Does the flu shot really work?

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Did you get a flu shot this season?

  • Yes

    Votes: 408 56.7%
  • No, I don't think they work

    Votes: 143 19.9%
  • No, they are not safe

    Votes: 93 12.9%
  • No, I have a health issue that doesn't allow it

    Votes: 21 2.9%
  • Other: please explain

    Votes: 55 7.6%

  • Total voters
    720
DH procrastinated about getting his flu shot this time, meant to but didn't make the time. He got sick this weekend (from people at work who were coughing) and now he went to work feeling miserable. Hoping it's not the flu!:crossfingers:
It took our friend 3 months in the hospital to recover from the Pneumonia she had. Prevnar 13 may be the vax for it.
 
I get a flu shot every year. I do not have health insurance so I pay out of pocket for all my health care, including the flu shot.

I have NEVER had the flu. Ever. Not even as a kid.

Until this year. I have never been so sick. I thought I would die. I got my flu shot. But I also got the flu. The fever, body aches, hacking cough, pounding headache, kill-me-now flu.

It has been two weeks and I am still very weak and compromised. So, yeah, flu shots are probably a good idea, but please do not think they will 100% prevent you getting the flu.

Especially if you are around people who are constantly sick because they "don't believe" in the flu vaccine. They are the ones who get really sick, cough all over the rest of us, then take 2-3 weeks off work after infecting the entire office.

If you don't care about your own health, at least please don't be an a-hole to other people. Thanks.
 
50 to 55 thousand people die every year from complications from the flu. Of that number, only a few people had the flu shot. What does that mean? It means they already had the virus when they got the shot or was exposed to the virus right after getting it. Thats because it takes two weeks for the shot to take full effect. Again, 50 to 55 thousand people die every year. Alot of them are children.
 
Ive heard arguments against getting the shot. But one thing is for sure. Its to late to rethink your position when you are burying a child. Some people believe the shot gives you the flu. No it does not. You are not being injected with the virus. Thats a myth.
 
DH procrastinated about getting his flu shot this time, meant to but didn't make the time. He got sick this weekend (from people at work who were coughing) and now he went to work feeling miserable. Hoping it's not the flu!:crossfingers:
It took our friend 3 months in the hospital to recover from the Pneumonia she had. Prevnar 13 may be the vax for it.

Well DH had the flu (probably caught from someone at work, but it's also going around DD's school), but it only lasted a couple of days for him- unfortunately he got my DD sick, who is scheduled to go on a trip abroad in a couple of weeks, and she got it worse than him- nausea and vomiting this morning in addition to fevers of 103, congestion, difficulty breathing, and achy muscles. And she did have the Flu Mist vaccine back in September. Fortunately there is a drug to combat the flu, if you start taking it within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms. It's called Tamiflu (pricey $125 for 10 pills), but it seems to be working and she also got Zofran for the Nausea- which was only $1.88, so I guess the costs of the two drugs balance each other out.
 
It's called Tamiflu (pricey $125 for 10 pills), but it seems to be working and she also got Zofran for the Nausea- which was only $1.88, so I guess the costs of the two drugs balance each other out.

RSBM


10 pills of Tamiflu of 45 mg or 75 mg would set me back €23,64 (equals $25,96)
 
RSBM


10 pills of Tamiflu of 45 mg or 75 mg would set me back €23,64 (equals $25,96)
Do you mean $25.96 or $2,596???
It seems to be working to varying degrees with her, but DH got a secondary infection-coughed up blood this morning and I've been coughing, weak, achy, and slightly nauseous. This all could've been prevented if he hadn't procrastinated about getting his flu shot!!!
 
Do you mean $25.96 or $2,596???
It seems to be working to varying degrees with her, but DH got a secondary infection-coughed up blood this morning and I've been coughing, weak, achy, and slightly nauseous. This all could've been prevented if he hadn't procrastinated about getting his flu shot!!!

twenty-five dollars and ninety-six cents for 10 (ten) pills of Tamiflu 45 - 75 mg
 
I just looked up Tamiflu in my BC/BS 2016 formulary. Our Medicare Plus Blue plan would require a $3 co-pay.
 
