Who is getting the flu shots?

Ramirez

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This year it sounds like two shots, one for H1N1 and one for the usual flu.

I am, and making sure my kids get both, and of course my wife and myself. I was talking to my son's pediatrician and the latest medical opinion is that a strain of H1N1 was around in the '50s which is why anyone around at that time is not as prone to it as the younger demographic.
 

Frostbite

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I got the regular shot, which I do every year just by nature of the fact that my company gives them out for free. I'm not worried enough about H1N1 to try to get one of those.

I did hear that H1N1 wasn't hitting retirement homes as heavily as they'd suspected it would and they're wondering if older people had either already been exposed to it or just had stronger immune systems in general, due to the fact that they didn't worry as much in the olden days about sanitizing your hands every time you touched a door handle, etc.
 

Xinglu

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I'm not concerned at all about H1N1. Furthermore, that "vaccine" hasn't really been studied or tested much. I'm not a huge fan of testing it on the general public, so I will refrain from getting it.
 

Flea

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I usually get the regular flu shot. As for the swine? I only take that on my plate. :cheers:
 

grydth

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My daughters and I got the regular flu shot last month.

Even though H1N1 is breaking out around here, no vaccine for that is available....... nice job government! If we get through this, we have the virus alone to thank, for not mutating as it did in 1918.

Listening to all the public health officials doing the self-congrats when there's nothing to be had.... well, makes me want to exhibit certain flu symptoms.
 

girlbug2

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My dh got a flu shot for free through his work. I won't get the flu shot for myself because I'm not in the high risk group. My older kid had H1N1 over the summer, and I suspect my other son and I had a milder case of it shortly before he did...but we were never tested because the symptoms were mild, so we don't know...

In any case, I'm ambivalent every year about the flu shots to begin with. I stopped getting mine about 4 years ago because I'm one of the healthiest people I know and rarely get colds, much less a flu. So I feel that it's best to let others take the shots, esp. if there's a shortage.

I'm also not convinced they are very effective, or that they will be the correct strain to protect against. Look what happened previously with that, and tell me you have confidence in the CDC!

Nonetheless, I will probably at least insist on my boys getting regular flu shots soon, because they haven't had them for the past two flu seasons and it may help build their general immunity to flus. But no H1N1 for any of us, thanks.
 

Bob Hubbard

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Haven't gotten a flu shot in 20+ years. Don't plan on starting any time soon.
 

jks9199

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Got the flu shot this year.

Proceeded to have swollen glands, and a headache for two weeks, with some sort of ear ache/sinus headache thing that hasn't completely gone away yet. And now I've got a cold...
 

Tames D

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Got the flu shot this year.

Proceeded to have swollen glands, and a headache for two weeks, with some sort of ear ache/sinus headache thing that hasn't completely gone away yet. And now I've got a cold...

Well, at least you didn't get the flu
icon10.gif
. Personally, I don't trust the shots. Never got one.
 

shesulsa

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While a handful of people have died, it is not the deadly outbreak we were told it was going to be.

I think these things are more a test as to how we, the public, are going to respond in a crisis.

Last flu shot I got gave me the flu, so ... I don't get them anymore.
 
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Ramirez

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Last flu shot I got gave me the flu, so ... I don't get them anymore.

The way I understand it, the flu shot will not give you the flu, you may already have had the flu or you might get another infection that coincides with the flu but you will not get the flu that the shot is immunizing you against.

You have to also remember that the flu shot (actually any vaccination) does not work on everyone, if we didn't make the entire population get the polio vaccination then the individuals it doesn't work on might contract it from those that contract polio who don't get the shot.
 

shesulsa

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The way I understand it, the flu shot will not give you the flu, you may already have had the flu or you might get another infection that coincides with the flu but you will not get the flu that the shot is immunizing you against.

You have to also remember that the flu shot (actually any vaccination) does not work on everyone, if we didn't make the entire population get the polio vaccination then the individuals it doesn't work on might contract it from those that contract polio who don't get the shot.

Yeah, I've hashed and re-hashed the whole vaccination argument many times before and I won't argue with you. I will say that I think there is a lot to immunity the state of medicine doesn't understand.

Immunity doesn't work the same way in everybody and if you do your research, you will find the elements of a killed virus can (but not always will) cause your immune system to react and program immunity - that's the way the vaccine is supposed to work from killed virus. Problem is, for those with faulty immune systems, that's enough to cause a full-blown flu episode. It should be noted that not all with "faulty immune systems" are diagnosed as such.

And - the doctor said I had the flu and likely got it from the vaccine, so ... there ya go.

If they work for you, get them. They don't for me, so ... I don't.
 
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Ramirez

Ramirez

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And - the doctor said I had the flu and likely got it from the vaccine, so ... there ya go.

Really? My doctor told me differently...still though, you never know, I heard doctors were telling parents that vaccinations were not preserved with Thirmesol (the preservative with mercury) because they didn't want the parents of children foregoing important immunizations for the slight probability that it caused autism (since disproven btw).
 

shesulsa

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As I said, I think there's a lot to know about immunity that we don't yet know and that we might see a big change in how we approach immunity in the next 20 years.
 
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Ramirez

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As I said, I think there's a lot to know about immunity that we don't yet know and that we might see a big change in how we approach immunity in the next 20 years.

http://www.umm.edu/features/flu_vac.htm

"Many people believe the flu shot can cause the flu," Chen said. "There is no live virus in the vaccine so it truly cannot cause the flu. However, some people do experience one of the common fall or winter viruses shortly after vaccination and will simply mistake those infections for the flu."
 

shesulsa

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So ... go get your shot, man. I'm staying right here.
 

elder999

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Living with what they say is the equivalent of half a lung, I get the flu shot. I also got the H1N1 vaccine-which is a little scarier than regular vaccinations (live virus, Mark!)-a couple of weeks ago, courtesy of Uncle Sam.

Still here.....
 
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Ramirez

Ramirez

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Living with what they say is the equivalent of half a lung, I get the flu shot. I also got the H1N1 vaccine-which is a little scarier than regular vaccinations (live virus, Mark!)-a couple of weeks ago, courtesy of Uncle Sam.

Still here.....

good to hear, still waiting for you to develop that Star Trek transporter so I can cut down on my morning commute.
 

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