Flu Shot?

I am against taking the flu shot. My wife got fired from her job for not taking the shot. She is passionate about staying vaccine free. There is 2 against the shot!
 
I haven't the past couple of years.

Kind of a waste for me as I don't play we'll with others.

I will this year as we are expecting my next daughter. I don't want to risk making her sick.
 
The flu shot is very important if you are or are around anyone who is immune compromised. I have been battling cancer the past year and my doctors don't want me to even get out of the house during flu season, due to the risk of infection.

Regardless, the vaccine can help mitigate the severity of the symptoms if you do contract influenza. It is impossible to get the flu from the vaccine - it is a dead virus that they are injecting. What is more likely is that people that feel symptoms following the flu shot are feeling the immune response to the injection. While this can mimic flu symptoms, it is not the flu. You may feel like crap, but you won't be transmitting the disease to anyone because you don't have it!

My advice, get the shot. It takes five minutes, it's cheap (as said often free), and helps protect you and your family. The odds are so overwhelmingly in your favor that you won't even notice a thing after you get it. Play the numbers game!

[source: Chair of Infectious Disease, UT Southwestern Medical Center (close personal friend)]
 
swanicyouth said:
Flu shot ? Now your talking my language. I'm a Registered Pharmacist and a Certified Immunizer and give Flu, Zostavax (shingles), Tdap (tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis), Pneumovax (pneumonia), & Recombivax all day long.

However, I've never taken a flu shot myself. Not because I believe in some crazy conspiracy that it makes you sick or causes autism, but, because I've never had the flu.

My opinion is, if you healthy and under 65 you probably do not need it. If you are allergic to eggs or chickens, you do not want to get a regular flu shot.

If you are: diabetic, immune compromised or on immune system compromising medications, around a pregnant women, smoke, are a child care worker, live in a residential facility, have asthma/ heart disease/COPD you may want to get it.

Most Drs will tell everyone to get a flu shot, as they are very safe and often free. A LOT of places that GIVE the shot are under tremendous PRESSURE to "use up all their shots" as they are no good once the season is done. Nobody wants to be left with extra shots, keep that in mind if someone is recommending one to you.

You can not get the Flu from a flu shot. You can feel fatigued or sore at the injection site for a few days after receiving one.

People who say they "get the flu from a flu shot" are usually people who WAIT to long into glue season to get one. What can happen is, you can catch the flu from regular sources during the 2-3 week window it takes to build up flu antibodies after receiving a shot.

Also there is NO mercury in ANY flu shot. Most of the shots given do not even have a preservative in them.
Click to expand...

I'm glad I'm not the only pharmacist on here! I agree with you. I take mine every year though. I had the flu once and it was rough. This year my employer said they're mandatory. So now it's either flu shot or fired.

Chris
 
Why take something that's unneeded? I would rather get the flu than inject my body with a vaccine that you have no idea what it can develop down the road. You never truly know whats in them either. If it was mandatory I still feel I wouldn't take it. You cannot force somebody do something you don't agree with.

Nothing against the vaccine. I try to live my life in the best way possible. One being not taking pills or unneeded things.
 
I get one. It is free a work so no inconvenience nor any side effects.
 
A.P.A.D. said:
I am against taking the flu shot. My wife got fired from her job for not taking the shot. She is passionate about staying vaccine free. There is 2 against the shot!
Click to expand...

I've heard of this but have never actually seen a situation like this. More and more business' are demanding their workers get the shot, as the data shows it decreases sick days and length of sick time.
 
ssnobrakes said:
I HAD to get one, or I would lose my job. I am a Respiratory Therapist working for a big healthcare system. They require all employees to get it, or get fired. So against my will I got one because I have bills to pay.............I know 2 people who developed neuromuscular illnesses from the flu shot. You really never know what the drug companies put in these vaccines. I also have a 18 year old son with Autism and I dont care what any research or "experts" say. I believe that there is a link to Autism and newborns that get immunized that have weak immune systems. I think that in time the truth will come out. Pharmaceutical companies have deep pockets and are very powerful. There are plenty of bad drugs out there that are approved by the FDA.........BTW the flu shot I insisted on had no preservatives, but on the box it said it contained formaldihyde.
Another point I would like to make is that nothing in this world is "perfectly safe". You could die, or get deathly ill by just eating an apple. Even the CDC says that taking the flu shot has risks and can cause death.
Click to expand...

You could die from eating an apple. So why eat one? Or why do anything? Nothing is 100% safe. But the benefits far outweigh the risks. If we didn't use vaccines children would still be battling measles/mumps, diphtheria, polio, and pertussis (which is coming back due to people not getting the vaccine). Flu vaccine has kept pandemics flu outbreaks a thing of the past.
 
Rsurfer said:
That's BS Flash, maybe by coincidence.
Click to expand...

+1 wives tale!!

If you got the flu within 24 hours of getting the shot you already had the flu.

I'm too old to deal with 102+ fever...and last time I got the flu it turned into pneumonia.
My wife works in a clinic at an elementary school so everything is brought home. Right now they are seeing about 20 cases a day. Glad I got my flu shot!!

It is possible to still get the flu if you get a flu shot. They don't cover every strand of the flu (at least that's what my dr. told me) but the flu shot will not give you the flu.
 
I got one for the first time this year. Was at the VA for a physical, and the doc said I should, so since I was there, I did. No ill effects from it.

