getting the flu and the flu vaccine [Archive] - The Well-Trained Mind Forums (aka Hive Mind)

8FillTheHeart

02-22-2008, 02:00 PM

momofkhm

02-22-2008, 02:02 PM

My doctor said something a few years ago that really made sense: "You're a mom of three kids. You don't have time to get the flu." Ever since then I've gotten it if it's available. So far it's 50/50.

abbeyej

02-22-2008, 02:12 PM

You left out an option...

No, I didn't get the vaccine this year. Yes, I got the flu and it was (is) horrid. No, I will not be getting the vaccine next year.

sdWTMer

02-22-2008, 02:15 PM

No, I didn't get the shot; but my dh and oldest son did. They are usually the sicker ones in the family. I assumed that if they got the shots my other son and me would be just fine. Crossing our fingers.

Plaid Dad

02-22-2008, 02:19 PM

Not vaccinated and no flu so far!

JudoMom

02-22-2008, 02:22 PM

You left out an option...

No, I didn't get the vaccine this year. Yes, I got the flu and it was (is) horrid. No, I will not be getting the vaccine next year.

:cool:

OnTheBrink

02-22-2008, 02:22 PM

Not vaccinated and no flu so far!

This.

Doran

02-22-2008, 02:26 PM

PiCO

02-22-2008, 02:28 PM

I read in the paper last week that the flu vaccine was only good for one of the three flu variations that have popped up this year. Not great odds!

I don't get it because I don't like to overvaccinate. But I find it amusing that so many people think it will protect them from every variety of flu out there. People who develop the vaccine are really just taking an educated guess as to what will pop up this year. Some years they guess well, some years they don't.

Whisperlily

02-22-2008, 02:37 PM

Because of health issues, everyone in my family who is able gets the flu vaccine each year. DH and DS (age 5) can't have the vaccine due to an egg allergy.

This year, the rest of us were immunized. Even with 4/6 immunized, ALL of us got the flu, and there was *no* difference in symptoms between the vaxed and unvaxed.

My uncle was also vaccinated, and ended up in the hospital with the flu this year.

GreenKitty

02-22-2008, 02:44 PM

Not ever vacinnated and normally never get the flu. Though now that I type that who knows.:rolleyes:

abbeyej

02-22-2008, 02:48 PM

Not ever vacinnated and normally never get the flu. Though now that I type that who knows.:rolleyes:

Lol. Yes, I don't *usually* get the flu. ;) I don't know when the last time was -- many, many years. I guess I was "due". ;)

Kristafish

02-22-2008, 03:03 PM

Normally I don't get the flu shot but did this year since I'm pregnant.
No one else in my house got the shot but they haven't gotten the flu either :D

one l michele

02-22-2008, 03:06 PM

the flu, dh and I did 10+ years ago.

Tutor

02-22-2008, 03:12 PM

You left out an option...

No, I didn't get the vaccine this year. Yes, I got the flu and it was (is) horrid. No, I will not be getting the vaccine next year.

.

Old Dominion Heather

02-22-2008, 03:14 PM

Dh and the kids all get the vaccine, I can't... egg allergy. I would if I could, though. My kids and I all have asthma and if I consider it worth the gamble. I'd rather pay for the shot than have one of them, or me, end up in the hospital even if it only protects me against a few strains... that is a few I won't get, anyway!

Kris

02-22-2008, 03:35 PM

No vaccine -- no flu. Even if we *got* the flu we wouldn't get the vaccine.

Milseain

02-22-2008, 05:39 PM

Vicki

02-22-2008, 06:04 PM

I did not get the vaccine. My mom and sister both got the vaccine and both had the flu. About half of our family got the flu. We probably won't vaccinate next year.
God bless,
Vicki

TCoppock

02-22-2008, 06:10 PM

I get the flu vaccine every year and haven't had the flu in years. I work in the medical field and am exposed to too many bugs already. I need whatever help I can get. :)

siloam

02-22-2008, 06:13 PM

I got it all the years my kids were being born, and didn't get the flu. Because I hadn't gotten it, I skipped the next year and got hit hard a couple of times. This year I got the shot again, but still got a new strain. Then the kids got a second flu and that one barley touched me (I was the only one with a flu shot).

I am sticking with the shot (also asthmatic) for the future.

Heather

Tammy in Germany

02-22-2008, 06:14 PM

Got the flu mist, but not the flu..thank goodness! :) They are expecting another wave of the flu in March..keeping fingers crossed we all stay well.

nancypants

02-22-2008, 06:32 PM

No option for me this time. Normally we do get the flu shot and I am a big supporter of it (not that I think it always provides complete coverage). This year we didn't get in in time to do it. None of us has gotten the flu YET. I sure hope we don't but I'm not ready to make that my final answer until winter is truly over! LOL

dirty ethel rackham

02-22-2008, 07:27 PM

Never vaccinated and only a handful of mild cases in the last 20 years. Never been terribly sick. However, dh used to get very sick. Now gets vaccinated and is much better.

