Does the flu shot really work?

[margarita25]

For the record, I recommend the following products:

Kickass immune
Emergen C
Zycam
Cold Snap
Airborne
Lots of Fruit and Vegetable Juices

Jmo

 

[BeginnersLuck]

http://www.wthr.com/story/27757458/flu-death-toll-in-indiana-rises-to-36

New numbers from the state health department show 31 new flu deaths. All of them occurred within a week.

 

[Arnie M]

http://www.wthr.com/story/27757458/flu-death-toll-in-indiana-rises-to-36

Thanks .... notice the comment at the end of the article .... Medical experts have said this year's vaccine is less effective than they'd hoped.

 

[Arnie M]

For the record, I recommend the following products:

Kickass immune
Emergen C
Zycam
Cold Snap
Airborne
Lots of Fruit and Vegetable Juices

Jmo

.... plus stay away from people who have the flu ... I swear some folks seem to like coughing and spewing viruses
wherever they can .... they should at least partly quarantine themselves.

We dont catch the flu from any other source.

We need more enlightenment on HOW NOT TO SPREAD THE FLU

... instead of all the publicity and hype about vaccines

My thinking anyway.

best wishes

 

[Zuri]

Am I understanding that those of you who still got the flu after getting a flu shot, tested positive for Influenza A and Influenza B viruses?

 

[LinasK]

For the record, I recommend the following products:

Kickass immune
Emergen C
Zycam
Cold Snap
Airborne
Lots of Fruit and Vegetable Juices

Jmo

They help when you are sick- I really like Emergen C over Airborne and Zycam, but none of them are protection from the flu. Get the shot people!!!

 

[LinasK]

Well, I'm feeling run down, under the weather today- probably DH's Cold, so I may have to put off getting my flu shot a few more days...

 

[killarney rose]

Am I understanding that those of you who still got the flu after getting a flu shot, tested positive for Influenza A and Influenza B viruses?

I had B

 

[BeginnersLuck]

.... plus stay away from people who have the flu ... I swear some folks seem to like coughing and spewing viruses
wherever they can .... they should at least partly quarantine themselves.

We dont catch the flu from any other source.

We need more enlightenment on HOW NOT TO SPREAD THE FLU

... instead of all the publicity and hype about vaccines

My thinking anyway.

best wishes

It's hard because so many employers still want their employees to come into work even if they are sick. I really shouldn't eat out at all at this time of year. I have seen so many ill people working in the food industry.

I am trying to be more aware of touching my face when I am out in public and haven't washed my hands first. This is something I need to work on and also I need to get some hand sanitizer to put in my purse.

 

[wfgodot]

Okay, so far, so good; almost a week after the jab and am not yet a walking flu cauldron. "Yet" perhaps key word.

 

[Arnie M]

It's hard because so many employers still want their employees to come into work even if they are sick. I really shouldn't eat out at all at this time of year. I have seen so many ill people working in the food industry.

I am trying to be more aware of touching my face when I am out in public and haven't washed my hands first. This is something I need to work on and also I need to get some hand sanitizer to put in my purse.

Agreed ... I find it ironic how sick people in food service or cashiers think nothing of coughing over our food or groceries

A lot of companies now send sick staff home with pay so they do not infect another 10 employees.

You are right ... dont touch your face until you sanitize your hands .... I carry hand sanitizer in my car and use it as soon as I am done shopping or whatever ... especially because I smoke (touch face)

I am not a germaphobe but I have become very careful in supermarkets .... I never set lettuce or fresh fruits or veggies on the conveyer at the cashout ... all kinds of stuff leaks onto it all day long from meat packages and who knows what.

 

[Tugela]

I didn't save the notes , but the other day I came across a medical study that said...

--Out of 100 people in the USA 4 will get the flu if they were not vaccinated

--Out of 100 people who were vaccinated only 1 will get the flu

They then used those figures to state a person has a 75% more of chance to get the flu if they are not vaccinated ... sounds scary at first glance , it is technically true , but it is also a play on numbers.

