Flu Shot vs The Flu

[Raizinman]

Many of my friends got the flu shot for this winter. Almost an equal number of my friends elected NOT to get the flu shot. Without a doubt, the friends who got the flu shot are getting the flu much more and much more intense than non flu shot people.

My question to you is two fold.

Did you get a flu shot?
Did you get the flu?

 

[brainhulk]

got the flu shot

did not get the flu

 

[Broheim]

nope x2

 

[rsutoratosu]

What's consider flu ? So according to wiki, I dont have flu.

I had the shot but had sore throat last weekend and nasal congestion but no body chills, etc. Is catching the cold same as flu ?

--
Symptoms of influenza can start quite suddenly one to two days after infection. Usually the first symptoms are chills or a chilly sensation, but fever is also common early in the infection, with body temperatures ranging from 38–39 °C (approximately 100–103 °F).[23] Many people are so ill that they are confined to bed for several days, with aches and pains throughout their bodies, which are worse in their backs and legs.[1] Symptoms of influenza may include:
Fever and extreme coldness (chills shivering, shaking (rigor))
Cough
Nasal congestion
Body aches, especially joints and throat
Fatigue
Headache
Irritated, watering eyes
Reddened eyes, skin (especially face), mouth, throat and nose
Petechial Rash[24]
In children, gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea and abdominal pain,[25][26] (may be severe in children with influenza B)[27]

 

[Murloc]

I think your flu shot friends just have weak metabolism and they caught other illnesses like a bad cold.

I always got the flu (the gastrointestinal one) every year, stayed ill for a week.
Then ~7 years ago I started getting teh shot every year. I've never been ill again, I just get a normal/mild cold 1-2 times a year.
If you routinely get the flu I suggest that you try taking the shot for a few years before saying it doesn't work, it can save a lot of time.

 

[Paratus]

Folks need to realize that a bad cold is not the flu.

An upset stomach, "stomach flu" is not flu.

A slight cold after getting the shot is not the flu.

Laying on the sofa aching, shivering, and moaning for 5 days is the flu.

Get your shot and if you even suspect you're coming down with the flu go get an RX for tamiflu. It does work.

 

[vi edit]

Influenza A or B are a *very* different beast than what most people consider the "flu". A one or two day stomach bug is not the flu. As others have said, it's a 5-7 day event that usually leaves you lifeless and shivering on a couch or your bed.

 

[Jimzz]

I skipped it this year and got what felt like the flu.

I have been sick for about 10 days now. Still have a light cough and stuffy nose but other than that am better now, able to go to work.

For several days it took all my energy just to get out of bed to pee. I went from way to hot to shaking cold under 3 blankets in a 72degree house.
I'm not skipping it next year as I can't do that again.

 

[blackangst1]

Folks need to realize that a bad cold is not the flu.

An upset stomach, "stomach flu" is not flu.

A slight cold after getting the shot is not the flu.

Laying on the sofa aching, shivering, and moaning for 5 days is the flu.

Get your shot and if you even suspect you're coming down with the flu go get an RX for tamiflu. It does work.

This.

All this talk of "the flu shot gave me the flu" is incredibly naive. The shot does not contain live flu virus.

 

[blackangst1]

I skipped it this year and got what felt like the flu.

I have been sick for about 10 days now. Still have a light cough and stuffy nose but other than that am better now, able to go to work.

For several days it took all my energy just to get out of bed to pee. I went from way to hot to shaking cold under 3 blankets in a 72degree house.

Sounds like the cold virus.

 

[Broheim]

Folks need to realize that a bad cold is not the flu.

An upset stomach, "stomach flu" is not flu.

A slight cold after getting the shot is not the flu.

Laying on the sofa aching, shivering, and moaning for 5 days is the flu.

Get your shot and if you even suspect you're coming down with the flu go get an RX for tamiflu. It does work.

actually many people with flu don't display any symptoms (as much as a third) and some die, can't really diagnose it based solely on symptoms.

that said, I fully agree that too many people will scream flu every time they get the sniffles.

 

[UnklSnappy]

Didn't get a shot this year and ended up with the worst case of the flu (and a side order of laryngitis) I've had in the past 10 - 15 years.

 

[spacejamz]

Got my first flu shot ever (I am 43) last November and got Type A flu 3 weeks later...

 

[dawks]

People really under estimate the effectiveness of hand washing in preventing the spread of the virus. If out in public, wash your hands before touching your face, avoid breathing the air of other people as much as possible, avoid sharing items that have touched others mouths (drinks especially), and generally avoid sharing air/liquids/solids that others have used. Preventing the spread of flu or other virus's is key to staying healthy. Its a big challenge to educate humans on something they can't see and don't receive any immediate reward/gratification for the extra effort. But I think people would be surprised at how just a little extra caution could significantly reduce illnesses.
Remember, you have to contract a virus some how to become sick from it. Its not magic, or cold air, just really small bugs that make us sick and things like hand washing can significantly reduce the risk.
The flu vaccination almost becomes a non issue if people took the time to avoid the spread of virus's. Through handwashing and covering of the mouth/nose when coughing/sneezing.