Sunny

02-22-2008, 07:34 PM

Should have polled those who are healthy and didn't get either :)
Mom called just 2 days ago. She was vaccinated, and got the flu really badly. Dr. said this year's vaccine is not the majority of strain of flu going around.

Melora in NC

02-22-2008, 07:35 PM

I clicked "yes" for having the flu, but actually it is both my poor dc who have it. (We finally went to the doctor today, but they've been sick since Monday!). I sort of wish we'd gotten the shot, but I'm also kind of glad we didn't, since I've heard that it was only about 40% effective this year. If we Had gotten the shot and the dc had gotten flu anyway, dh would probably never have let them get the shot again! I've read that next year's shot is supposed to be better, and we will definitely plan to get it!

Renee in FL

02-22-2008, 08:47 PM

No vaccine, no flu. Dh did get the flu about 5 years ago, but no one else got it.

When dh was in the Army, he had to get the flu shot every year. Every year after spending all day in a hot building with 100s of other guys waiting to get flu shots, he would get very, very sick. Not with the flu (the vaccine isn't alive), but very sick nontheless.

Now he wouldnt' get one for anything!:rolleyes:

Basketmaker Amy

02-22-2008, 08:49 PM

Same for our family! Hopefully we'll keep it that way!

Amy loves Bud

02-22-2008, 10:15 PM

Not vaccinated and no flu so far!

Same here.

I used to get the vaccine when I was practicing medicine, because I thought it would be terrible to get a preventable illness and then pass it on to someone very sick (cancer/AIDS). But since I left I haven't had the vaccine.

I've never had the flu in my life. I'm sure I'm going to regret saying that. :rolleyes:

KristineIN

02-22-2008, 11:20 PM

Never have had the vaccine, I've not had the flu the past few years, this year dd did get a mild case, but no one else got sick and that was a few weeks ago.

Kristine

Jean in Newcastle

02-23-2008, 01:12 AM

No vaccine, no flu. I had a very bad reaction to a flu shot about 15 years ago - arm swelled up like a balloon. My dh is required to get a flu shot (he's in healthcare) but we haven't had the flu here in years. (Of course, now that I type this, we'll probably get it!) My dh did get us some oscillococcinum (homeopathic flue med.) just in case. Never used it though, so I don't know if it is effective.

HiddenJewel

02-23-2008, 03:49 AM

Mrs Mungo

02-23-2008, 04:10 AM

I didn't get a flu shot but didn't get the flu. My kids did get a flu shot because my youngest has been hospitalized two different winters with RSV. So...whatever helps.

Holly IN

02-23-2008, 12:51 PM

for me! Dh and kids did get a mild flu. We do not do flu shots at all. We are not comfortable with what it is in it. The last time we all got the flu shot we all came down with it, the worst flu bug we ever got. So we prefer to get the real thing than what it is in the shot. If we get the flu really bad we still wouldn't get the flu shot. Nope!!

We take vitamin C. High dosages of them.

I haven't got the flu for the past 10 years. My kids and dh do get a mild form of one every year. I think they are not taking enough vitamin c though.

Holly

Janet in WA

02-23-2008, 01:09 PM

I'm curious how many of you that have the flu actually were vaccinated. (OK, more than curious. Worrying about my (big) baby and the flu he was probably exposed to last night.) All of my kids were vaccinated and so far we have avoided the flu (but not the stomach yuckies)I couldn't vote because you didn't allow more than one choice. Over the years, I've had several experiences with flu and the vaccine. Some years, we get vaccinated, most years not. We've never gotten the flu when we've been vaccinated, but we hardly ever get it when we're NOT vaccinated either. But in the years that we DO get the flu, I always swear we'll be vaccinated the next year.

Peek a Boo

02-23-2008, 02:23 PM

Not vaccinated and no flu so far!

us too :)

justme

02-23-2008, 02:30 PM

I couldn't vot because my option was not on the poll: no vaccine, no flu in as long as I can remember and never going to get the vaccine, whether I get the flu this year or not!

CookieMonster

02-28-2008, 01:58 PM

Not vaccinated - no one in our family - and no one got the flu.

None of my children have ever gotten the vaccine, none have ever gotten the flu.

My dh and I have never been vaccinated and we've gotten just a handful of flus in our lifetimes (3 decades).

