flu pandemic. If it's as horrible as you say - although even seasonal flu usually makes believers out of those who previously scoffed - you could have been caught in one of the true pandemics. There was a reasonably nasty one in 68-69. I was pretty young then and did not get it, but I definitely remember the news rumble talking about "the Hong Kong flu". My mom caught "the Asian flu" of 57-58, and she was extremely ill and took a long time to fully recover.

Nasty stuff, influenza. I'm going to get the vaccines, and continue to hope that we don't see a genuinely novel strain in my lifetime. One like that can and likely will kill indiscriminately, and all the pride people take in their supposedly strong immune systems, won't matter for squat. In fact, the young and strong were actually struck down at a greater pace than the elderly and young, in the 1918 flu. They think the very strong immune response, ironically, is what drove that particular death rate.
 
ksinger said:
There is seasonal flu, and then there is the genuine flu pandemic. If it's as horrible as you say - although even seasonal flu usually makes believers out of those who previously scoffed - you could have been caught in one of the true pandemics. There was a reasonably nasty one in 68-69. I was pretty young then and did not get it, but I definitely remember the news rumble talking about "the Hong Kong flu". My mom caught "the Asian flu" of 57-58, and she was extremely ill and took a long time to fully recover.

Nasty stuff, influenza. I'm going to get the vaccines, and continue to hope that we don't see a genuinely novel strain in my lifetime. One like that can and likely will kill indiscriminately, and all the pride people take in their supposedly strong immune systems, won't matter for squat. In fact, the young and strong were actually struck down at a greater pace than the elderly and young, in the 1918 flu. They think the very strong immune response, ironically, is what drove that particular death rate.
Click to expand...

You know, logically speaking, it should have been that pandemic of 1968, because I remember that my dad did not get sick. And according to what I have read, previous pandemic was pretty close, in 1957, and the ones who got ill in 1957 did not get the one in 1968, because one of the antigens was very similar. So it is logical to assume that dad did not get our ("bad and contagious") flu because he had one in 1957. (From my memory, thought, the year was not 1968, but later, just because of where I remember myself lying).
But let us assume, pandemic of 1968. It was an A strain. What would then render me immune to B strains (that i did not get either, for years), I don't understand. I know I am not the only one as some people write in comments about having a flu once, and then being immune for many years.
 
t-c said:
FYI -- this year's flu vaccines contain A/Michigan (H1N1), A/Hong King (H3N2), B/Brisbane (Victoria), and for quadrivalent vaccines, B/Phuket (Yamagata).



I believe you can get the flu vaccine as a nasal spray.
Click to expand...

The flu vaccine as a nasal spray is not being recommended this year nor was it recommended last year.

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/prevention-15/vaccines/flu-vaccine-which-type

Experts don’t recommend the nasal spray for the 2017-2018 flu season in the U.S. because of issues with the spray’s ability to protect against the most common flu strains that sicken Americans. The spray also wasn’t recommended in the 2016-2017 flu season. Researchers are working to fix that problem, but it’s not clear when the nasal spray will again be approved for use in the U.S.
Click to expand...
 
Arkteia said:
You know, logically speaking, it should have been that pandemic of 1968, because I remember that my dad did not get sick. And according to what I have read, previous pandemic was pretty close, in 1957, and the ones who got ill in 1957 did not get the one in 1968, because one of the antigens was very similar. So it is logical to assume that dad did not get our ("bad and contagious") flu because he had one in 1957. (From my memory, thought, the year was not 1968, but later, just because of where I remember myself lying).
But let us assume, pandemic of 1968. It was an A strain. What would then render me immune to B strains (that i did not get either, for years), I don't understand. I know I am not the only one as some people write in comments about having a flu once, and then being immune for many years.
Click to expand...

I'm no doctor or epidemiologist, but I have read a bit about flu, mainly in the book "The Great Influenza - The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History" by John M. Barry. It's both a primer on flu in general and a history of the 1918 flu. Highly recommend, informative book. Anyway, from what I can dredge up before coffee, and admitting it's been some years since I read it, most flus are close genetic variations of the one the year before (antigen drift), or another recent strain. Again, as I recall, some strains do give you a bit of cross-immunity from other strains, but not always. And novel strains, like the one in 1918 (antigen shift), you're more likely to be toast.

You're probably never going to know what you had. It doesn't matter, IMO, and certainly shouldn't be part of your calculus in deciding whether to have the shot or not. Flu is a constantly moving target, and average people like you and me, really don't have the medical background to be able to say "I had this strain, so I'm immune to that strain", which is likely a wrong conclusion anyway. Even most doctors don't attempt that. It's just too complex a topic.

As I said, most people I know who have caught even a garden-variety non-pandemic flu, indicate it is right up there with the sickest they've ever been and they never want to go through anything like that again. Even a non-pandemic flu can kill - according to Barry (and I've read this in other places too), flu kills more people in the US than any other infectious disease, including AIDS. You don't have to be young, old, or immunocompromised, to find out you're one of those whose body reacts very very badly to the infection.

For the record, I did catch the flu in Jan of 2015, even though I had the flu shot. I was not told the strain (the quickie office test very probably does not indicate this) It is to the best of my knowledge, the only time in my life I've contracted an actual influenza. So I can't kid myself that my previous 50+ years without contracting a flu was due to something I had years before, and honestly, neither should you or anyone. A bunch of it is probably pure dumb luck. Anyway, the 2014-2015 shot was rated quite a bit less effective than some. So I can go down several roads with this. I could say, I probably got the flu FROM the shot (unlikely), that clearly, flu shots don't work, and aren't any good ever (also unlikely), the people who decide on which strains to put in the yearly vaccines are idiots or nefarious (very very unlikely) or, since my case ended up being relatively mild (although no picnic), that either my immune system is awesome (probably, but awesomely screwy and doing wacky things is more like it), or the shot moderated the severity. I'll never know, and truly don't care. I've got enough health issues, that I will do whatever is recommended to try to avoid some fresh hell.
 
