How many of you are getting the flu shot?

That time of year again. Have you had your flu shot? Planning on it? Against getting the flu shot?

I had mine today.

We don't get them here.  They aren't worth the hassle.  The vaccine only protects you towards one strain of the flu and there are so many strains out there.  Plus, I do believe they are putting the H1N1 in there this year without the public knowing.  I always figured it was better to actually get the flu so that I get the true immunity and not the one in made in the test tube.  I believe many of the vaccines have mercury in them also.  Just not healthy for ya.

We don't get them here either.

I will be getting mine.  Not due till november though. 

We're not getting them here either. For the same reasons Tony listed.

I got one, my doctor advised me so i did it. Mine was free at work.  never fun or a good idea healthwise to get the flu.  Tony your logic is not all sound.

Lots of good reasons,  luckily i didn't have to write it all out   (from src)

Work- Getting the flu will mean that you miss work for several days. This is one of the main reasons that employers push for their employees to get the flu vaccine. It is also one of the reasons that you should consider getting it. Most people can't afford to miss that much time and it is also a waste of sick leave that could be better used for something that can't be easily prevented.

Health- Your health should be one of the main reasons that you consider getting a flu shot. Influenza is hard on the body when you get it. That means it leaves you more vulnerable in the future to getting the flu.

Children- Children are at high risk if they get influenza. They don't have the same ability to fight off such illnesses and therefore may end becoming more sick than others because of the immaturity of their body. If you get the flu and you have children in the house, you run the risk of getting your kids ill with the flu as well. Don't take the chance, get yourself and your children the vaccine for influenza.

Money- Getting a flu shot is a lot less expensive than doctors visits and medication to make you feel better if you get the flue. It pays to get the vaccine for Influenza because you save money in the long run. You won't necessarily get the flu if you don't get the shot, but the shot helps lower your risk.

Contagious- Influenza is very contagious. It is an airborne disease that is easily spread. If you get the flu, you will likely pass it on to many other people and the chain will continue for a while. You aren't just risking your own health when you don't get the flu shot, you are risking the health of a lot of other people.

Pain- Influenza is painful, much more painful than any shot you will ever get. It causes headaches, body aches, fever and a host of other symptoms that will make you sorry you didn't take the time to go get the flu shot.

Time- If you get the flu, you might as well say that you have just wasted a minimum of a week of your time. It might take a little time to stand in line to get your flu shot, but the amount of time that you save because you didn't get the flu is well worth a line, no matter how long it is.

Doctors- If you think the flu vaccine is long, wait until you get to the doctors office and have to sit to wait for other patients to have their turn at the doctor. No one really likes to visit the doctor. It is time consuming and in this instance can be altogether avoided.

 
Death- Influenza can cause death. According to a Chicago Times article states that the CDC has revealed that there are approximately 24,000 deaths in the United States each year due to the flu. That is a large portions of Americans dying from something they could have prevented from occurring in the first place.

Caution- Caution should always be your concern when it comes to illness that can be prevented. It is a contagious illness and the flu often kills its victim. Taking unnecessary risks with your health is uncalled for. This is not the time to throw caution to the wind.

Check with your employer to find out if they offer the flu vaccine and find out when you can get yours. The vaccine can save your life and the lives of others. It can also save time and a week's worth of headaches, body aches and fevers. Don't risk your life because you just don't feel like getting the shot.

and especially if you are pregnant you will most likely be advised to get the vaccine since you are high risk for flu.   BTW if you are afraid of the preservatives that are in flu vaccine, specifically thimerasol there is a preservative free form i am told.  There are always going to be different strains of flu and yes you may still contract the flu if you get the shot,  but at least you are protecting against the most predominant.   I have read natural health journals that make all kind of claims against why the flu vaccine is bad,  but when you weigh the risks I think it makes sense.

I don't get the flu shot.  I had h1n1 last year, so I'm not worried about getting it again.  I have only had one flu shot in my life and it made my arm numb for over a month!  After that I vowed I would not get it again.

NOPE! For many obvious reasons and some suggested by Dear Tony We don't plan on getting one ever actually.

I got sick so many times last year and had to go to the doctor on countless occasions. Since I got my tonsils removed four months ago, I'm actually not getting it this year again, because I wanna see if I get sick less due to my tonsils being removed, a little experiment I'm doing on myself.

We were immunized last year for H1N1 and last years flu strain.  We don't usually get flu shots but we may if they are reporting it to be a particularly bad strain. 

I think my wife is dragging me down to get one...  Getting old sucks...

i got both flu shots last year (my first time getting a flu shot) while i was pregnant, had emmy in nov, and then was more sick then i'd ever been. i was sick all winter between numerous colds and pneumonia. i don't ever want to get one again.

Hello, everyone!  I will be getting a flu shot the first of next month. I get them every year.  Knock on wood, I've been healthy with them so far.