Don't really see the point....

mrscopterdoc

02-28-2008, 02:36 PM

didn't get the shot and have not been sick yet

yslek

12-29-2008, 04:11 PM

Never had the vax; don't normally get the flu. (The one year I did get a bad flu, I was pregnant with L. Ended up getting secondary infections of pneumonia & pleuresiy, landed in hospital, and had baby 7 weeks early. I did wonder if I would've been better off had I gotten the vax.)

Dh gets the vaccine every year, as he's in the Navy (& in health care). He gets the flu every year right after he gets the shot. :glare:

To be fair, though, the shot is not designed to protect you from the flu. There are so many strains of it, that it would not be feasible. Every year they pick 3 strains of flu to put in the vaccine (so it's different every year). Dh told me the criteria once. I think it's the most common strain, the most deadly strain, and something else (last year's worst strain? I don't remember). So, you may still get the flu, but hopefully you won't get the most dangerous strain. :D

LizzyBee

12-29-2008, 04:54 PM

There are no choices that apply to me. I've never gotten the vaccine, and I've had the flu twice. The first time I was 16, and the second time was March 2008.

PrairieAir

12-29-2008, 04:55 PM

Never have gotten the flu vaccine and never will unless I'm in a high risk category. I don't get the flu any more often than those I know who regularly get the vaccine (including family members in high risk categories). Possibly less often.

Confuzzled

12-29-2008, 05:03 PM

Not vaccinated and no flu so far!

Me too!

Tree House Academy

12-29-2008, 05:05 PM

For the last 5 years, my kids, dh, and I have gotten the flu shot and also NOT gotten the flu. However, dh and I did NOT get the shot this year and still, so far, no flu.

Honestly, I think more people think "flu" when it really isn't the flu. I have had the true "flu" one time in my life and I thought I was dying. My now 9y/o had the flu ONE TIME in his life and I thought he was dying too. It is terrible stuff when it is the true flu.

AnnetteB

12-29-2008, 05:19 PM

We have never had a flu that there was a vaccine offered for. We don't get vaccines either. We did all get that nasty norovirus in January 2007, but there is no vaccine for it. Dil brought grandson over to us sick :( All the little bugs that get passed around morph constantly and there is no vaccine for them. Hand washing and staying away from sick people is the best defense!! We try to stay away from the dr. and dentist during flu season for that reason. The library is also an exchange of germs hotspot.

Colleen

12-29-2008, 05:36 PM

No, I didn't get the vaccine this year. Yes, I got the flu and it was (is) horrid. No, I will not be getting the vaccine next year.

(((Abbey))), sorry you feel miserable. I typically have one bout each winter ~ usually right around the holidays ~ but so far I've not succumbed. I don't know of many people who've been sick either, come to think of it. I can't think of any circumstances that would lead me to get a flu vaccine, or to allow my children to be vaccinated for it, either.

Mommy22alyns

12-29-2008, 05:40 PM

I was regularly getting flu vaccines from 2002 (while pregnant with Becca) up to last year. Never got the flu. Last year, the three of us (girls) got the FluMist and all got some mild form of it, which was still miserable. I will never get the FluMist ever again. :glare:

None of us got the flu vax this year and I'm a little paranoid about it, but we're healthy so far (knocking furiously on wood).

RoughCollie

12-29-2008, 05:53 PM

I have heart problems, so I got the flu and pneumonia vaccines. The CVS drugstore near my house just started what they call a Minute Clinic, so I got the shots while I waited for some prescriptions to be filled. So easy, and insurance paid for it.

RC

StaceyinLA

12-30-2008, 12:28 AM

NOT vaccinated, NO flu, will NEVER get flu shots!

For the reasons mentioned about the strains, etc., I don't think the flu shot is effective, nor do I really believe in vaccinations anyway. We take plenty of vitamin C and try to maintain healthy diets to keep our immune systems in working order just in case.

And, because when my dad had cardiomyopathy, they pushed him to get a flu shot every year because having the flu and all the coughing and congestion would, obviously, be a problem for him.

Well, the last winter he was alive he got his flu shot. Within 10 days he had a full-blown case of the flu. He never recovered. It sent him into full-blown heart failure and he died a few months later. I HATE flu shots!

Pretty in Pink

12-30-2008, 12:42 AM

I have not read all of the responses so forgive me if I repeat something. The flu mist is a live virus vaccine and can indeed give one a case of the flu. The flu shot is an inactived vaccine, which means the virus has been killed, and cannot give anyone the flu. Individual doses of the flu shot do not contain mercury; doses drawn for 10 dose vials contain mercury.