I look at it a different way .... to vaccinate 100 people in order to prevent flu in only 3 people sounds like a big campaign which produces miniscule results

And to look at it in the truest sense 96% of the people were never ever going to get the flu in the first place

Yet I suppose if I got one of those nasty strains of flu I would regret not getting the shot

I doubt that is true. It would imply that non vaccinated people get the flu on average once every 25 years, and vaccinated people get the flu once every 100 years. That would make it unusual for people to get the flu at all. Obviously that is not true. Most people I know have had the flu a lot more than that, there is no way those numbers you cite are correct.

 

[Tugela]

Everyone I know who has gotten the flu shot this season has gotten the flu. I have friends who got the shot who are laid up sick as a dog as we speak. Jmo

The reason for that is they make a guess about what strain will be prevalent the next year so they can produce enough doses in time. This is done in advance. It is however still a guess, and a different strain might be dominant the following year. As it happens, they guessed wrong for this year, so flu shots people got this year have been mostly ineffective.

The vaccination you receive reduces the risk of getting infected, and if you do get infected, reduces the severity of the infection by priming your immune system so that it can activate faster if virus does get into your body. It is the reaction of your immune system to the virus that produces the symptoms of the flu - the longer the delay in getting your immune system ramped up, the more virus will be in your body and the more severe the symptoms will be when they get mopped up. Usually when people die from the flu it is their immune system that kills them, not the virus itself. This is why you will typically see deaths among young healthy people (strong immune systems without previous exposure to a particularly virulent strain - they are slow to get started and then generate a massive response suddenly), or older people with other health issues whose bodies can't take all the toxins released when their immune systems are activated.

Being vaccinated is a case of feeling a bit off for a day or two (or not even noticing that you have been infected) as opposed to being laid up in bed for a week. Vaccination does not guarantee that you won't get infected however (no vaccine will do this).

 

[Arnie M]

I doubt that is true. It would imply that non vaccinated people get the flu on average once every 25 years, and vaccinated people get the flu once every 100 years. That would make it unusual for people to get the flu at all. Obviously that is not true. Most people I know have had the flu a lot more than that, there is no way those numbers you cite are correct.

Those numbers I gave are for every year , not per lifetime.

 

[Portabella]

The flu going around this year is a horror, I have been in bed for four days and counting....I got my flu shot back in Oct, and got swabbed this past Monday and positively have the flu. My best friend, her two daughter, husband, and two grandkids are all laid up also....It is going around NE Colorado like a fury. IMHO

 

[LinasK]

Hoping I am enough over this cold to get my flu shot Monday. It's still been sapping my energy and having a tough time getting rid of the congestion even with Mucinex, drinking tea, etc, etc,

 

[LinasK]

Well I did it, got my flu shot this morning, but I still have congestion from my cold- only a week into it, so not over it, so we'll see how bad I feel in the next couple of days. Not planning to do much, stopped at Whole Foods on the way home to pick up a healthy salad from their salad bar. It ended up being brunch- I get carried away by their potluck variety of foods.

 

[Skitz]

Has anyone ever gotten a flu shot and still contracted the flu?

Funny I should stumble into this question right after I read this article:

http://healthimpactnews.com/2014/cd...uenza-outbreak-on-fully-vaccinated-navy-ship/

I am a regular reader of a health newsletter that emphasizes nutritional supplements. It is written by a doctor who strongly suggests NOT taking the flu shot. His main reasons are that the flu shots contain small amounts of unwanted and potentially dangerous substances (mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde) and that they are not effective ENOUGH to warrant the risks posed by the unwanted substances the vaccine contains.

Oddly, he argues that the flu shots are least needed by young healthy people with strong immune systems and also least effective on some who need it most, the elderly, because the immune systems of the elderly are weaker and less responsive to the stimulation that the vaccine may offer. Then you have to factor in the hit-and-miss guesswork of the annual vaccine formulations that may or may not actually help protect against the strain of flu you are likely to encounter.