Same with me BettyDavis but mine was a week and a little iffy about what people were talking about on the news and fb about don't get it, it causes you to get worst. So my gut feeling I went ahead and my doctor gave me the shot and was sick for 3 months!!! Now I don't know what to do for this year shot.

Sent from my Z755 using Tapatalk
 
Are you encouraged to get the flu jab in the US, even when you are a healthy child/adult?

Here in the UK, the saying goes: Flu can be unpleasant, but if you are otherwise healthy it will usually clear up on its own within a week.

Flu jab is only given (free of charge) to people deemed at risk, which are:

Pregnant women, anyone aged over 65, anyone having underlying health problems or weakened immune systems who then may develop further complications from getting the flu.

If we don't fall into that group, then we're just advised to keep ourselves healthy.
We're certainly not encouraged to get the flu jab.
And we're certainly not even hinted at, to get it to ensure we don't catch it and then pass it on to someone else.

Having said that, those of us not deemed at risk, can pay privately to have the jab ourselves at most chemist/pharmacies if we want it, but I don't know many that do now.
We had a flu epidemic several years ago so we had it then, just the one time but not had it since.

I just try to keep myself healthy, don't have the jab and don't feel guilty for choosing not to.

ETA: I still go by the saying, an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
 
Eat Well. Sleep Well. Move Well. Limit all of the stressors in your life and the question "Does the flu shot really work?", will be irrelevant.

The question should be "Is the flu shot necessary?"
For the vast majority of people, I do not believe it to be necassary.

Again
1) Limit and minimize stress.
2) Eat ridiculously well 90% of the time.
3) Get good quality sleep in the right amount for YOU.
4) Move Well and then move often.

The problem with the above 4 tips is that the majority of folks in the western world have no idea how to go about that. And our education/medical/health systems do a piss poor job of teaching us.

If you don't make your own health & well being your #1 priority, then getting quick fixes like the flu shot and other Big Pharma toxic chemical cocktails probably but regretfully makes sense in this day and age.
JMO
 
Again, it's your body so do as you like. It certainly won't hurt as a precautionary measure, and it's free for many people.

However, if you truly have the flu, don't expect miracles with Tamiflu. It might shorten the duration by a day or two.
 
Are you encouraged to get the flu jab in the US, even when you are a healthy child/adult?

Encouraged us putting it mildly heh!
The flu shot is big business here. From end of summer to early spring, every single pharmacy you pass looks like this: download.jpg

The way they talk about it here in the States, you would think it was the Bubonic Plague, biggest killer know to man or something.

(Although I've never seen it get as bad as right here, in this thread, where you're outright accused of being responsible for the death of others! People who would do that, need a lot more help than just a flu shot imo!).

(Yet all the cases of healthy people who died shortly after getting the shot are kind of ignored, or downplayed).

We used to be, "The Land Of The Free" a long time ago but not anymore.
 
I've never seen it advertised like that or ever heard of a Pneumonia shot :)

Here, we would never know which pharmacy sold the flu jab/shot without going in and directly asking if they had it.

Overall, you just got to go with your instincts and what's best for you.

Shots aside, I just love the US, been several times and just love the accent and how everyone is so friendly, helpful and addressed as ma'am :)

'Be sure to follow us on Twitter' [emoji169][emoji631]
 
In the US, it is called a Pneumovac vaccine, helping to prevent susceptibility to pneumococcal pneumonia. True, most people with healthy immune systems may never get influenza. There are tons of flu viruses that are not covered by the vaccine, and the vaccine is typically developed to prevent the more severe influenza viruses.

As the only survivor in the US from H1N1 pneumonia in October 2009, I can tell you that I wished that they had a vaccine for it then. It didn't come out until the end of October and I was already out of the hospital by then. I have been left with brain deficits, devastated immune system, adrenal exhaustion, compromised lungs and it has been going on 7 years. I never thought it would happen to me as I was healthy. I have not been the same since and I am just so grateful to still be here.

