Flu vaccination, yes or no.

[Johnny g]

No and I have a steel roof, no shingles needed.

Sounds like your covered.:drink:

 

[tcreeley]

Taught 26 years. They offered free flu shots and I got them. My wife too, also a teacher. We still got the flu. One year there was a vaccine shortage and I read in the paper that fewer people died from the flu that year. My wife and I never got the flu shot again. Didn't notice any difference.

Common sense is best. Wash your hands frequently and step back from ill people who may be contagious. Don't share drinks. -All the stuff your mother would tell you.

People who got the flu shot in school didn't seem to be any healthier. I read that the thimerosal used in flu shots does a job on your immune system for a week and that's when people get sick- catching something else. Also read that pregnant women should not get the flu shot because the thimerosal that comes to the growing child is more than is recommended by the CDC.

I don't like vaccines, except for the tetanus shot. 1990's was the last time I had a flu shot. There is a lot of hype around them, marketing. It doesn't help that the majority of vaccines are made in China now, as if I trust their quality control! (Plastic rice anyone!)

About the un-vaccinated kids in school - if your kid is vaccinated, what is there to worry about? ..... When kids (or anyone) are vaccinated with live virus, for about a week they are contagious to others (other kids, adults). I think about this every time I hear there is an outbreak of something. Just vaccinated people should stay home a few days if it was done with a live virus formulation. Shedding.

Then I just read that with the mmr vaccine in kids using live virus, it is possible for the virus to mutate in the kid into another form that is resistant to the vaccine it was put in. Think of the superbugs that are resistant to certain heavily prescribed antibiotics.

When I was a kid and we lined up for polio vaccines in school, we got a total of maybe 6-7 vaccines total. Today kids by the age of 13 have had 75+ different vaccines. As newborns they are often given as many as 9 vaccines all before they leave the hospital. That's a heavy dose for a little body.

 

[ArlyA]

Just a bit of info here. Getting the flue vaccine is no guarantee you'll not get it when it comes around. However, whatever virus mix they make them with will still lessen the illness, if you do happen to get it. The ones we use here are made in the USA. I happen to read history, and know to well what happens to populations without them.

Arly vaccinated for everything, except smartness A

 

[TripleR]

So you can and should get a shingles shot even if you have already had shingles?

Yes, as it can reoccur.

 

[Bird]

I took my first flu shot in 1959-60 and 3 days later went to a doctor with the flu and wondered if I was going to be able to drive home. I didn't get out of bed for 5 days except to go to the bathroom. So I avoided flu shots for a lot of years. But of course they changed the vaccine. So now my wife and I get the flu shots every year as soon as they are available and have done so for more than 25 years. This year we got ours on 9/7/2016.

I did have chickenpox when I was 7 years old, so my wife and I got the shingles shots on 2/14/2012.

I got a pneumonia shot on 2/9/2007 and again on 9/10/2013. (Two doctors disagreed; one thought two shots were needed, the other thought one was enough, so I decided to go with two).

 

[mapper]

My wife and I get ours every year, I had the pneumonia shot last year. Never had any sort of adverse reactions to the flu shots, but after the pneumonia shot my arm was sore for about a week. Neither of us have had the flu, some other health issues, but not the flu.

 

[/pine]

...vaccinated for everything, except smartness...

It's the morons that go out in public when they do have the flu that cause the spread during the season...also regulations on the flu medications that require an office visit are ridiculous IMO...

 

[Inspector507]

I've had one every year for the last 15 years. No adverse reaction except a sore arm where they injected it. I get them when I go to the Dr. for my follow up appointments. I can also get them at my local pharmacy for no cost. No office visit charges.

 

[rekees4300]

Never thought about pneumonia shot, maybe I should look into that one

Yes talk to your doctor since (as I recall) there are 3 shots involved, each is different, they need to be taken in the proper sequence and time intervals.

 

[MossRoad]

Never had a flu shot, and no plans to get one in the near future. Yes, I have had the flu on more than one occasion, and yes, it is miserable. However, the flu shot is a crap shoot every year, so there's no guarantee they'll guess the right strain. Read somewhere recently that there are about 144 different varieties of influenza. Seems pretty slim odds that they'll get it right. No thanks. I was vaccinated against measles, mumps, and chicken pox as a child back in the '60s ... got all three anyway. Not against vaccination, just not interested in that one.

Chicken pox vaccine wasn't available until 1984...
Varicella vaccine - Wikipedia

I had chicken pox as a kid in the early 60's and it was miserable. But thank goodness you can only get it once... until I got it again on my 21st birthday in 1982... and it was even more miserable than I remembered. Doctor says "Boy, that's rare!" Thanks doc. So, instead of free bar drinks on my 21st birthday, I spent the evening sitting in a chair with my friends drinking beer and laughing at me while my mother put calamine lotion on me in places I couldn't reach myself.... ahh, good friends, good beer and good fun!

So now doc says I'm a prime candidate for shingles. Yea! :laughing: