Flu shot this year

I voted unsure at first but ended up getting a flu shot. The poll won't let anyone change results.

 

Didn't vote - the poll was closed by the time I got to this topic. I wrote out I wasn't but never got the chance to actually vote. I don't get the flu shot because; #1 my immune system is messed up enough that I don't know how my body might react to purposely putting a germ in it and #2 I rarely get any flu so I think my chances are better not taking it at all than taking it on purpose. (I guess #1 was kinda the same as #2 just put differently).

Anyway, I didn't vote wrong

Opps! You changed your reply Interpid so this might not make sense to some...

 

Yeah I re-read what you wrote Holly and realized it was not because you had voted something different initially but because you had not voted at all Sorry!

I'll see if I can change the date of the poll and extend it.

 

No worries. It's really interesting to read peoples take on the flu shot issue. Didn't realize there were such strong opinions about it.

 

I did not get a flu shot, and, as far as I can tell, it did let me vote.

Efficacy/safety of the flu shot has NOT been determined in elderly or pediatric populations, according to the package insert of the flu shot.

In fact, it has been deemed INEFFECTIVE in seniors, and this year, they are giving seniors a flu shot with quadrupled antigen levels--which is proving to have increased side effects. Reported in the StarTribune:

"Studies have shown that the larger dose stimulates the immune system to respond more aggressively against influenza. But research hasn't yet proven that the vaccine is more effective for seniors. Answers to that question are expected in 2014 or 2015, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The federal agency has taken no position yet on whether seniors should opt for this type of vaccine." (I guess this way, if the rate of adverse effects is higher than they think, the CDC has covered their butts.)

And that 59% effectiveness figure they're quoting? According to the fine print, it's the difference between 2.9 people out of 100 who were NOT vaccinated, getting the flu, vs 1.3 people out of 100 who WERE vaccinated, getting the flu. Either way, 97% didn't get the flu anyway. For 100 who got the shot, only 1.6 more people were supposedly protected from the flu.

A study published by the Cochrane Collaborative found no evidence of benefit for influenza vaccines, and also noted that the vast majority of trials were inadequate.

Apparently, what HAS been extremely effective is the vaccine industry's marketing campaign.

Remember the infamous 2004 "flu shot shortage" in the US? We were told that there wouldn't be enough flu shots to go around. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/july-dec04/flu_10-11.html And the result was panic, and an absolute STAMPEDE to the doctor's office so that people could get "their" flu shot.

Never mind that until then, hardly anybody ever got flu shots. Those of you who can remember back 7 years are well aware that back then, only a few people with potentially serious disorders ever got flu shots.

And never mind that there are no official statistics anywhere showing such a high uptake of seasonal flu vaccine. The only statistics I could find say that there were 88 million doses of flu vaccine AVAILABLE in 2003. http://www.idph.state.il.us/public/hb/hbflu.htm And that site claims 70-90% effectiveness for the flu shot--and we now know that that figure is just a marketing gimmick, with no more truth than Wonder Bread's old claim "builds strong bodies 12 different ways!"

Funny thing this year--we've always been told that we need a new flu shot each and every year, because the flu viruses mutate, and therefore the flu shot's formulation is adjusted each year to try to address this. But this year? No change in the flu shot--it's the exact same as last year. So if you had the flu shot last year, whatever immunity you acquired should still be there.

Anybody hear the vaccine manufacturers telling you that? No way. They're STILL telling everyone that they need to buy get a flu shot.

If you feel better taking a flu shot, have never had a reaction to it, and believe the marketing hype from those who profit from its sale, by all means, go ahead and shoot up. You may be one of the lucky ones who have no side effects, and who does develop immunity to the flu.

Or maybe not. The package insert for Novartis' flu shot specifies these possible reactions caused by their shot:
*Local injection site reactions (including pain, pain limiting limb movement, redness, swelling, warmth, ecchymosis, induration)
*Hot flashes/flushes
*Chills
*Fever
*Malaise
*Shivering
*Fatigue
*Asthenia
*Facial edema.
*Immune system disorders
*Hypersensitivity reactions (including throat and/or mouth edema)
*In rare cases, hypersensitivity reactions have lead to anaphylactic shock and death
*Cardiovascular disorders
*Vasculitis (in rare cases with transient renal involvement)
*Syncope shortly after vaccination
*Digestive disorders
*Diarrhea
*Nausea
*Vomiting
*Abdominal pain.
*Blood and lymphatic disorders
*Local lymphadenopathy
*Transient thrombocytopenia.
*Metabolic and nutritional disorders
*Loss of appetite.
*Arthralgia
*Myalgia
*Myasthenia
*Nervous system disorders
*Headache
*Dizziness
*Neuralgia
*Paraesthesia
*Febrile convulsions
*Guillain-Barré Syndrome
*Myelitis (including encephalomyelitis and transverse myelitis)
*Neuropathy (including neuritis)
*Paralysis (including Bell’s Palsy)
*Respiratory disorders
*Dyspnea
*Chest pain
*Cough
*Pharyngitis
*Rhinitis
*Stevens-Johnson syndrome
*Pruritus
*Urticaria
*Rash (including non-specific, maculopapular, and vesiculobulbous).

