flu shot -- yes or no?

[goofy4tink]

Got mine a week ago. I get one every year. I had the flu...once. That's all I needed. I got a shot every year after that. I wanted to just die...pure and simple. It was that bad!!
My dd is getting hers later this week. She's in college and tends to get every little thing that comes down the pike. She can go to CVS and get the shot..that should take care of one issue!!

 

[LoserMomma]

This year, an egg-free vaccine, Flublok, is available for people between 18 and 49.

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/qa_flublok-vaccine.htm

Yeah, my kid is only 9. I'm hoping that they get the trial phase for peds done soon because he usually does have a reaction (it's mild, just hives around the site).

Still a heck of a lot better than flu.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Yep, get one every year. I am a teacher so I am surrounded by little germ factories all day. Both my children have asthma, so they are first on the list to get the shot. DD had it once, and it was terrible for her.

DH doesn't get one- he thinks that since he rarely gets sick that somehow protects him...

 

[ludari]

Yes. My employer offers it for free and its very convenient to get it down while at work. I work for a very large company and people are sick all the time.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Yes, I got mine. Last year was the first year I got the shot, and it was also the first year I DIDN'T get the flu.

 

[laurajetter]

No, we don't get it for a number of reasons. This article someone posted recently reinforces some of my reasoning: http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/Headline/influenza-virus-flu-vaccine-Peter-Doshi-Ph-D-/2013/05/16/id/504942

 

[sam_gordon]

No, we don't get it for a number of reasons. This article someone posted recently reinforces some of my reasoning: http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/Headline/influenza-virus-flu-vaccine-Peter-Doshi-Ph-D-/2013/05/16/id/504942

Wow! Some excerpts...

Even when the vaccine is closely matched to the type of influenza that's prevalent, which doesn't happen every year, randomized, controlled trials of healthy adults found that vaccinating between 33 and 100 people resulted in one less case of influenza.

"There are three reasons the government tells the elderly why they should get flu shots: secondary pneumonia, hospitalization, and death. Yet a study by the Cochrane group studied hundreds of thousands of people and found it offered zero protection for those three things in the general community.

study released in February found that the flu shot was only 9 percent effective in protecting seniors against the 2012-2013 season's most virulent influenza bug.

 

[CPT Tripss]

Don't go getting all excited about this Doshi, Ph.D guy. He is neither a physician nor an epidemiologist. It seems that perhaps neither his facts nor his science are spot on. http://thepoxesblog.wordpress.com/2...do-epidemiology-feeds-anti-vaccine-activists/

What he is is a historian . . . A grad of MIT's Doctoral Program in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, and Society with this dissertation "Influenza: a study of contemporary medical politics", n.b. Politics.

 

[sam_gordon]

Don't go getting all excited about this Doshi, Ph.D guy. He is neither a physician nor an epidemiologist. It seems that perhaps neither his facts nor his science are spot on. http://thepoxesblog.wordpress.com/2...do-epidemiology-feeds-anti-vaccine-activists/

What he is is a historian . . . A grad of MIT's Doctoral Program in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, and Society with this dissertation "Influenza: a study of contemporary medical politics", n.b. Politics.

What about neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock, also quoted in the article?

 

[Geoff_M]

What about neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock, also quoted in the article?

Well, here's the entry about him in The Skeptic's Dictionary that talks about this and some of the other medical "controversies" he champions. People can read this and see what sort of "cred" he has: http://www.skepdic.com/blaylock.html

Per Blaylock, among other things:
Vaccines cause not only autism, but also Parkinson's and ALS.
Dental filings are poisonous
...as is fluoridated water,
...and MSG,
...and aluminum cookware.
Aspartame is a neurotoxin.
He can prevent/cure all of the harm from such things with his "detoxification" therapies he promotes under the label "Brain Repair Formula."(*)
While the medical community isn't too keen on what Blaylock's selling, medical expert and HBO commentator Bill Maher gives him two big "thumbs up!"


* = Isn't it funny that the profit motives for Big Pharma and doctors are used as "Exhibit A" by anti-vaxxers to impeach what they say or promote, but when it comes to "brave maverick doctors" like Blaylock that notion gets amazingly overlooked?!?!?!

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Doctors make a lot more money off of illnesses than vaccines, yet the VAST majority recommend vaccines. Wonder with that is?

My family and I get the flu shot (as well as the other vaccines). We get them to protect ourselves because none of us wants to get sick. We also get them to help protect the herd and all those who are unable to get vaccines for whatever reason.

