Busting Flu Vaccine Myths and Misconceptions

[KingGheedora]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: lokiju
I've never taken it and am not going to start either.

Humans have made it this far without it.

Meanwhile, the spread of the flu kills tens of thousands of elderly, immune deficient and young each year and hospitalizes hundreds of thousands.

There is no reason to spread a virus if you don't have to. Just because your body can handle it does not mean those you spread it to can.

natural selection

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: KingGheedora

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: lokiju
I've never taken it and am not going to start either.

Humans have made it this far without it.

Meanwhile, the spread of the flu kills tens of thousands of elderly, immune deficient and young each year and hospitalizes hundreds of thousands.

There is no reason to spread a virus if you don't have to. Just because your body can handle it does not mean those you spread it to can.

natural selection

Um, no... since it kills many AFTER breeding age. People like your parents or grandparents.

There is nothing natural about an Asian virus killing people half a world away.

And there is no need for people to die if everyone would get the shot.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Every year, I hear the same idiots remarking that "every time I get the shot, I end up with the flu." It's interesting how once people make a connection like that, a lot of other people reflect on some poor memory and come to the same conclusion. I usually just remark to them that "wow, it must be a huge conspiracy to get people sick. Either that, or you should do a research study and publish it in the New England Journal of Medicine. You must know a lot more than the doctors. I'm so glad you're implying that the shot causes the flu. I never realized!"

Every time I got the shot I got the flu. That is enough for me.

Only time I got the flu was when I got the shot. That is enough for me.

Amazing, since it is a physical impossibility to get the flu from the shot.

 

[Geocentricity]

Never had a flu shot in my life. I don't even know what flu-like symptoms are, thus whenever I get sick I just do my best to stay warm, drink plenty of liquids, and Tylenol if I am running a fever. I hope I don't die prematurely someday due to my negligence

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Amused
Amazing, since it is a physical impossibility to get the flu from the shot.

Amused,

I respect your position but nothing will ever convince me that I should live through a week+ of sheer and utter hell of having the flu, confirmed by a doctor, less than 7 days from getting the shot.

Nothing.

Here's the premise:
1) get flu shot, get flu
2) don't get flu shot, be super healthy
3) get flu shot only to suffer the exact same symptoms of the flu while not technically being infected with influenza.

I'll take option 2 for the rest of my life. No way, no how am I ever getting a flu shot ever, ever, ever again. I have never been so sick in my entire life (104 temp). My mom (doctor) called an ambulance on me. Had Influenza.

I NEVER get sick by the way. Sure I fight a cold here and there, but not like that.

Pavlov had an intersting theory on my decisions.

 

[Eeezee]

I don't get the flu shot because I'm lazy and don't want to pay a copay. I rarely ever get sick (have gotten the flu once in the last 5 years) and am on salary, so I consider it a reasonable risk.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I've never had a flu shot in my life aside to be admitted into public school as a five year old. Haven't been sick in several years either. No point in wasting money on something I don't need.

 

[OutHouse]

F*ck you im not getting the stupid flu shot.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: sygyzy


Thanks fellas. In short, if you are sick, it's probably not the flu.

Does not change the fact that the spread of the flu virus kills tens of thousands and puts hundreds of thousands in the hospital every year.

Everyone should get the shot.

and i bet that most of those you just listed did get the flu shot.

until they come up with a flu's broadspectrum vaccine i dont see the point.

 

[glugglug]

Seen free flu shots given out at work 5 years in a row.

Fairly consistently, those who line up for the shots end up with the flu.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: glugglug
Seen free flu shots given out at work 5 years in a row.

Fairly consistently, those who line up for the shots end up with the flu.

Wow, another person who should do a study and publish his results in the New England Journal of Medicine.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: DrPizza

Originally posted by: glugglug
Seen free flu shots given out at work 5 years in a row.

Fairly consistently, those who line up for the shots end up with the flu.

Wow, another person who should do a study and publish his results in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Wow, yet another person who believes what they believe without personal experience.

go figure.

Oh, that's right. It's ATOT, where what they read without actual first hand experience in the matter = fact. Look at our general understanding of health and the body. We don't know jack crap about what is actually going on.

<---not a conspiracy nut, just speaking first hand.

