Do you get a flu shot?

[Fawlty]

Here's my take on the matter. Quite often, the vaccine does not match the circulating strain. It's a bit of a crap shoot when they develop it, and are often wrong. When you get the vaccine, your immune system is put to work, as that's how vaccines work. So your immune system is busy dealing with wimpy vaccine, which doesn't match the circulating strain. If circulating strain catches your immune system while it's busy doing the tango with vaccine strain, it has a bit of an open door to come in a wreak havoc. Bam!

Is that just with live virus? I heard the latest stuff they were giving wasn't attenuated, but dead. Also, sorry if this is outside your experience, do you think there's any danger of wiping out the weakest half of the virus each year, making it on average, stronger, each successive year of mass vaccination? I had an argument about this earlier tonight and was way the fuck over my head...

 

[Josh]

Is that just with live virus? I heard the latest stuff they were giving wasn't attenuated, but dead. Also, sorry if this is outside your experience, do you think there's any danger of wiping out the weakest half of the virus each year, making it on average, stronger, each successive year of mass vaccination? I had an argument about this earlier tonight and was way the fuck over my head...

It's mostly over my head as well, but what I do know is that it's a moot point anyways most years, as the vaccine strain doesn't match the circulating strain.

Again, it's over my head, but my understanding is that alive or dead, the vaccine still requires a response from your immune system to work, and your immune system has a very finite limit on how much it can do at once. This is supported anecdotally by all of the sick and unwell people I pick up in the ambulance a day or two after they've had their vaccination.

 

[CubicleGangster]

I don't remember the last time I had the flu or a flu shot

 

[JonesBones]

That's why you get the shot in late summer/early fall. The vaccine takes like 2 weeks to protect you. By the time cold and flu season comes around you're set.

The shot is a dead virus, I think the spray may be living.

Even if it only protects you 50% of the time it is still worth it considering the misery and complications it can cause. Especially if you're old or have other medical conditions.

 

[Siderealmotion]

How the fuck did the human race make it this far without the flu shot? It mustve been God saving us all those millions of years until we could invent flu shots. Or maybe it was Mark Wahlberg. Oh wait, isnt the earth only 6000 years old? Anyway, thats still a long time. The mind wobbles.

By living in small, isolated communities where people rarely ventured more than a few miles from where they were born. Living short, painful lives wracked with permanent scars from diseases and injuries that today don't even merit a trip to the hospital. Only surviving by cranking out children and hoping that enough survived to carry on the family?

 

[Stranger Come Knocking]

You asking or telling?

 

[bubbleboyjones]

damn no one posted this yet!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG5pj_TWJ6o

I got a shot then 6 months later, I got the bad flu in the summer never again

I completely forgot about this. I remember it scared the shit out if me and probably prevented me from getting any flu shot.

My fathers story is similar to yours. He got a flu shot 30 years ago for the first time in his life, got the flu bad 3 or 4 days later. Never got a shot since and hasn't had the flu since(other than stomach flu or anything else serious). I've never had a flu shot in my life but have had the a few times. Im sure they work but I'm completely upset about the lack of information to the public about any side effects from getting a shot no matter how rare they are. These fucking people on the news are telling people to get a shot blindly , no matter what and they don't go into anything else about the pluses and minuses to a shot. It reminds me of how people in the media tell everyone to go to college without any negatives

 

[Rusk]

well experts can go and .....

 

[Rjay]

Here's my take on the matter. Quite often, the vaccine does not match the circulating strain. It's a bit of a crap shoot when they develop it, and are often wrong. When you get the vaccine, your immune system is put to work, as that's how vaccines work. So your immune system is busy dealing with wimpy vaccine, which doesn't match the circulating strain. If circulating strain catches your immune system while it's busy doing the tango with vaccine strain, it has a bit of an open door to come in a wreak havoc. Bam!

I can assure you thats not how the works. The immune system is perfectly capable to launching multiple responses, and in any case the flu vaccine is systemic, while the virus you encounter is the wild is encountered in the respiratory system.

The flu vaccine is helpful, but it's no magic bullet. Sometimes the strains don't match, sometimes the patient's response is not good (especially in older people), and sometimes people have mild flu systems from the immune response to the vaccine. Thats why we keep doing research to make a better one. But that doesn't mean it's useless. When H1N1 came through in 2008 alot of people I know were very, very sick. Severe influenza is no joke, especially if you have pre-existing illnesses. If you're seeing your doctor anyway or it's offered through work, I would absolutely recommend getting the shot. As for the sentiment that "I just work on having a healthy immune system", well the 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic didn't kill ~50 million people because they didn't eat enough fruits and vegetables. Season influenza isn't going to do that, but the moral of the story is influenza isn't just a common cold.

 

[Killswitch91]

Nope, never. Hate needles with a burning passion.

 

[sangreporsangre]

Never had one, and I never get sick. Havent had a cold in over 3 years, havent had the flu since I was a kid, the only illness Ive had in the last 3 years was Norwalk virus I got from food poisoning in 2011. Until last month however, I got the flu and it kicked my ass. It was a couple weeks before Christmas I guess, and I was wiped out. So yea, I believe when they say this flu season has been worse than previous years because I cant think of a single person I know who hasnt been sick to some degree in the last month, and my illustrious streak of good health finally ended

 

[satchmo]

One of the better pieces of preventative medicine you can get, particularly for high risk patients. Unless you're a fan of conspiracy theories, in which case they are the government's way of exerting mind control and planting tracking devices. Sounds legit.

http://www.conspiracy.itgo.com/custom.html

 

[faustian]

Stopped getting flu shots in 2009 iirc. I've yet to catch the flu. I had pneumonia when I was six and haven't been sick since lol.

 

[CC's left foot]

Somehow humanity has survived all these centuries without a flu shot.

 

[Don Quixote]

havent had one in years. Seems like the people I know that get one are always the ones getting sick.

 

[satchmo]

Somehow humanity has survived all these centuries without a flu shot.

And has done so without antibiotics, cardiovascular meds, cancer meds etc...yet we have them know and they help us continue to thrive as a species. Or just be ignorant and refuse to get one on those grounds.

 

[Real_Magi]

I haven't had one for about 15 years and any time I get sick it goes through me in literally a day. It never even fucks with me that bad. I get super mild symptoms and they never last longer than a day.

Everyone in my family will get crazy sick as it passes between them and no one is ever surprised that I either don't get sick at all or it just barely affects me.

 

[TeTe]

I have never had a flu shot nor have I ever had the flu in my 33 years.

Now that I say that, I'll probably get it.

 

[Chorizo Grease**]

I dont see the point.

 

[Real_Magi]

And has done so without antibiotics, cardiovascular meds, cancer meds etc...yet we have them know and they help us continue to thrive as a species. Or just be ignorant and refuse to get one on those grounds.

Antibiotics are not good and get rid of your body's natural biotics that keep you healthy. They are necessary sometimes but make no mistake, they are not good for you. People who are exposed to antibiotics for extended periods of time severely weaken their ability to fight illnesses.

Cancer treatments also reduce the person's ability to fight illness. Someone who is going through chemo and radiation can not get sick at any cost because their immune system is non existent.

I'm not saying that either of those are unnecessary, because sometimes they are the lesser of two evils, but I will say that it is in the medical industry's best interest to treat people for illnesses rather than cure them.