flu shots

[cocolaw]

is anybody getting a flu shot this year? i have never had one, but i was considering it because it would be so miserable to have the flu during the wedding and honeymoon!! what do you think?

 

[Inanna]

I am! It''ll be my first time too, but this year I''m not taking any chances.

 

[stephbolt]

I am going to get regular and H1N1 vaccines - I typically get a flu shot every year because I don''t want to deal with being sick if I can help it.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

I just got it on Friday. No problems, but I have been getting it every year for the last 4 years. I usually get the nasal spray, but I got there, signed the paper work, and they got the alcohol pad out, and I was like "what, I don''t qualify for the spray?" Than they tell me they are out of the spray and only have shots. I''m like were they just going to give me the shot without warning????

My arm was sore at the injection site when I used it, otherwise no side effects for me. With the nasal spray I usually get some mild congestion for a day or two, but I usually don''t mind since it is a slightly better immunization.

 

[Bia]

nope, not for me.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I got it, it''s required for med students given the environments we work in. Personally, I had no side effects except for a mildly sore injection site for the day. I would get it even if it weren''t required though.

 

[sunnyd]

I probably won''t, but FI wants me to since I had 4 colds last winter. My immune system sucks, so he doesn''t want me to get sick.

 

[jcarlylew]

we get them free through work, so i will be getting one for sure.

 

[MagsyMay]

Nope, never have, and haven''t had the flu since I was about 5 years old! Surprisingly, despite my nutrient deficient diet, I rarely get sick, even when FI or others I am in close contact with are deathly ill. Knock on wood!

 

[Smurfysmiles]

i am used to getting sick all the time so im not gonna bother. at my sisters wedding we were passing around a flask with cough syrup in it and that worked just fine lol

 

[Lynnie]

I get one every year (I work in healthcare). I''ll be getting both this year - the regular one and the H1N1.
Last year I still got the flu, even though I had gotten the shot

I think they ''missed'' on which strain to give out.

I''d get both, if I were you. Especially if travelling internationally. Can''t hurt, right? (except your arm!)

 

[TooPatient]

I don''t usually get them (no insurance and tend to get sick at the site of a needle coming at me).
B & I got them last year. And both wound up with the flu 2 months later anyway.

2 years ago B got them at work (flu & pnemonia) and was SO sick for several days after the injection. Pretty much useless. Pale, weak, sore, headache. Could barely eat.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

I usually get them every year (mostly bc if I don''t I get ragingly sick sometime in March, ugh). My school has them for free - I got mine last week, and the line was ridiculous. Everyone''s unwilling to take chances (not that I blame them - I''m certainly not taking a chance either). Apparently my school is also getting in H1N1 vaccine in a month or so and trying to get every student vaccinated. Considering the swine flu scares at work this past summer and the fact that school is a breeding ground for disease (though not as bad as a college dorm - shudder) I think I''ll be getting that one too.

 

[rhbgirl24]

Date: 10/5/2009 11:22:36 AM
Author: Bia
nope, not for me.

Ditto, I dont believe it in. Precisely why we have the swine flu.... it just makes it mutate faster causing nastier bugs....

 

[Octavia]

I''ve never gotten a flu shot (have had nasty reactions to vaccines in the past, so my doctor said not to) but I''m wondering if I should re-address it with her. I''m less worried about right now, even with the bugs going around, than about the possibility of being pregnant during flu season a couple years from now. If I have a nasty reaction, I think I''d rather find out now than later...so I''m on the fence. Might get one, might not, depending on what the doctor says.

 

[laughwithme]

It can be a pretty sensitive topic. I can understand both sides and its important for each person to make an educated choice.

For me, yes, I get it every year. I have not had the flu since I was a little girl. This year I will get the swine flu shot as well. The only reaction I have to the normal flu shot is a really sore arm for two days.

 

[DearBuddha]

I get one every year, but I also have moderate-persistent asthma, and I''m a teacher (so germs abound!). I''ll likely get the seasonal flu shot and the H1N1 shot, as well as a pneumonia vaccine, as I tend to get sick at the drop of a hat (or the sneeze of a child).

DH is VERY anti-flu shot, but even he''s planning to get one as he''s nervous of bringing something home for me to catch. Call me paranoid, but I''m not taking my chances. A friend brought the swine flu home with her from Israel and she was out of commission for near-on two weeks, and she''s in exceptional health.

And as far as pre-wedding shots go, I say do it. A friend kept pushing her shots back because she didn''t have time to do it while she planning the wedding. She''s getting married on Saturday and guess who just came down with the flu?!!

 

[jstarfireb]

I''m getting both as I work in a hospital, and this year they are requiring all employees to be vaccinated for both. However, they''re offering FluMist (the goo that goes up your nose) for the regular seasonal flu, and possibly even for H1N1, so that''s nice. I got FluMist a few years ago and actually had a very mild flu-like illness for the next 2-3 days (that''s a known side effect because it''s a live virus vaccine). To me that''s less scary than a bunch of needles. I never got flu shots until I started working in health care though.

