Get Flu Shot or Get Out?

[BoostedMX3]

Thanks to vaccines, you no longer have to worry about polio or small pox. Thanks to vaccines, if you get bit by a rabid animal, you'll live and not contract it. Your immune system isn't going to protect you against everything and it's foolish to think it will.

As I stated above, it's very possible to not be sick and still be contagious to other people.

The flu shot does plenty, just because you're one of a minority that gets sick (chances are you already had it when you were vaccinated, depending on when you were vaccinated), doesn't mean it's utterly useless.

Im 24 an had the flu shot 9 times.. Haven't ha one since I turned 21.. Within 5 days of every flu shot I've had I've gotton so sick I'm back in the hospital getting anti biotics for a disease that the dr gave me.. Never again will this happen..

Im loving just outside Chicago and we have one of if not the worst flu bugs going around right now the other 6 ppl that work at my shop have all gotton it yet I have not.. 4 of those 6. Got their flu shots...

Its another way for someone to make money

[Kaorte]

Thanks to vaccines, you no longer have to worry about polio or small pox. Thanks to vaccines, if you get bit by a rabid animal, you'll live and not contract it. Your immune system isn't going to protect you against everything and it's foolish to think it will.

As I stated above, it's very possible to not be sick and still be contagious to other people.

The flu shot does plenty, just because you're one of a minority that gets sick (chances are you already had it when you were vaccinated, depending on when you were vaccinated), doesn't mean it's utterly useless.

Agreed there are some useful vaccines, but the flu shot is not mandatory. There is a reason it is optional, because they can't guarantee that it will do anything at all.

Until there is some proof that the flu shot will absolutely protect me, I will not be getting one.

[Raptor]

Im 24 an had the flu shot 9 times.. Haven't ha one since I turned 21.. Within 5 days of every flu shot I've had I've gotton so sick I'm back in the hospital getting anti biotics for a disease that the dr gave me.. Never again will this happen..

Im loving just outside Chicago and we have one of if not the worst flu bugs going around right now the other 6 ppl that work at my shop have all gotton it yet I have not.. 4 of those 6. Got their flu shots...

Its another way for someone to make money

Well, there's your problem. Antibiotics only treat bacteria. The flu is caused by a virus. Which means by taking antibiotics, you're wasting your money. Now, if the illness got better quickly with the antibiotics, then it means that you actually didn't have the flu. I'm 24 as well, I've had my flu shot ever since I could remember, and generally, the only time I get sick is when the oak pollen comes out (my grandma got it since the 60s and never got the flu).

The flu shot doesn't completely prevent the flu shot, contrary to what people seem to think. It makes the flu a lot less severe than it would have normally been.

Agreed there are some useful vaccines, but the flu shot is not mandatory. There is a reason it is optional, because they can't guarantee that it will do anything at all.

Until there is some proof that the flu shot will absolutely protect me, I will not be getting one.

And I'll keep getting one and enjoy not getting sick.

[BoostedMX3]

I take what the dr prescribes I guess I call all that crap anti biotics.. Weather it is or isn't idk can't ever spell or say the names of half the drugs they give

[3skulls]

I wouldn't think your immune system is that great if you get sick from a flu shot.
If you are getting sick from it, the elderly must be dying from it :p
You could be getting sick just from being in the place where they are giving the shot.

I myself have never had one.

Never touch your eyes, nose or mouth when in public and always wash your hands.

I now need an F10 bath.

[sorraia]

I'm on the fence. I completely understand why it would be mandatory. No, the flu shot does not prevent every single strain of flu out there, BUT someone in the health care profession IS a lot more likely to be exposed those particular strains in the shot, regardless what strains are most prevalent in the general population that season. Healthcare professionals are also working with people who may be at much higher risk of dying from illnesses that would be just a minor inconvenience to the rest of us. I am especially sensitive to this part because I have had quite a few friends and family members who had to undergo cancer treatment, and one friend died because of an infection that would have been minor to the rest of us. Cancer patients have no immune system, the treatment kills it. Other people have compromised immune systems for other reasons. Sick people, even with a minor illness, are more susceptible to contracting more diseases than someone who is healthy and not sick. Nurses who are working with these people SHOULD be taken every precaution necessary to keep them safe. It IS possible to be carrying a diseases and not realize it: either because your system is strong enough that you don't actually become symptomatic (or maybe you only sneeze or get a runny nose and pass it off as allergies) or because you just aren't showing symptoms yet. A healthcare professional isn't working around normal, healthy people, they are working around individuals who could potentially die from something like the cold or flu.