Have never been a believer in them, but if I don't get the flu this year, I may be convinced.
 
The last time I got flu shot I came down with the flu a couple of days later, so Nay.
 
I get one every year. The years I haven't I have gotten the flu and it has been brutal.
 
At first I was not even going to open the link, since it was not detailing base but I am glad I did!

The answer to if you need a flu shot or not reside in if you have a good or not so good immune system. So the short answer is yes AND no!

The flu vaccine is made by inactivating the actual flu virus and introducing it to the body so it can stimulate the production of antibodies. Now that your body is full of those antibodies ( the flu fighting guys), it can better fight the "real thing" when you do get exposed. Sounds simple enough right? Well it is not....

Although the vaccine uses a non-virulent form of the flu virus, it will produce an immune reaction and may send your body into a full out reaction mode (making you very sick, giving you the flu etc...). In addition, you can create a reaction to the suspension medium (the liquid substrate) used to deliver the vaccine. If that is not enough, you may contract an infection from the injection alone, since you are piercing your skin.

I am a health care provider and never accepted the flu vaccine. My immune system is up to par and I do my part through diet, exercise and minimizing risk and exposure to avoid getting sick. Without going into too much detail, "an ounce of prevention = 1 pound of cure"

We as a society need to stop depending on stop gap measures and take more of an active roll to "help ourselves". It makes no sense to take the flu vaccination and be complacent in doing your part just because you got the booster. That is pure ridiculousness.

A flu vaccine protects you from the flu as much as a bandaid protects a wound. It is good overall protection for minor exposure but if you saturate the bandaid full of "junk" through careless exposure then you should expect to get an infection. Same applies to the flu shot. If you do not limit your exposure; or if you run down your immune system down; or if you run your metabolism in the ground through bad habits (ie. burning the candle by both ends); and limit the ingestion of quality building blocks (through poor nutrition), then you should expect to get sick.

On the flip side, some people NEED IT!. I think it was covered before but I will reiterate it. We are looking at people with 1) chronically poor health, 2) immunosupressed patients (either because of diseases or because doctors actually give those patient's drugs to prevent their immune system to work fully) 3) the elderly (since your metabolism and immune system does tend to slow down as you age).

Regardless, always remember that there are consequences (good or bad) to any and all actions you take.

P.S. I will add that I am of the school of thought that your body needs to be challenged once in a while, so I believe that you do need to be sick once in a blue moon.
 
never. heard you get sick. but also heard the new ones will not do that. it is offered free at work. now on a side note....:bash: i rarely get sick. i have all my sick time saved for the year. 40 hours. if you dont use it, it gets paid out. noticed a dry throat last friday. well by monday i had a bad cough etc.... still not feeling right,alltho a bit better. doing 10 hour shifts sucks also. quite the BUG. i did not take off any this week. one of those deals your sick, but not enough to call off. been taking nyquil at night before bed, and caps during the day. noticed A LOT OF PEOPLE SICK AT WORK. but you know how that is. one brings the damn thing in and everyone gets it. hope to feel better for the weekend!
 
Dr_Pain said:
At first I was not even going to open the link, since it was not detailing base but I am glad I did!

The answer to if you need a flu shot or not reside in if you have a good or not so good immune system. So the short answer is yes AND no!

The flu vaccine is made by inactivating the actual flu virus and introducing it to the body so it can stimulate the production of antibodies. Now that your body is full of those antibodies ( the flu fighting guys), it can better fight the "real thing" when you do get exposed. Sounds simple enough right? Well it is not....

Although the vaccine uses a non-virulent form of the flu virus, it will produce an immune reaction and may send your body into a full out reaction mode (making you very sick, giving you the flu etc...). In addition, you can create a reaction to the suspension medium (the liquid substrate) used to deliver the vaccine. If that is not enough, you may contract an infection from the injection alone, since you are piercing your skin.

I am a health care provider and never accepted the flu vaccine. My immune system is up to par and I do my part through diet, exercise and minimizing risk and exposure to avoid getting sick. Without going into too much detail, "an ounce of prevention = 1 pound of cure"

We as a society need to stop depending on stop gap measures and take more of an active roll to "help ourselves". It makes no sense to take the flu vaccination and be complacent in doing your part just because you got the booster. That is pure ridiculousness.

A flu vaccine protects you from the flu as much as a bandaid protects a wound. It is good overall protection for minor exposure but if you saturate the bandaid full of "junk" through careless exposure then you should expect to get an infection. Same applies to the flu shot. If you do not limit your exposure; or if you run down your immune system down; or if you run your metabolism in the ground through bad habits (ie. burning the candle by both ends); and limit the ingestion of quality building blocks (through poor nutrition), then you should expect to get sick.

On the flip side, some people NEED IT!. I think it was covered before but I will reiterate it. We are looking at people with 1) chronically poor health, 2) immunosupressed patients (either because of diseases or because doctors actually give those patient's drugs to prevent their immune system to work fully) 3) the elderly (since your metabolism and immune system does tend to slow down as you age).

Regardless, always remember that there are consequences (good or bad) to any and all actions you take.

P.S. I will add that I am of the school of thought that your body needs to be challenged once in a while, so I believe that you do need to be sick once in a blue moon.
Click to expand...

I agree with this, 100%. Good post, Dr_Pain!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top