Who gets the flu shot?
 

The nurse is coming into work next week to give the flu shot. I personally am not keen. I never had one before.
Does anyone here have any view on this please?

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

I always get one, and havent had proper flu for years. I dont see why anyone would avoid it to be honest.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

Never had a flu shot, never had flu (and neither have most people).

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

+1

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

My elephant shots are also 100% effective, I've never yet been trampled to death either...

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

I get the Flu shot every year.

When you get the shot, they list a whole lot of possible side effects, bu I have not had any of them so far. I have had flu once in my life and never want to go through that again if I can avoid it.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

It's not mandatory to get it. There are loads of people in my field that opt out of it

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

Its the thought of that needle stuck in my arm that really puts me off

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

Its not that bad, its not like its a horse needle!

Just one more little prick among all the others at work;)

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

I got it a couple of times, when it was available to me at work, haven't bothered for the past 5 years. I find that I don't get colds here:fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed::fingerscrosse d:like a used to in the UK, even though now I work in a mall with people sneezing and coughing over me.

People stay home if your sick, keep it to yourselves!

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

My wifes a school bus driver now, so fat chance of avoiding anything:thumbdown:

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

i was offered it at work the same..but turned it down..yes i have had the flu but id rather take my chances than pumping stuff into my body to save a week of work once every 15-20 years

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

Unless you are sufficiently frail that flu could kill you, I'd say don't do it. About 15 years ago we were pressured by management into having it. Within days, dozens of us were ill, with the same symptoms. It wasn't flu because I know what flu feels like but it's a bit of a coincidence that so many of us got ill so quickly after getting the jab.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

:rofl:

I still dont fancy it though, I may in fact cry

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

Hopefully she doesn't drive the kind of kids that abused the grandma on the school bus in the US?

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

The point is it may not be sufficient to kill you, but if you get flu, it may be sufficient to kill someone you pass it onto.

The more people that have the shot, the less any outbreak that that shot covers will spread and impact those that are at danger of serious consequences.

I consider it a civic duty, but then I wonder how effective the people developing the shot are at picking the active strains for any particular year.

I dont really see a downside, even if you get minor symptoms for a day or two, chances are you are going to be like that at some point over the winter anyway, and if it is a bonanza year for flu you are hopefully protected and helping to minimise the potential spread to others.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

They would be walking to school or relying on mum and dad for a ride PDQ;)

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

Minor symptoms? I was sick for weeks, as were many others. Compare that to the few days of symptoms when I've had the flu. Stuff civic duty.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

We have it every year. My wife has a dodgy immune system made even worse with a treatment she gets.

It's recommended we have it for that reason but I'd want one anyway even if there wasn't a double recommendation for having diabetes.

I remember having "proper" flu once and that told me what I thought was flu previously was just a heavy cold. I don't want that again and certainly not when it could be even worse next time.

What if you get flu and can't clear snow?;)

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

Doncha think if the flu shot had that effect on everyone in a given year it would have made the news? Thats just weird. Ive had the shot for the last ten years or more, and nothing like that has ever happened to me or anyone else in the group here:confused:

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

I dont remember that last time I had "proper flu", I might even have been a child still

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

Never had one.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

I get the flu shot. Flu season I get coughed and spluttered on by the clientele so I think it's sensible. Also if there's an outbreak and I haven't had the flu shot I'm not allowed to go to work so $$$ speaks.

I have had real flu once and never want it again so that's my main reason to have it. I've never had any reaction /adverse effects to the flu jab. It's free and it's no big deal so why not?

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

So is getting a library card but I haven't bothered with that either. If people want to have it, good for them but, as you say, it's no big deal either way.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

Widespread library card ownership is not, as far as Im aware, an effective public health measure to prevent the spread of a potentially lethal disease to the more vulnerable members of society.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

Never had one , never needed one and don't believe in getting one.