Nope, it is a dismally ineffective vaccine.
 
Yes, I teach and get it every October. I'm having surgery October 4th and I'm not sure when to get it this year, I'll have to ask my surgeon.
 
elle_71125 said:
Nope. I've never had it and hopefully never will. I'm a total introvert so that probably helps. :lol: I have a serious needle phobia so I avoid them at all costs. Is there a no needle version of the flue shot? I'd consider that. :oops:

My husband's job brings him into constant contact with other people so he does get his shot every year.
Click to expand...
Non-needle shot available this year. Different from flumist that is not recommended.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/jet-injector.htm
 
Thanks for the info @missy

@ksinger, the experts sometimes get their strain picks wrong -- like last year -- which makes for an "ineffective vaccine". I still get the flu shot (and so do the virologists I know that research flu) because while most flu are from a few strains, a (relatively) rarer strain may still get you. So there is some utility to the vaccine even if it doesn't include the four most prevalent strains.
 
I will get the shot as soon as my office gets the shipment in. Company's medical staff comes to each floor so we don't have to even go anywhere.

My kids and DH get it every year too. I couldn't give it to my youngest because she had a cold every other week last fall so there was no clear window for vaccine. She ended up getting the flu in February but the rest of the family didn't catch it from her.
 
Yep, every year, I got it on Monday. I had my spleen out and I work in healthcare so I have multiple reasons to get it.
 
ksinger said:
I'm no doctor or epidemiologist, but I have read a bit about flu, mainly in the book "The Great Influenza - The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History" by John M. Barry. It's both a primer on flu in general and a history of the 1918 flu. Highly recommend, informative book. Anyway, from what I can dredge up before coffee, and admitting it's been some years since I read it, most flus are close genetic variations of the one the year before (antigen drift), or another recent strain. Again, as I recall, some strains do give you a bit of cross-immunity from other strains, but not always. And novel strains, like the one in 1918 (antigen shift), you're more likely to be toast.

You're probably never going to know what you had. It doesn't matter, IMO, and certainly shouldn't be part of your calculus in deciding whether to have the shot or not. Flu is a constantly moving target, and average people like you and me, really don't have the medical background to be able to say "I had this strain, so I'm immune to that strain", which is likely a wrong conclusion anyway. Even most doctors don't attempt that. It's just too complex a topic.

As I said, most people I know who have caught even a garden-variety non-pandemic flu, indicate it is right up there with the sickest they've ever been and they never want to go through anything like that again. Even a non-pandemic flu can kill - according to Barry (and I've read this in other places too), flu kills more people in the US than any other infectious disease, including AIDS. You don't have to be young, old, or immunocompromised, to find out you're one of those whose body reacts very very badly to the infection.

For the record, I did catch the flu in Jan of 2015, even though I had the flu shot. I was not told the strain (the quickie office test very probably does not indicate this) It is to the best of my knowledge, the only time in my life I've contracted an actual influenza. So I can't kid myself that my previous 50+ years without contracting a flu was due to something I had years before, and honestly, neither should you or anyone. A bunch of it is probably pure dumb luck. Anyway, the 2014-2015 shot was rated quite a bit less effective than some. So I can go down several roads with this. I could say, I probably got the flu FROM the shot (unlikely), that clearly, flu shots don't work, and aren't any good ever (also unlikely), the people who decide on which strains to put in the yearly vaccines are idiots or nefarious (very very unlikely) or, since my case ended up being relatively mild (although no picnic), that either my immune system is awesome (probably, but awesomely screwy and doing wacky things is more like it), or the shot moderated the severity. I'll never know, and truly don't care. I've got enough health issues, that I will do whatever is recommended to try to avoid some fresh hell.
Click to expand...

I don't mind getting a vaccine. I would also like to start a campaign against hand-shaking. Seriously. Nothing good in it except for spreading the germs.
Would love to read the book by Barry! Hope it is is on Kindle.
 
It's required where I work so I will get it. Still might get the flu- you never know what strain will show up during flu season.
 
No. Every time I get a flu shot I still get the flu. Probably a different strain, but I'm trying something new this year...
 
elle_71125 said:
Nope. I've never had it and hopefully never will. I'm a total introvert so that probably helps. :lol: I have a serious needle phobia so I avoid them at all costs. Is there a no needle version of the flue shot? I'd consider that. :oops:

My husband's job brings him into constant contact with other people so he does get his shot every year.
Click to expand...

There is a no needle version! If I remember correctly, the flu mist is usually 4 strain not 3 but contains dead virus and not the lab created the needle version has.
 
What is wrong with getting the needle? As long as the technician is experienced, it never bothers me. I would cringe at having something shoved up my nose though! Lol. I just found out we don't get our flu shots in until the end of Oct. beginning of Nov..
 
No. I don't ever get it. I don't think it's worth it.
 
I was offered a flu shot by my Dr. today. I said, no thanks!, never took a flu shot in my life, and I haven't caught a flu in 35 yrs.
 
No.
#1, every year, there is the rush to get a shot made to address the "expected" strains of flu for the season, I don't trust a vaccine with no background, no years of trial and research
#2, the couple times I have caved into pressure from an employer or doctor to get the shot, THAT is the year I actually had the flu. Why continue to inject my body with such things, when I got the illness, anyway? It's counterproductive, at least.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top