I stopped taking the annual vaccine at least 6 years ago while also improving my diet. Then I started adding vitamins and other nutritional supplements. I have not had any problems with the flu during this period. I have had several colds during this period, a couple of which were pretty strong ones that may or may not have been caused by the flu virus, but so far no full blown, knock-me-out cases of the flu. Knock on wood.

 

[LinasK]

Funny I should stumble into this question right after I read this article:

http://healthimpactnews.com/2014/cd...uenza-outbreak-on-fully-vaccinated-navy-ship/

I am a regular reader of a health newsletter that emphasizes nutritional supplements. It is written by a doctor who strongly suggests NOT taking the flu shot. His main reasons are that the flu shots contain small amounts of unwanted and potentially dangerous substances (mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde) and that they are not effective ENOUGH to warrant the risks posed by the unwanted substances the vaccine contains.

Oddly, he argues that the flu shots are least needed by young healthy people with strong immune systems and also least effective on some who need it most, the elderly, because the immune systems of the elderly are weaker and less responsive to the stimulation that the vaccine may offer. Then you have to factor in the hit-and-miss guesswork of the annual vaccine formulations that may or may not actually help protect against the strain of flu you are likely to encounter.

I stopped taking the annual vaccine at least 6 years ago while also improving my diet. Then I started adding vitamins and other nutritional supplements. I have not had any problems with the flu during this period. I have had several colds during this period, a couple of which were pretty strong ones that may or may not have been caused by the flu virus, but so far no full blown, knock-me-out cases of the flu. Knock on wood.

You can get flu shot without mercury in them. That's what my daughter's pediatrician gets. Hope you never get the full-on flu, you'll change your mind about getting the shot. The discomfort I've had is minor in comparison to having the full-on flu. And I'm very high risk because I have asthma. I got my shot yesterday and DD will get hers next week.

 

[Arnie M]

Funny I should stumble into this question right after I read this article:

http://healthimpactnews.com/2014/cd...uenza-outbreak-on-fully-vaccinated-navy-ship/

I am a regular reader of a health newsletter that emphasizes nutritional supplements. It is written by a doctor who strongly suggests NOT taking the flu shot. His main reasons are that the flu shots contain small amounts of unwanted and potentially dangerous substances (mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde) and that they are not effective ENOUGH to warrant the risks posed by the unwanted substances the vaccine contains.

Oddly, he argues that the flu shots are least needed by young healthy people with strong immune systems and also least effective on some who need it most, the elderly, because the immune systems of the elderly are weaker and less responsive to the stimulation that the vaccine may offer. Then you have to factor in the hit-and-miss guesswork of the annual vaccine formulations that may or may not actually help protect against the strain of flu you are likely to encounter.

I stopped taking the annual vaccine at least 6 years ago while also improving my diet. Then I started adding vitamins and other nutritional supplements. I have not had any problems with the flu during this period. I have had several colds during this period, a couple of which were pretty strong ones that may or may not have been caused by the flu virus, but so far no full blown, knock-me-out cases of the flu. Knock on wood.

Thank you Skitz for the link to that article ... very interesting all 102 Sailors were vaccinated yet 16 to 25 got the flu

(Companion article to your link) http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6342a3.htm?s_cid=mm6342a3_e



Quote from the article

On February 10, 2014, the USS Ardent, a U.S. Navy minesweeper, was moored in San Diego, California, while conducting training. Over the course of 3 days, 25 of 102 crew members sought medical care because of influenza-like illness (ILI).

Nasal swab specimens were collected from each patient, and initial rapid influenza testing indicated 16 cases of influenza A. Ultimately, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing conducted by the Naval Health Research Center determined that 20 specimens were influenza A, of which 18 were subtype H3N2. Two specimens could not be subtyped. The HA gene sequence of an outbreak isolate was 99% identical to strains circulating during the 2013–14 influenza season and antigenically similar to the H3N2 component of the 2013–14 influenza vaccine.

At the time of the outbreak, 99% of the crew had received influenza vaccine.

. This outbreak highlights the risk for an H3N2 influenza outbreak among vaccinated and otherwise healthy young persons.