Most people think they are on death's door and all they have is a cold.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

Agreed. I dodged the jab for years and hardly ever got sick. Then I started a job where I was handling money and dealing with the public all day and I was always picking up some bug or other. I think you have to consider your own overall state of health as Souvy said and the environment you work in.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

I suspect the efficacy of the flu shot in preventing deaths by limiting the spread to vulnerable members of society is similar to the efficacy of full-body scanners at airports preventing deaths to air travellers... statistically miniscule but tremendously profitable for the manufacturers.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

There's no health risk associated with not having a library card.

(A plague of books will probably come rumbling down the road now)

No doubt I would have a different opinion if I hadn't had flu previously, and if I didn't work with people who did have it.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

Given the rather dismal take up level demonstrated in this thread you may be right. But Im still going to get one as I still dont see a down side.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

Interesting philosophy. For me, I think we get more than enough chemicals into our system through the food and water chains without conciously putting something into my body that I don't need. That to me is enough of a downside.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

It's not so often you see the Govt offering anything for free. They can easily have put a $ charge on it, but they opted not to

Good news (to the general public) on Tues though from the Ont Govt, Pharmacists will now be able to write repeat prescriptions as well as dispense the drugs.

Hawk13....how do you know your body doesn't need it? Unless you are a physician and can self-diagnose, then I don't know how you can conclude at that

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

You mean like all the floride in the water and the vitamins and minerals they add to our food supply because science has proven time and again that, on balance, they make us more healthy:sneaky:

Ive no problem with chemically supplementing what my body is capable of naturally , cold meds, alcohol, caffeine, its all good with me in moderation, so if scientists have developed a shot that might save me suffering the flu and it has little in the way of side effect, then sign me up, especially if it may help stop it spreading to the old or the very young who might really suffer the consequences of exposure to the virus.:thumbup:

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

Steady on, it's flu we're talking about here, not TB. How many people in Guelph died of the flu last winter?

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

Statistically probably between 2 and 4. Death rates in Canada from influenza are typically 500-1500 in an average year. In a pandemic year, who knows.

20 to 50 Million died in the worst pandemic (1918), thats 3% of the global population at the time, far more than the carnage of WW1 accounted for!

1958 and 1968 were not as bad, it was only about a million each time, and generally it was the elderly.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

I get it, but I think it's pretty much worthless.

I often hear these stories from people that it helps protect against x or makes "flu" (i.e. the common cold) not as bad. Bollocks, I've had really bad colds during the winter and I've been having the flu shot for 20 years.

When you actually read the bottle a lot of the strains it protects against are often really obscure, I've seen New Caledonia and PNG mentioned more than once. Yes of course someone can get on a plane and spread it, blah, blah, blah but when I checked the specific strain one year for exposure rates it had never actually been reported outside of Asia and Oceania.

Personally I think it's all a con so that drug companies can make money, I have a cousin who works at a high level in a major pharmaceutical company and she tells me that the real benefit of it is that it keeps them making the vaccines, which is a tricky operation, so if there is a pandemic they can then ramp up production more quickly.

Which is what happened with H1N1, imo.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

And what is my chance of having met a random member of the public and shared my germs with him or her?

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

You are probably sharing random germs with random members of the public all the time, but as far a flu goes in a pandemic year something like 1 in 4 show symptoms and more will be carriers.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

I got one.

Re: Who gets the flu shot?
 

I only started getting the flu shot when I moved to Nova Scotia almost 6 years ago. I have had flu twice in my lifetime and it's nasty. I get no side effects from the flu shot.

Once the weather gets cooler and I start to cover up, I take a daily Vitamin D pill (the sunshine vitamin) and coast right through the winter without even a cold and feelings of S.A.D. Even though we get lots of blue skies and sunshine you just can't expose yourself to -20C so it's fairly common to take it here in NS. It's a shame it's not promoted more in the UK. The dark, grey weather can really drag you down and make you miserable and lethargic.

Both my teenage sons refused the shots during H1N1 and both got flu. My Older son was at Uni in Newfoundland where the student residence blocks had a lockdown. My younger son collapsed at home in front of me :(