Do you really have the Flu? Or is it just a bad cold?

[Blondie]

I found a flu tracking site and it's full of information regarding the symptoms of the flu vs. the common cold.

The hospital I work at is really pushing it's employess to get the flu shot, this season is supposed to be very bad!

I have this site bookmarked. You might want to do it too!

 

[browneyes]

Thanks Kathy. I've had the flu one in my life, about 27 years ago. I never want to have it again. I never get the flu shot. I'm afraid it would give me the flu. One of my coworkers gets it every year and she almost always gets the flu after she gets the shot.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I seem to used to have gotten the flu every year, felt like I was on death's door for 24 hours. Then 4 years ago, starting getting the shot, no flu since. And I got this year's shot about 2 or three weeks ago. Hope it is a mild year, Blondie, and you guys are not too busy.

 

[Margie J]

Nice site! I have it bookmarked.

Our hospital is also giving out flu shots. I'm waiting until my nasty cold is over to get mine.

 

[WilmaBud]

Actually, you can't get the flu from the vaccine. That's a common misconception. The vaccine uses a killed virus, so it's impossible to get the flu from it.

I get the flu shot every year because without the shot, I always get the flu. My children also get the shot every year. We've done well with the shot.

P.S. Cool site.

 

[Blondie]

Every medical professional I've asked have said that you can't get the flu from the vaccine.

 

[Robinrs]

I had it one time... thought death HAD to be better...

It's bad, folks, and it's very deadly for the elderly. PLEASE get your shot!

My best girlfriend's Mom, who I loved like a mother came down with it one year. She became very ill and we took her to the ER. I remember the doctor coming out and wondering what in the world caused her heart to slow down so drastically. Her daughter said, "well, she just got over the flu..." and he RAN back to her. I knew then that that was all he needed to hear.

Sadly we lost her the next day. Since that day 11 years ago, I literally nagged my parents to go get the shot. They got it every year without missing one and never got the disease.

 

[snoopy]

Hmmmm, I never get the shot, nor do my kids. I had always heard that you could get the flu from the shot. Maybe I need to rethink this?

 

[my3kids]

Four children in the Denver area DIED in the last couple of days from the flu. The parents of a healthy 8 year old boy who sadly passed away yesterday were on The Today Show this morning warning parents that the danger of the flu was tragically real. The doctor who was also on said in young children, they often don't describe the feeling of being hit by a truck...often, oddly, a tummy ache which is strange since the flu is respitory. The parents said their son had complained of a tummy ache......(My DD has asthma and when she was smaller, she used to say her tummy hurt when she was having bad periods...maybe it is lung pains and they describe it as tummy...don't know. ) When my child had the flu, it was diagnosed by a nasal swab which was sent to the hospital for testing. It is nasty stuff and even he won't complain about the needle after having had the flu last year.

You can not get influenza from the injection.

 

[Kitty 34]

Good site, Kathy. Thanks!!! I really should go get a flu shot. After all this back and side pain I've been dealing with.....the last thing I need to get is the flu!

 

[hercamore]

Hi,

I just read a report from Mayo Clinic in our paper that predicts 70,000 people will die from this year's flu.

That's twice the usual #.

Scary, I'm going to get a flu shot for the first time this year.

herc.

 

[Lucky4me]

You can't get the flu from the flu shot. An allergic reaction maybe, but not the flu itself. If you happen to come down with it right after you got the shot, pure coincidence.

I have a lousy immune system and always got the flu until I started getting the flu shot a few years ago. Now it seems I rarely even get colds. I sent the whole family for one this year. Better safe than sorry.

 

[holycow]

I've heard you can't get the flu from the shot but we have had the flu after recieving the shot because it was a different strain...very frustrating!

My DH got the shot this year he travels so much and is always picking up something yecky....


HC

 

[Pig Pen]

I had the worst "something"...wasn't certain if it was the flu. It started out with a cold, sore throat, and exhaustion, then I got a headache, then vomiting. I was literally crawling from the bathroom to the bedroom. And it last for 3 days. I lost 10 pounds.

Is that the flu?

 

[Blondie]

Not sure Pig Pen, the flu generally isn't associated with vomiting.

 

[02bBarbie]

the flu vaccine now uses killed viruses...less than 1% of people who receive the flu shot develop any real flu like symptoms. I suspect many people use the fl shot as an excuse to stay home from work the next day

 

[nativetxn]

Thanks for the link, Blondie. I hope I can avoid influenza this year.

 

[Talking Hands]

Get the flu shot every year as well as the pneumonia every 5 years. I work in the school system plus the fact I have diabetes makes it pretty much a must for me. Especially so since I work with special needs children.

 

[Wishing on a star]

I am sitting here right now with the flu!!! : (

Yesterday, I felt like I could die!!! I think there are different kinds of flu's, and some can can upset the stomach. I finally caught this flu from my DS... 1 in 6 or 7 kids absent at his school a couple weeks ago! He is getting better now, but he did NOT want to eat anything. I even felt nauseous once yesterday. In the past two days I have had some mashed potatos and some soup.

There is what some people call the stomach flu... But, it is a different virus. Like the Norwalk virus. Pigpen, you may have had something like that... or picked up TWO bugs at once?

The BIG thing that has not been mentioned here - is that this year, the flu vaccine is a little different than the strain that is going around so bad!!! The experts say it MIGHT help... but the odds are not very good.... At least now I hope it will get over with this, and will not catch it again at Christmas or later in the Winter!!!! Ugghhhh!!!