LOL Whatever. I, and many others use the same logic, sound or not.  We won't be getting the vaccine.  I usually don't worry about anyone else other than me and my family.  We've done our research and guess what?  None of us have ever had the flu, imagine that.  Go ahead and get it, we will not be.  We have many friends who always get these shots and they are the sickest around...flus, colds, coughs, fevers, etc.  ^^^ Listen to BeachBarbie, its same old story I see around where we live MANY times.  Nobody ever atrributes being super sick to something you tried to prevent.  It's another government run entity and we know how that goes. Really not afraid of the preservatives, just choose not to inject myself with those, that's all

One other thing, I'm not a government conspirator at all, but why do you think the government went all bonkers about the H1N1 last year, freaking the entire nation out about a strain of the flu that wasn't all that big of a deal anyhow especially if you were healthy and contracted it?  Could it be that they ordered millions upon millions of vaccines from pharmaceutical companies and the H1N1 didn't end up all that bad at all? In fact, if you were healthy and actually contracted the H1N1, it was BETTER since you actually built a natural immunity up to it instead getting the vaccine, that didn't work all that well anyhow.  I personally knew 3 people who contracted H1N1 and they were all fine within 3-4 days and two of them got the vaccine. 

Originally Posted by Darla /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I got one, my doctor advised me so i did it. Mine was free at work.  never fun or a good idea healthwise to get the flu.  Tony your logic is not all sound.

BTW if you are afraid of the preservatives that are in flu vaccine, specifically thimerasol there is a preservative free form i am told.  There are always going to be different strains of flu and yes you may still contract the flu if you get the shot,  but at least you are protecting against the most predominant.   I have read natural health journals that make all kind of claims against why the flu vaccine is bad,  but when you weigh the risks I think it makes sense.

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I am not getting it this year, because

a) I am healthy & don´t belong to the risk groups for getting the flu

B) I don´t go to school anymore & therefore am not doing internships and dealing with patients at the moment. For med students the shot was cheaper than usual, and I´ve been getting the shot for the past years.

I believe the flu shot is necessary for anyone who works in the healthcare field or at a school etc. And it´s good thing for people who belong to a risk group. For everyone else it´s personal choice, and as long as you go by common sense hygiene (sanitize hands often, don´t shake hands etc in flu season), you are probably not at high risk. If you ever do get the actual flu in your life, you´ll probably be getting the shots in the future lol...I hear it´s pretty damn horrible to get the real flu.

If the whole idea of "I´ve never gotten a flu shot and have never had the flu, and I know several people who experienced the same thing" puts your mind at ease, then fine. I just don´t understand the "logic" behind this way of thinking.

HI Andi,

It's just one more additional reason in the large pile of reasons   Not sure that's exactly how I spun it, but ok.

Originally Posted by Andi /img/forum/go_quote.gif

If the whole idea of "I´ve never gotten a flu shot and have never had the flu, and I know several people who experienced the same thing" puts your mind at ease, then fine. I just don´t understand the "logic" behind this way of thinking.

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I just got mine and my arm never hurt at all - just as it has never hurt each time I get one.

I work in the health care field so it is imperative that I get a flu shot. Why:

I don't want to catch what others have - including the flu, from individuals that said no to getting the shot - and then they came down with the flu.

And I don't want to pass on the flu to individuals that have not yet gotten the flu shot - who cares about the ones that said no to getting the flu.

If you don't get the flu shot - make sure you can still drag your behind into work because I'm sick of covering your work load when you stay home from work with the flu.

If you don't get the flu shot - do not belly ache about all the symptoms when you get the flu. I don't want to hear about it

If you don't get your children the flu shot - do not belly ache about how sick they are

If you don't get the fly shot - do not burden our health care by sitting in the emergency room, wasting our tax paying money

The government is purposely giving its people the H1N1 - best laugh I've had in a long time!

Here's the thing.

Regardless of whether you get the flu shot or not, the flu will still come around every year.

There are an unknown number of strains of influenza (considering it's constantly mutating, the possibilities are endless as to how many there might be on any given day)

It will be contracted by both people who received a flu shot as well as people who did not receive a flu shot. (The vaccines are not perfect, and it's always possible that you contract a different strain of the virus.)

The flu vaccine helps you against a single strain of the virus; this single strain is decided by a group of scientists who predict which strain they think will be the most volatile and contagious for that season.

People aren't perfect predictors of the future. Sometimes they're right; sometimes they're wrong.  They have no way of knowing whether you, as an individual, will ever actually come into contact with that specific strain or not.

If you do come into contact with a large group of different people each day, it might help you out, since the chances of being exposed to that specific strain would be higher.

The flu shot isn't perfect, and it's not guaranteed to work, either (it's still possible that your body doesn't recognize the actual virus from the manufactured stuff used in the vaccine).  Actually getting the flu helps build up a natural immunity in the future, which if you've got a healthy immune system, you'll survive to live through it so it's not like it's a death sentence.

If I walked into the chance to get the flu vaccine, would I get it? sure, why not.  But am i going to go out of my way for it? Probably not.

I work in the health care field with elderly people. I didn't want to risk passing or receiving the flu. In the years I've had the shot, I never experienced more colds, pneumonia etc. Everyone has their reasons for getting or not wanting the flu shot. And like someone else said, the shot only covers one or two types of flu predicted. Chance of contracting another strain. So far so good for myself.

Reading this thread is actually making me reconsider my choice not to get the flu vaccine. I'm thinking about the two horrible flu experiences I've had.