At the same time I don't like the idea of being forced to inject things into your body against your will. I have to face this with my child: either go ahead with vaccines, or face the waiver procedure when it comes to daycare and school. (But on this note, people also have a choice in their profession, and someone who chooses to go into the healthcare profession should also recognize the risks they pose to the people they will be caring for, and be willing to take the steps necessary to keep those people as safe and healthy as possible.) My biggest issue with the flu vaccine is the thimerosal, however there ARE thimerosal-free vaccines available.

[SlitherinSisters]

I heard about that and I think it's a load of crap. Granted I have nothing to back up my opinion, but I'm not on the flu shot bandwagon. I only got the shot one year because my mother made me and that year was no different than any other year. The flu shot only protects you against some flu viruses and it comes with plenty of side effects. Until I see some concrete proof that I should get the flu shot I will not get it. Most new vaccines are sketchy in my book.

[Raptor]

With thiomersal, I'm suspecting that you're going to get exposed to more mercury eating fish three times a week than you will from a vaccine.

[sorraia]

With thiomersal, I'm suspecting that you're going to get exposed to more mercury eating fish three times a week than you will from a vaccine.

Exposure to mercury through ingesting fish is a very different kind of exposure than that through injection, and the amount of mercury actually absorbed and utilized by your body is likely going to be very different. The amount of mercury that can be "safely" injected is also going to be different than the amount of mercury that can "safely" be ingested. The "safety levels" currently declared for fish refer only to ingestion, not injection.

[sorraia]

Exposure to mercury through ingesting fish is a very different kind of exposure than that through injection, and the amount of mercury actually absorbed and utilized by your body is likely going to be very different. The amount of mercury that can be "safely" injected is also going to be different than the amount of mercury that can "safely" be ingested. The "safety levels" currently declared for fish refer only to ingestion, not injection.

I had to look up the comparison of mercury in flu vaccine vs fish. Used information from the CDC.

Flu vaccine contains 25mcg/0.5mL, and one vaccine is a 0.5mL dose, so that's 25mcg mercury injected into the person's body.

The amount of mercury contained in fish varies, but using median level of mercury concentration:
catfish = 0.005ppm = 0.002mg/lb
salmon = 0.015ppm = 0.007mg/lb
tilapia = 0.004ppm = 0.002mg/lb
trout = 0.025ppm = 0.011mg/lb
tuna = 0.078ppm = 0.035mg/lb

Assuming the person eats 1/2lb of fish in one serving, the amount of mercury consumed:
catfish = 0.001mg
salmon = 0.0035mg
tilapia = 0.001mg
trout = 0.0055mg
tuna = 0.0175mg

Compare that to the vaccine:
25mcg = 0.025mg


So if a person eats 8 ounces of these fish, they are consuming less mercury than is injected in one flu vaccine. IF a person eats fish 3 times a week, they may consume more mercury than is injected, depending on the type of fish consumed. I don't know how many people consume fish 3 times a week, I only know that I personally don't eat fish that often (I'm probably lucky if I consume fish once a week).

All of that is of course assuming mercury consumed affects a person the same way it does when injected. Most likely it doesn't, since most substances have a different effect depending on their mode of exposure. I don't know off hand of any comprehensive (and valid) studies that have looked into this. Not arguing about it one way or another, just wanted to give out the numbers I found, because I thought it was interesting.

It is up to each individual person (assuming their profession doesn't require it) to decide what is best for them and their bodies. Personally, I choose not to get the flu vaccine (for multiple reasons), nor give it to my child (again for multiple reasons). I have never received the flu vaccine, even when I was pregnant. There are other vaccines I have chosen to receive or give to my child (and my child's pediatrician only orders thimerosal-free vaccines). That's the choice I've made, and it may be different from the choice others make.