As for people 'getting the flu even though they've gotten the flu vaccination'.. The vaccine typically protects against just a few variants of the flu (2-4 I think), where as there are dozens of flu variants that change year to year. Scientists develop the vaccine for the most common flu variants they expect for that season, but its entirely possible that others may spring up and have a much larger impact on the general population rendering the vaccine basically useless.

 

[soulcougher73]

I like to expose myself to the flu every year to build up my natural defenses. No flu shot for me, nor did i get the flu.

 

[ichy]

I've gotten the flu shot for the last few years, primarily to spite the anti-vaccer shitheads. I have never gotten the flu and I never feel sick after receiving the vaccine.

Interestingly the evidence for flu vaccine efficacy isn't all that great, but the flu is so miserable that even a small reduction in my chances of getting it is a good thing.

 

[vi edit]

I like to expose myself to the flu every year to build up my natural defenses. No flu shot for me, nor did i get the flu.

I've got two kids in daycare (one an infant that is chewing and drooling on everything in the house) and a wife that works in the ED of a major hospital.

My immune system is under stress on a daily basis. :\

 

[TwiceOver]

The last Flu shot I got was required for school, something like 20+ years ago. Last time I got the flu was 20+ years ago. I don't think that is a coincidence. I thoroughly test my immune system and it serves me well.

 

[Paratus]

I like to expose myself to the flu every year to build up my natural defenses. No flu shot for me, nor did i get the flu.

You like to expose yourself?
So you show up at sick people's houses and doctors offices and asked to be coughed on or share lollipops?

Or you just don't get the shot and call it good?

Or maybe you show up at the doctors office with only a trench coat on and " expose" yourself.....:hmm:

 

[destrekor]

Didn't get a shot this year and ended up with the worst case of the flu (and a side order of laryngitis) I've had in the past 10 - 15 years.

The dominant strains going around this year are ugly ones.

Same as what caused the worst flu season in recent memory, what, between 04-05 or thereabouts? Same strains then are being passed around this season.

And those strains are in the flu shot mix this year (that year, the flu shot was a bad prediction and didn't have the main strains that ended up making the rounds).

I have to get the yearly flu shot to stop being harassed by the Army. I used to never get it, and got the flu (influenza) perhaps every other year at worst.
My yearly illness for a long while was a sinus infection, some years a terrible case some years pretty minor.

Getting a flu shot and getting influenza later is a hit and miss affair: many people simply don't understand that they are a billion things that can cause flu-like symptoms.
And then there's the fact that the flu shot only contains three specific influenza strains. It could be a bad shot for that year, where it doesn't offer a strong protection against the strains actually being passed around, and sometimes it could simply be an influenza season where it protects against the three most prevalent, but a few random ones still hit a few people and you ended up being one of the lucky ones.

 

[artvscommerce]

pretty impressive sample size you've got there.

 

[Jaskalas]

My question to you is two fold.

Did you get a flu shot?
Did you get the flu?

Ineffective questioning. The flu and shot are yearly... yet you specified no time frame for us to answer on. I've never had a flu shot, but I'm enough of a hermit that it has been many years since I've had the flu.

There are factors that skew your poll results, though I was kind enough not to answer.

 

[vi edit]

Getting a flu shot and getting influenza later is a hit and miss affair: many people simply don't understand that they are a billion things that can cause flu-like symptoms. And then there's the fact that the flu shot only contains three specific influenza strains. It could be a bad shot for that year, where it doesn't offer a strong protection against the strains actually being passed around, and sometimes it could simply be an influenza season where it protects against the three most prevalent, but a few random ones still hit a few people and you ended up being one of the lucky ones.

Yup it's a cocktail that they cook up based upon projections. They also have about a month before you are at full immunization properties and have a limited duration of effectiveness. One of the problems the medical community faces is how soon to release the flu vaccine. Some years it starts popping up much faster and they rush out to get it on the streets. Then they see a late spring (April-May) resurgence of the flu pop up and the ED's get hit hard because the vaccine has worn off.

 

[Demo24]

No shot, no flu. See shall see if this lasts me through the season, especially since I work in health centers.

 

[destrekor]

I've gotten the flu shot for the last few years, primarily to spite the anti-vaccer shitheads. I have never gotten the flu and I never feel sick after receiving the vaccine.

Interestingly the evidence for flu vaccine efficacy isn't all that great, but the flu is so miserable that even a small reduction in my chances of getting it is a good thing.

I've had a few infections or illnesses that lasted a few weeks, one or two of them lasting over 6 weeks, and I'd hesitate to say I'd rather get influenza just so I feel healthier in a shorter amount of time...
but even then, the last time I got true influenza, I was stuck to lay on the couch in my dorm for four or so days, with a 102ºF fever, alternating between wearing hoodies, sweats, and blankets and then t-shirt and shorts quite regularly, and I think I may have puked on a few occasions (side note: I'd rather take an alcohol-induced puke session over an influenza-induced puke session - ugh so miserable). Couldn't go anywhere, could hardly shamble to the bathroom and actually standing up to pee was the worst exam of the year, eating was a miserable experience, and I just really couldn't do anything except mindlessly observe the TV. Sometimes I refused to change channels just because the remote somehow got out of reach.