Flu shots, BTW, do NOT cause the flu to mutate into a nastier version. They give you immunity to a particular strain of the flu, meaning that if it enters your body, your body knows right away to kill it off instead of getting sick, possibly passing it on to another host, and then killing it off. The person who said that may have been referring to antibiotics rather than vaccines, which can cause resistance among bacteria when overused. Vaccinations are a completely different story. And vaccinations in general do far more good than harm to the population. The eradication of smallpox and near-eradication of polio were due to successful vaccination campaigns.

(/soapbox!)

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Date: 10/5/2009 6:49:58 PM
Author: jstarfireb
Flu shots, BTW, do NOT cause the flu to mutate into a nastier version. They give you immunity to a particular strain of the flu, meaning that if it enters your body, your body knows right away to kill it off instead of getting sick, possibly passing it on to another host, and then killing it off. The person who said that may have been referring to antibiotics rather than vaccines, which can cause resistance among bacteria when overused. Vaccinations are a completely different story.
(/soapbox!)

Yup! Thanks Jstar
It''s a common misconception about vaccines. The Swine Flu is actually a result of recombination of avian flu and human flu strains that can mix in the pig (it''s a long and weird story how that works). But long story short is that vaccinations don''t cause worse strains of flu, so if that is your primary reason for not getting vaccines, you don''t have to worry about it.

 

[honey22]

Date: 10/5/2009 4:52:48 PM
Author: rhbgirl24

Date: 10/5/2009 11:22:36 AM

Author: Bia

nope, not for me.

Ditto, I dont believe it in. Precisely why we have the swine flu.... it just makes it mutate faster causing nastier bugs....

There is absolutely no scientific basis for this claim. As a scientist, I can tell you it''s rubbish. Don''t be afraid of the flu shot, as a population, it''s our best chance.

 

[iheartscience]

I had the flu this summer and it was miserable, so when there were free (regular) flu shots at my office last week I went and got one. Just thinking about the body aches made me get up from my desk and get it!

If the H1N1 shot is offered I'll get that too. I'm too lazy to run out and find it, but if it's down a flight of stairs, count me in!

 

[pjean]

Date: 10/5/2009 12:08:03 PM
Author: Smurfyimproved
i am used to getting sick all the time so im not gonna bother. at my sisters wedding we were passing around a flask with cough syrup in it and that worked just fine lol

Oh, my god, the germs... I just passed out.

I got one. My fiance is immunocompromised at the moment, and the last thing we need is for me to pick up the flu and give it to him. I''ll get H1N1 once they have shots - I can''t get the nasal spray because it''s a live virus, so I could give it to him.

Just in case jstarfireb''s very accurate point got lost in the - equally accurate - discussion of mutating viruses, the flu shot is not a live virus. You can''t get the ''flu from the shot.

 

[packrat]

I didn''t know the flu mist was live virus-huh, learned something new today! We did flu mist last year and this year. We got ours the Friday before last, and when I went to work that next Wednesday, we were already out of the shot and had like 10 mists left. Crazy b/c normally we don''t even start doing them until mid/late October and we usually still have stuff left over even by February! This year way more people are getting it. I''m unsure about H1N1 tho..I''m paranoid and leery of things that haven''t been in use for a while.

 

[Munchkin]

I got my traditional flu shot this year and will get the H1N1 as it becomes available.

Not to climb on a soapbox but I wouldn''t mind addressing some common misconceptions about the vaccines.

1. You can not get the flu from the flu shot. It''s like getting drunk off non-alcoholic beer - it''s all in your head. You can''t the flu from the shot any more than you can get tetanus from the tetanus shot. The vaccine does take 2 weeks to work, though. Therefore, it is entirely possible that you could develop the flu a few days after being vaccinated because you were exposed just prior to the vaccine.

The flu mist is live and there is approximately a one in one quintillion chance you can get the flu from it.

2. The flu is a respiratory illness. The vomiting/diarrhea bug is not the flu and a flu shot will not protect you.

3. Many people are afraid of the H1N1 version because it is new. In actuality, the flu shot is new EVERY year. Every year they combine strains from the previous year, Asia, etc. to make a new vaccine based on what we predict will hit the US. The H1N1 is made exactly the same way as the good old flu shot you are used to, it simply only contains one strain. The vaccine take about 6 months to make and the traditional one was already in production when H1N1 hit. If H1N1 had hit the US earlier, we probably could have added it to the traditional seasonal flu vaccine.

4. There is a a lot of media coverage regarding the swine flu vaccine that was made in the 70s and had side effects. That vaccine was made differently.

Currently, we think there will be a hierarchy of who can get the H1N1 vaccine. at risk populations include: 6 months to 4 years, household members of newborns, healthcare workers and those with chronic conditions. In truth, though, a lot of this is still in flux.