 

Now why did you not tell me this before I had the shot?

 

Oops. :-[

 

I debated for a month but I did not think to ask if it was the same shot as last year.

 

I also read that after the fact. I am going to ask my dr about that one. I should have known because I always get real fluey the night I have the shot but this time I didn't. I guess I still had the immunity.

 

Who has had the pneumonia shot? I still am not old enough. I debate. My mother said pneumonia was the old man's friend. I don't want a pace maker for that reason.

 

I am not doing more than the flu shot.

 

The one year I did not get the flu shot, I got the flu, and it was HORRIBLE!!! Never ever, ever want to go thru that again, so I get the vaccine every year no matter what.

 

"The flu mutates" How in the world do they know that? Some different symptom shows up in a controlled group of people prior to making a 'new' flu shot that will cover the differences from the year before?

Do you think the pharmaceutical companies/conglomerates are creating a fear factor in people so they make even more money each year for unnesessary medication?

 

Actually, flu strains get DNA tested. That's how they can tell.

 

So, I understand what you're saying but how do they get the original strain? Feeling, like, really stupid here... And how bout the second question?

I read where, I think, you don't get the flu shot unless you happen to be at the doctors when your kid is getting one?

 

To develop the flu vaccine in the first place, they had to obtain samples of the flu virus. They then make the vaccine from the weakened virus. So let's say the next year comes and someone who was previously vaccinated gets the flu? Then they conclude that it is a different strain of flu virus. They again isolate it and DNA type it, etc etc etc. Now, that process started years ago, so over the years they have identified a number of different strains. The problem is that the vaccine is only good for those strains it contains. So, because of that, it's quite possible for a vaccinated person to still catch a flu.

As for part 2, I'm not generally in the high risk category for flu. What I mean by that is that while I am as susceptible as anyone else to catching the flu, I am unlikely to have any major complications from one. So I don't need to be vaccinated per se, because at worst the flu is merely an inconvenience for me. But for elderly people, young children and immuno-compromised folks, the flu can be devastating. Since I have young kids at home, pediatricians recommend that my wife and I get vaccinated, too (nasal mist), so that we don't bring something home and inadvertently infect our kids. It's more of a her immunity thing than it is to protect my wife and I specifically.

 

Thanks Wino, I appreciate the long version. :-*

 

Wino, why do they have the killed vaccine in shots for the old people like me and the nasal live one for you?

 

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/nasalspray.htm

 

This is an important, seldom discussed concern with annual flu vaccines. First, where do they get the initial sample of the virus from which to develop the vaccine? Samples are taken from people and animals in Asia, usually in summer. It is presumed that these sampled virus serotypes will be the ones that actually proliferate on their own throughout Asia and eventually will find their way into the respiratory systems of humans in Europe and North America.

But what if the virus collectors collected flu viruses that don’t end up being the ones that finally get to the Western world? Or, what if the viruses mutate and no longer have the immunological signatures of the originals from several months ago? Do flu viruses really mutate? You bet.

Here’s a summary of the problem from the Wikipedia article on influenza: (the bold face and underlined text has been emphasized by me)

It is possible to get vaccinated and still get influenza. The vaccine is reformulated each season for a few specific flu strains but cannot possibly include all the strains actively infecting people in the world for that season. It takes about six months for the manufacturers to formulate and produce the millions of doses required to deal with the seasonal epidemics; occasionally, a new or overlooked strain becomes prominent during that time and infects people although they have been vaccinated (as by the H3N2 Fujian flu in the 2003–2004 flu season). It is also possible to get infected just before vaccination and get sick with the very strain that the vaccine is supposed to prevent, as the vaccine takes about two weeks to become effective.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza

– John Blakeman