We never got flu shots before this year and I never really gave it much consideration. We were all healthy individuals. The flu wasn't going to kill us. Last winter, however, ds5 developed a respiratory infection. He still suffers from residual asthma-like symptoms. We researched flu vaccine options and chose to vaccinate our whole family this year with individual doses of the flu stot. We felt the risks were low compared to the risk of our son catching the flu. We undestand, however, that the vaccine only protects against a few strains of the flu virus and that we are all still at risk of contracting another strain or a mild case of the strains we were vaccinated against.

Brindee

12-30-2008, 12:48 AM

Well, we are clean people, eat healthfully, and do all you're supposed to do, but we were still getting the flu once and sometimes twice a year. It was horrid! A couple times my dd and I had it so bad we were all worried, especially for dd being so very sick!

We tried the flu shot one year, it's covered by insurance, and we were so tired of getting so sick! We didn't get sick at all that year(must've been a good year for guessing which strains to include), and were soooo relieved! We've gotten them each year since, and have not been sick with the flu since we started getting the shots! Now I'm almost afraid NOT to get them! I know they don't cover everything, but it's certainly seemed to truly help our family!

Pretty in Pink

12-30-2008, 12:55 AM

Honestly, I think more people think "flu" when it really isn't the flu. I have had the true "flu" one time in my life and I thought I was dying. My now 9y/o had the flu ONE TIME in his life and I thought he was dying too. It is terrible stuff when it is the true flu.

I agree with this statement. I've only had the flu once in my entire life and that was last winter while I was pregnant. I was literally in bed for five days. There was no doubt in my mind that I had the flu. I see people out and about that aren't feeling well and say "Oh, I think I've got the flu..." If you have the flu, honey, you know it!

I don't think flu shots are necessary at all (as I said, I've had the flu only once in 28 years, and only vaccinated this year) but I am grateful that vaccines are available for those in high risk categories.

Kris

12-30-2008, 01:27 AM

And another option -- never get the shot, sometimes get the flu, sometimes don't -- always get over it when I do.

Chandi_n_WI

12-30-2008, 01:35 AM

No we do not get the vaccine, yes my kids get it every year. I get a touch of it and mY DH usually doesn't get it at all. Yes, we will continue to NOT get the vaccine

Vicki

12-30-2008, 02:44 AM

We did not get the vaccine and we have not had the flu. My mom and dad get the vaccine every year and every my mom gets the flu.
God bless,
Vicki

Alaska Mom

12-30-2008, 03:41 AM

I'm probably an anomaly, but...

I was vaccinated for mumps and I got the mumps :blink: (horrible btw),

Dd & I were both vaccinated for whooping cough and we both got whooping cough :glare: (lasted 5 months),

Neither I, dh or dc have ever had a flu vaccination and none of us has ever had the "flu" :hurray:.

I still lean in favor of immunizations for some diseases, but for flu, nada - I feel we are healthy and can afford the risk - it's worked for us so far (not that I could/would make that decision for anyone else).

p.s.-couldn't vote in poll - a no/no answer was an option

Frelle

12-30-2008, 09:18 AM

we dont get the flu shot and despite Influenza Strain A hitting our house last March, even the 4 month old baby got it, it doesn't make me want to get a flu shot for my family.

Seems to me that the strains in the shot would be supressed in the community vaccinated against them, and any strain not in the shot would run rampant. So what you're more likely to get is a strain not in the shot whether vaxed or unvaxed.

MeganP

12-30-2008, 09:21 AM

I've never been vaccinated and rarely get the flu - maybe once every few years.

jonesloonybin

12-30-2008, 11:33 AM

No shot/No flu so far...knock on wood.

beansprouts

12-30-2008, 11:35 AM

This poll would be more useful if you included an "unvaccinated, no flu" option ;)

Not vaccinated, never been, last flu was 9 - 10 years ago.

beansprouts

12-30-2008, 11:38 AM

I wouldn't get the vaccine, despite having the flu this year. I discussed this very topic w/ a pharmacist the night the first of us got sick, and it seems that the strain of flu that is running rampant (around here anyway) is NOT the strain in the innoculation. It's always a gamble, right?

Doran

Very often this is the case. So we inject our bodies with chemicals and preservatives, actually weakening our immune systems, and then get sick anyways.

Blue Hen

12-30-2008, 12:00 PM

I'm curious how many of you that have the flu actually were vaccinated. (OK, more than curious. Worrying about my (big) baby and the flu he was probably exposed to last night.) All of my kids were vaccinated and so far we have avoided the flu (but not the stomach yuckies)

I could not respond to the poll since:
I will NOT get the shot and in the last 52 yrs have had the flu ONE time.

My mom got the shot one year, immediately landed in the hospital, unable to walk cause her hip socket had locked up, and the coincidental or not (She thought not), she had to have her hip replaced. At the age of 51yo.

No vaccine, no flu, never.

Carole