 

[TraumaRN]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: DrPizza

Originally posted by: glugglug
Seen free flu shots given out at work 5 years in a row.

Fairly consistently, those who line up for the shots end up with the flu.

Wow, another person who should do a study and publish his results in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Wow, yet another person who believes what they believe without personal experience.

go figure.

Oh, that's right. It's ATOT, where what they read without actual first hand experience in the matter = fact. Look at our general understanding of health and the body. We don't know jack crap about what is actually going on.

<---not a conspiracy nut, just speaking first hand.

I do believe DrPizza is an M.D. and/or works in a hospital/clinic setting. I'd trust his word.

Something I can personally attest to(and I work in a hospital) those employees who got the free voluntary flu shot didnt get sick last year, whilst the employees who didnt get the shot, tended to get the flu. Now granted we actually treat true cases of the flu, but I'm nearly 99% positive studies have been done showing that health care workers are notorious for not getting a flu shot and spreading it amongst their patients causing increases in mortality/morbidity/length of stay/etc.....

EDIT: I have a peer reviewed PDF if someone can host for me. I pulled it from CINAHL so unfortuately I dont think I can link it from there. It'll help clear up alot of the misconceptions that have been flying around in this post.

Here's the link, not sure if it'll work for you guys....

http://imagesrvr.epnet.com/embimages/cin20/2006/2009011329.pdf

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: DeathBUA

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: DrPizza

Originally posted by: glugglug
Seen free flu shots given out at work 5 years in a row.

Fairly consistently, those who line up for the shots end up with the flu.

Wow, another person who should do a study and publish his results in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Wow, yet another person who believes what they believe without personal experience.

go figure.

Oh, that's right. It's ATOT, where what they read without actual first hand experience in the matter = fact. Look at our general understanding of health and the body. We don't know jack crap about what is actually going on.

<---not a conspiracy nut, just speaking first hand.

I do believe DrPizza is an M.D. and/or works in a hospital/clinic setting. I'd trust his word.

Something I can personally attest to(and I work in a hospital) those employees who got the free voluntary flu shot didnt get sick last year, whilst the employees who didnt get the shot, tended to get the flu. Now granted we actually treat true cases of the flu, but I'm nearly 99% positive studies have been done showing that health care workers are notorious for not getting a flu shot and spreading it amongst their patients causing increases in mortality/morbidity/length of stay/etc.....

EDIT: I have a peer reviewed PDF if someone can host for me. I pulled it from CINAHL so unfortuately I dont think I can link it from there. It'll help clear up alot of the misconceptions that have been flying around in this post.

Here's the link, not sure if it'll work for you guys....

http://imagesrvr.epnet.com/embimages/cin20/2006/2009011329.pdf

Excellent link.

However, I fear that even solid scientific evidence will not stop these silly myths among many of these people.

One more thing to think about: Many people rush out and get the shots late in the season when they note a high incidence of flu activity around them. If you're already infected with the flu, but not yet sick, getting the shot will not help. They ignorantly chock up the coincidence of being infected with the flu to getting the flu shot. The flu can take up to two weeks to incubate. The flu shot does not impart immunity until two weeks have passed.

Flu shot reactions only last 1-2 days and are mild and rare. If you got the full fledged flu after getting the shot, you were infected with the flu before the flu shot could give you immunity.

So if you got the flu after the flu shot, chances are you were already infected, or infected in the week after getting the shot before your body built up an immunity.

Get your flu shot VERY early in the season. Sept and Oct are the best months to be immunized as Nov-Mar are peak flu months. Rushing out and getting the shot because someone you know has the flu is NOT effective. It's probably already too late.

I'm willing to bet those who claim to have got the flu from the flu shot (and honestly did have the flu) got their shots late in the season while surrounded by people with the flu already.

Because, again, it is a physical impossibility to get the flu from a flu shot.

Look, folks, an average of 36,000 people die each year from the flu. More than 200,000 are hospitalized. It is everyone's responsibility to get immunized so as not to spread this illness.

 

[OutHouse]

amused;

how many of those 200K people that were hospitalized due to the flu got the shot? you do know that the flu shot is a guess of variant of the flu is going to make its rounds for the next year.

this is a interesting read.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/01/15/flu.vaccine/

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Gibsons
Probably confusing flu-like symptoms with the actual flu.