Whether or not you get the flu shot is solely your own decision. I don't think there is a right or wrong. If one is in a higher risk category of acquiring the flu, I think that an informed decision is warranted. To categorically label the vaccine as good or bad, effective or ineffective serves no purpose. There are pros and cons to everything. The most important thing is if it is the right thing for you. IMOO
 
In the US, it is called a Pneumovac vaccine, helping to prevent susceptibility to pneumococcal pneumonia. True, most people with healthy immune systems may never get influenza. There are tons of flu viruses that are not covered by the vaccine, and the vaccine is typically developed to prevent the more severe influenza viruses.

As the only survivor in the US from H1N1 pneumonia in October 2009, I can tell you that I wished that they had a vaccine for it then. It didn't come out until the end of October and I was already out of the hospital by then. I have been left with brain deficits, devastated immune system, adrenal exhaustion, compromised lungs and it has been going on 7 years. I never thought it would happen to me as I was healthy. I have not been the same since and I am just so grateful to still be here.

Whether or not you get the flu shot is solely your own decision. I don't think there is a right or wrong. If one is in a higher risk category of acquiring the flu, I think that an informed decision is warranted. To categorically label the vaccine as good or bad, effective or ineffective serves no purpose. There are pros and cons to everything. The most important thing is if it is the right thing for you. IMOO

So sorry to hear what you've been through and are still going through Zuri. It can't have been easy for you, at all. (((:)))

The flu shot is not something I really think about as it's never been available to us on our NHS unless we are deemed 'at risk'.
I do know if you are in the 'at risk' group, then you are sent an appointment in the Autumn to have the vaccine at the local health centre.
If you're not in the 'at risk' group, the health profession deems you don't need it and it's simply not available to you.

If you particularly wanted it, you'd pay privately and have it done at the pharmacy.

I would only do that if there was an epidemic due, like when the swine flu and the bird flu were due to hit us several years ago. It caused hysteria and that is when we had our one and only shot. Other than that, we don't have it. But, I'm sure it only takes one dose of it to make us change our minds!

I had to google the pneumonia shot as I'd not heard of it. Apparently it is available to us but again, only if you're in the at risk group. I would presume we could go pay for this at the pharmacy just like the flu shot but I've never heard of it.
These things are just not advertised here.
I just love how different countries deal with lots of things, differently.

Sending best of health wishes to all.

This is simply just my knowledge of it, of how I see it.
 
In the US, it is called a Pneumovac vaccine, helping to prevent susceptibility to pneumococcal pneumonia. True, most people with healthy immune systems may never get influenza. There are tons of flu viruses that are not covered by the vaccine, and the vaccine is typically developed to prevent the more severe influenza viruses.

As the only survivor in the US from H1N1 pneumonia in October 2009, I can tell you that I wished that they had a vaccine for it then. It didn't come out until the end of October and I was already out of the hospital by then. I have been left with brain deficits, devastated immune system, adrenal exhaustion, compromised lungs and it has been going on 7 years. I never thought it would happen to me as I was healthy. I have not been the same since and I am just so grateful to still be here.

Whether or not you get the flu shot is solely your own decision. I don't think there is a right or wrong.
Respectfully snipped...

God Bless Zuri! I appreciate your respecting one's right to their own choice. You, of all people, could be one of those, " How dare you not get the shot, I could have caught this from you because you didn't get the vaccine!" But you don't blame others, and I commend you. (One poster here blamed her husbands evil co-workers who were coughing, when he could have got it from handling a grocery item. There's no way to know).

I don't post about people I actually know, who got devastatingly ill, even after getting the shot. I don't want to scare those who get the shot, and there is always that tired, old excuse that "well you were probably already exposed just before you got the shot, so therefore you got sick... or... you got a strain not covered this season, so therefore... you got sick.

I'm a little tired of the excuses myself, for why so many people get sick and some die, who get the flu shot. Some people have NEVER had the flu in their lives, get sick and DIE after mandated flu shots.