 

[sam_gordon]

Doctors make a lot more money off of illnesses than vaccines, yet the VAST majority recommend vaccines. Wonder with that is?

My family and I get the flu shot (as well as the other vaccines). We get them to protect ourselves because none of us wants to get sick. We also get them to help protect the herd and all those who are unable to get vaccines for whatever reason.

So do you not get the flu because you got the vaccine, because you aren't exposed to it, because you have good immune system, because you practice good hygine, or some other reason?

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

So do you not get the flu because you got the vaccine, because you aren't exposed to it, because you have good immune system, because you practice good hygine, or some other reason?

That's a good question. I figure that the vaccine has to help. If it doesn't, well, it's certainly not going to give me the flu, so I get it. We do take steps in our family to practice good hygiene, but we aren't hand washing nuts. We wash before meals and if we have been around someone who has been ill or coughing and sneezing. I'm also not the type of mom who freaks out if my child is playing in the dirt, so she probably has built up a good immune system.

 

[sam_gordon]

That's a good question. I figure that the vaccine has to help. If it doesn't, well, it's certainly not going to give me the flu, so I get it. We do take steps in our family to practice good hygiene, but we aren't hand washing nuts. We wash before meals and if we have been around someone who has been ill or coughing and sneezing. I'm also not the type of mom who freaks out if my child is playing in the dirt, so she probably has built up a good immune system.

See, I'm not convinced on the bolded. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it hurts or is bad, I'm just not convinced it's the help everyone makes out.

 

[focusondisney]

I have been trying to get it for the last 5 years or so. I didn't have a choice this year---- NY state has MANDATED the flu vaccine for all health care workers with direct patient contact in hospital & nursing homes. If you don't get the vaccine, you have to wear a mask the whole time you are in the building, except if you are eating. Not just while in a patient room, but anywhere in the building. You have to either display a sticker on your badge that indicates you got the shot, or have the mask on for all of "flu season", Nov 1- May 1. There's no way I could tolerate wearing a mask for 12 hour shifts.

I actually can't believe the state got away with this mandate. I'm surprised someone didn't fight it. Both for being forced to take a vaccine they may not want & for violating HIPPA (everyone knows if you got the vaccine or not).

 

[Deb in IA]

Doctors make a lot more money off of illnesses than vaccines, yet the VAST majority recommend vaccines. Wonder with that is?

My family and I get the flu shot (as well as the other vaccines). We get them to protect ourselves because none of us wants to get sick. We also get them to help protect the herd and all those who are unable to get vaccines for whatever reason.

Perhaps because doctors' jobs are to keep people healthy, and not necessarily to make "a lot more money".

 

[ellone]

Perhaps because doctors' jobs are to keep people healthy, and not necessarily to make "a lot more money".

No many just dispense drugs and don't look for the root cause of illnesses.

My father had high cholesterol - doctor did not ask about diet. Instead he had a prescription ready. My mother refused it and changed my father's diet. 3 months later his levels were normal and he needed no drugs.


My mother is worried about getting type 2 diabetes (my grandmother has it). My mother asked her doctor what she could do now to prevent getting diabetes. Doctor's answer? I'll prescribe you something when you get it.

 

[Deb in IA]

No many just dispense drugs and don't look for the root cause of illnesses.

My father had high cholesterol - doctor did not ask about diet. Instead he had a prescription ready. My mother refused it and changed my father's diet. 3 months later his levels were normal and he needed no drugs.


My mother is worried about getting type 2 diabetes (my grandmother has it). My mother asked her doctor what she could do now to prevent getting diabetes. Doctor's answer? I'll prescribe you something when you get it.

Then your parents need to get another doctor.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

DH got his flu shot today. So as of now all of us in this house have gotten the shot. First time ever.

Now hopefully the flu passes us by this yr as I am sick of it!!!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

No many just dispense drugs and don't look for the root cause of illnesses.

My father had high cholesterol - doctor did not ask about diet. Instead he had a prescription ready. My mother refused it and changed my father's diet. 3 months later his levels were normal and he needed no drugs.


My mother is worried about getting type 2 diabetes (my grandmother has it). My mother asked her doctor what she could do now to prevent getting diabetes. Doctor's answer? I'll prescribe you something when you get it.

Yes many do prescribe drugs instead of looking for the "root cause". Which is why you need to get a different doctor if you have one that you do not agree with.