What do you think of the Flu shot?
- Thread starter Kristi2k
- Start date
On the news last night.
The current flu shot is NOT an exact match but is better than nothing.
I get one every year & I've only had the flu once in 57 years..................:sun:
The current flu shot is NOT an exact match but is better than nothing.
I get one every year & I've only had the flu once in 57 years..................:sun:
I dont get a flu shot...
Havent got the flu in 3-4 years either...
I'm 20... so I guess I got a good fresh immune system.
Havent got the flu in 3-4 years either...
I'm 20... so I guess I got a good fresh immune system.
Flu shot always makes me feel like crap for at least a day or so ... nauseous, dizzy exhausted kind of crap. So I don't get em anymore. Had to every year when I was in the Air Force, and felt sick every year. So I'll take my chances with the flu (only got it once or twice) vs. the sure bet of feeling like crap from the shot. And no, I'm not allergic to eggs.
I just got one on Monday to try it for the first time.
Never again.
Today my glands are still all swollen and painful, yesterday I was feverish and achey. :|
I'd rather roll the dice and possibly get the flu rather than get a shot and for sure get it. :|
Never again.
Today my glands are still all swollen and painful, yesterday I was feverish and achey. :|
I'd rather roll the dice and possibly get the flu rather than get a shot and for sure get it. :|
I just had the flu last week and yes, I did get the shot about 2 weeks before that.
As someone said, the shot isn't an exact match for the bug that's been going around this year. The shot will give you some protection, but not that much this year.
As someone said, the shot isn't an exact match for the bug that's been going around this year. The shot will give you some protection, but not that much this year.
Amused
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Will This Year's Flu Shot Work?
Vaccinated People Who Do Get Flu Won't Be as Sick, Even Possibly With Drift Variant Form
By Daniel DeNoon
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD
on Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Dec. 3, 2003 -- Fujian flu is here. Will the flu vaccine protect you?
That depends on what you mean by "protect." The CDC says flu vaccine will offer "some" immunity against the Fujian flu that's going around this year. Some people are expected to get the flu even though they got vaccinated. But they won't get as sick as those who didn't get the vaccine.
Fujian flu is what scientists call a "drift variant." It's nearly the same virus as the Panama flu included in this year's vaccine. But it's not exactly the same, notes Jennifer Wright, DVM, an officer in the epidemic intelligence service at the flu branch of the CDC.
"We just don't really know how well the vaccine will protect against the Fujian variant," Wright tells WebMD. "In the past, where a drift variant didn't match the vaccine strain exactly, some vaccinated people didn't get sick, and those who did, had a milder illness. We'll be looking to see if that's true this year."
It would be great if scientists could look at a virus and guess how bad it would be. That's just what the CDC is doing. And "guess" is a big part of it.
"We're doing tests on Fujian viruses coming from infected people," Wright says. "Those tests are showing protection in laboratory studies. But we don't know how that translates into a living human body."
Drift and Shift
The Fujian flu is one kind of new flu virus. If you've got to have a new flu, this kind -- a drift variant -- is probably the best kind. Drift variants arise when a lot of people become immune to a circulating flu virus. They're just different enough to be able to spread more than their parent strain.
But a drift variant is nothing compared to a shift variant. Shift variants are flu bugs that have managed to change one or both of their two kinds of surface molecules, it's a more dramatic change in its antigen proteins. This lets them entirely escape any immunity because of prior vaccination or infection, says Harry L. Keyserling, MD, director of pediatric infectious diseases at Emory University in Atlanta.
"Antigenic shift that occurs when there is a new virus derived from animal strains," Keyserling tells WebMD. "That's what resulted in the swine flu pandemic of 1918 and the 1957, 1968, and 1977 influenza pandemics."
Shift variants aren't always as bad as feared. The swine flu scare of 1976 happened because a shift variant looked like the reappearance of the horribly deadly 1918 swine flu. Despite the failure of a mass vaccination effort, this shift variant never broke out as an epidemic. Instead, a drift variant called type A Victoria caused much more illness and death in the 1976-1977 flu season.
Why No Fujian Vaccine?
The Fujian flu outbreak in the U.S. this year isn't totally unexpected. By last June, the virus was spreading during Australia's flu season. Unfortunately, that's not enough warning for vaccine makers.
"The vaccine strains have to be selected about six months in advance of flu season," Wright says. "The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met in February to decide on the Northern Hemisphere vaccine. Australia didn't have its flu season until summer, when our vaccine already was in production. And just because a drift variant is in Australia is no guarantee it will show up here."
Flu vaccines are weakened viruses grown in eggs and then processed. Each egg can grow only two doses of vaccine. We're talking millions and millions of eggs here -- and lots of human effort to make the viruses into flu shots and flu nasal sprays.
"It takes months just to get all the vaccine viruses grown," Wright notes.
Tips on Protection
Wright and Keyserling agree that there's simply no way to tell how dangerous this year's Fujian flu outbreak is going to be. But the early signs aren't good: An early start to the season, and already four child deaths in Colorado.
The good news is that it's not too late to get vaccinated. The vaccine takes about two weeks to work -- but flu season lasts until April.
Because the vaccine may not totally protect against infection, some people may need extra precautions -- even if they've had their flu vaccine. Wright says these high-risk people include:
People over 65.
Residents of nursing homes or chronic-care facilities.
People with lung or heart problems -- including people with asthma.
People with diabetes.
People with kidney problems.
Children 6 months to 18 years old who require long-term aspirin treatment.
Women in their second or third trimester of pregnancy.
If exposed to someone with the flu, Wright says these people should see a doctor right away. Doctors can prescribe antiviral drugs that -- if given soon after exposure -- can prevent the flu or make it milder.
I get my flu shot every year, seems to help me from getting sick.
I personally think you all are wussies afraid of needles.
I personally think you all are wussies afraid of needles.
Are you sure about that? I had thought that getting a flu shot basically was injecting yourself with various bugs, but ones that were basically dead and just made your immune system build up anit-bodies to them. Is that incorrect?
In any case, I get sick so rarely, I would much rather risk getting the flu than have someone poke me with a needle to inject stuff in me.
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