So being extremely weak (unable to get out of bed), bodyaches, uncontrollable high temperature, shakes, hot and cold spells for a week straight or more isn't the flu?

I *had* to get flu shots when I was in the Air Force and had similar symptoms every time - though only for 2 or 3 days. No I don't believe it was the flu - but it sucked badly. And considering that I've only had the flu once in my 37 years, I'll play the odds unless a particularly nasty strain comes out. My physician agrees. Ironically, that one time I did get it was when I was getting out of the Air Force and refused the flu shot because I would be separated by the time they got around to any possible disciplinary action

It was the flu. And it was DIRECTLY coorelated to getting the shot.

Now possibly the vaccine weakened my immune system and wasn't able to fight the bug as it may have already been doing.

Eitherway it was not fun to be that sick for that long. I will never get a vaccination.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

i need one right now =(

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Armitage

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Gibsons
Probably confusing flu-like symptoms with the actual flu.

So being extremely weak (unable to get out of bed), bodyaches, uncontrollable high temperature, shakes, hot and cold spells for a week straight or more isn't the flu?

I *had* to get flu shots when I was in the Air Force and had similar symptoms every time - though only for 2 or 3 days. No I don't believe it was the flu - but it sucked badly. And considering that I've only had the flu once in my 37 years, I'll play the odds unless a particularly nasty strain comes out. My physician agrees. Ironically, that one time I did get it was when I was getting out of the Air Force and refused the flu shot because I would be separated by the time they got around to any possible disciplinary action

FWIW, the only sick time I ever took while in the Air Force was recovering from the side effects of the flu vaccination.

It was the flu. And it was DIRECTLY coorelated to getting the shot.

Now possibly the vaccine weakened my immune system and wasn't able to fight the bug as it may have already been doing.

Eitherway it was not fun to be that sick for that long. I will never get a vaccination.

 

[elektrolokomotive]

Flu vaccines contain thimerosal (mercury) used as a preservative. I'll pass. Safe Minds (www.safeminds.org) has an interesting pdf free for download that makes interesting reading. Go here to get it.

 

[sao123]

Originally posted by: elektrolokomotive
Flu vaccines contain thimerosal (mercury) used as a preservative. I'll pass. Safe Minds (www.safeminds.org) has an interesting pdf free for download that makes interesting reading. Go here to get it.

oh boy... more FUD propogandist BS... There's more mercury in a can of tuna than there is in a flu shot.

Everything you consume has something toxic in it... the reason you dont die, is there are concentrations which are determined to be safe, and those considered to be dangerous.

 

[TraumaRN]

Originally posted by: elektrolokomotive
Flu vaccines contain thimerosal (mercury) used as a preservative. I'll pass. Safe Minds (www.safeminds.org) has an interesting pdf free for download that makes interesting reading. Go here to get it.

Read my link that I posted. Little bit better than what you posted.

 

[glugglug]

Originally posted by: Citrix
amused;

how many of those 200K people that were hospitalized due to the flu got the shot? you do know that the flu shot is a guess of variant of the flu is going to make its rounds for the next year.

this is a interesting read.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/01/15/flu.vaccine/

Yep, only a 2% difference, basically in the noise and could be a placebo effect, but the flu shot advocates will just dismiss it.

I'd really like to see a study where one group is given a placebo shot, rather than one getting nothing while the other gets flu shots. I bet more people get sick from the real shot group than the placebo group.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Citrix
amused;

how many of those 200K people that were hospitalized due to the flu got the shot? you do know that the flu shot is a guess of variant of the flu is going to make its rounds for the next year.

this is a interesting read.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/01/15/flu.vaccine/

Irrelavant. One year they guessed the wrong strain. Most years they get it right.

 

[OutHouse]

no they dont.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: elektrolokomotive
Flu vaccines contain thimerosal (mercury) used as a preservative. I'll pass. Safe Minds (www.safeminds.org) has an interesting pdf free for download that makes interesting reading. Go here to get it.

Absurd.

Fact: There are no, none nada valid peer reviewed and repeated studies showing that the minuscule, tiny, small amount of mercury in vaccines (most vaccines) causes any harm whatsoever.