Life itself is a bit of a risky endeavor. But I do think we should get to live it, with ability to make our own choices, without the condemnation of of those who choose differently.

When they are through with the "Ginnie pig" stage, and develop a inoculation that stands on more solid ground, I'm in. Until then I'll be watching... from a distance. (Good luck to the "Early Adopters"!)


Ya know, each one of my five children, got sick after scheduled immunity shots. High fever, chills, achy... some worse than others. But not ONE pediatrician would admit that the shots caused any reaction...I KNOW they did. But it was always..."No, they must have been coming down with something, right at the same time." ( REALLY? All FIVE OF THEM? EVERY SINGLE TIME THEY GOT A SHOT!!!). BS! My littles got sick from those injections! I don't have too much faith in the medical community now.

I wish you well Zuri!
 
I wondered if Dr. Oz, gets his children a flu shot. NO. He does not. He said he gets them himself, but where the kid's are concerned, "That's my wifes Area... And she chooses not to." I found that ...interesting.

From the site:


Dr Oz Says No Swine Flu (H1N1) Shot for His Wife and Children, (yes it's an older piece, but he says the same thing now)

Dr. Mehmet Oz explained, in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, that he is required, as a condition of employment with New York Presbyterian Hospital, to get the H1N1 vaccine. He goes on to explain that his wife and his children WOULD NOT be getting the vaccine.

Dr. Oz states, "You can never know for sure if a vaccine, especially a new one, is completely safe".

Host of “The Dr. Oz Show” and Vice-Chair and Professor of Surgery at Columbia University, Dr. Oz is arguably the most recognized "celebrity" doctor on the planet.

Dr. Oz also clearly states that while there is "no way you can get infected" from the killed virus that is utilized in the injectable vaccine, the nasal spray vaccine contains live virus (albeit attenuated) which can "maybe convert a weakened virus into a big enough infection that it could have problems".

In plain English, this is a clear admission that you CAN contract the H1N1 virus from the nasal vaccine.

In a separate interview with CNN's Campbell Brown, Dr. Oz states, "I'll tell you, my wife is not going to immunize our kids, because I've got four of them and when I go home, I'm not Dr. Oz, I'm Mr. Oz.".

Dr. Oz must have a very good reason why he is not going to have his wife and kids vaccinated. In this interview, Dr. Oz states, "All of us in the health care field, we know what the risks are". And he chooses not to risk the lives of his wife and children.

While his family won’t be getting the vaccine, Dr. Oz does recommend that pregnant women and children (other peoples, but not his) should be vaccinated because they are at risk. This would seem to be clear example of, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Since Dr. Oz works in a hospital, it would seem logical that if the vaccine was safe and effective, he would undoubtedly want his wife and children to get the shot. As he states in the interview above, health care workers "serve as vectors to spread the virus".

Skipping this dangerous, unproven, not properly tested, possibly lethal shot would seem to be prudent.

Attempting to circumvent the innate intelligence of the body by injecting toxins, in the hopes of invoking a protective response is a major interference to the body and is often more dangerous and deadly than the disease the toxin is purported to prevent.

Learn the facts before participating in mass vaccination with an unproven, newly developed vaccine that neither the manufacturer nor your government can assure is safe or effective.

For most people, the flu shot does not prevent illness, but actually does the opposite--it weakens your immune system and makes you more predisposed to the illness. The people who actually die after contracting the flu do so because they are already sick and have compromised immune systems, and that certainly doesn't have to include you.

The following tips are surefire ways to improve the function of your immune system and greatly reduce your chances of getting the flu this winter:

Get adequate natural sunlight or Vitamin D supplementation.
Avoid sugar.
Avoid processed foods.
Eat natural, non-GMO, whole foods.
Exercise regularly.
Get plenty of sleep.
Support yourself during stressful times.
Have your spine checked and get adjusted as needed.
http://www.yourspine.com/Chiropractic/Dr+Oz+Swine+Flu.aspx
 

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