Er, i have heard medical mutterings about pre and probiotics boostingbthe immmune system. Or was it lack of them makes your iummune system duff? Very useful when taking antibiotics or when up shit creek.

That's the reason my gastro doc advised me to take them as I have been on two lots of very strong antibiotics for months. The antibiotics kill all the good bacteria in the gut...probiotics help to restore them. I was up shit creek literally.

This is the list from the health authority of who can get a free fl shot in BC.

Who can get a free seasonal flu shot?

People 65 years and older and their caregivers/household contacts;

Residents of nursing homes and other chronic care facilities;

Children and adults with chronic health conditions, including obesity, and their household contacts;

Children and adolescents (six months to 18 years) with conditions treated for long periods of time with acetylsalicylic acid, and their household contacts;

Healthy children age six months to five years of age

Household contacts and caregivers of infants age zero to 59 months;

Aboriginal peoples (on and off reserve);

All pregnant women and their household contacts;

Health care and other care providers in facilities and community settings who are capable of transmitting influenza to those at high risk of influenza complications;

People who provide essential services including first responders and correction officers;

People who work with live poultry;

People planning to visit loved ones in a health care facility or who will take family members to outpatient appointments are also eligible for a free flu shot

Lisa Simpson called. She wants her rock back.

Thanks everybody for your kind words and support. I went into work today. I am exhausted. I have been drinking plenty of Ouzo it warms me up and then I fall off to sleep, until I get my flu shot next week.

Ruby

No sure you'll want to hear this, or whether it still applies/applies in Canada, but I know the few times I got a flu shot in the UK they wouldn't give it to you if you already had a virus of some kind....

That's why I have to wait until the end of October.

Lol busted !

Never had a flu shot in my life.

Normally I don't bother but I'm seriously reconsidering this year. Ben got the flu last year and it affected him for WEEKS afterwards. I also went off on a bit of an "anti vaccine morons" rant in the staff room the other day and now feel a tad hypocritical about not getting the flu shot. Although in my defense I was talking about parents who don't vaccinate their children

The clinics just opened here yesterday and I well may go down and get jabbed this morning on my break. At the old folk's home I'll go to you get free coffee and cookies and you get to meet a nurse - win win win, never mind the health benefits!

Had my flu shot about a month ago. I have only had flu the once...about 7 years ago...it came on very suddenly. Within 2 hours of the first symptoms I couldn't function...stayed in bed for about a week...but it took several weeks before I felt well again. Ditto for my husband...he came down with it at the same time.

A few years back I got the instructions from the bottle and looked up the flu strains it said it was supposed to protect against and there were no reported instances of them in the western world. Obviously strains can travel but they didn't. I remember one was reported in New Caledonia and I looked it up at the end of flu season again and there had been no reports at all.

I think some years they want to make a flu vaccine but they're having a hard time finding something to vaccinate against.

Well that sounds a bit more pertinent as some of the strains are from North America.

Well they put her on Tamiflu.

From the paperwork they gave me yesterday when I got it, they list various rare side-effects such as Oculorespiratory Syndrome and Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

Given that it is known to not be a terribly effective vaccine, I can see why some people wouldn't want to get it.

I can certainly see that from the point of view of the flu vaccine. I've always been unsure about risk Vs benefits on that one, I went off on a rant with regards t chldhood immunisations , for which I see very differemtly