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DrBoost
DrBoost Dork
10/20/10 3:45 p.m.

Ok, about 11 or 12 years ago I decided to get a flu shot since work was paying for it. The next day I had the biggest, baddest case of the flu evar. I swore off the flu shot for good. Fast forward 11 or 12 years. Once again work is paying for it but I swore if off. Well, some lady at work said that if you get the flu after the shot it's just a big coinkidink. Then I figure maybe if I get the shot I'll be less likely to bring something home to my kids so I get the shot yesterday. Last night I get a nasty case of the flu, technicolor yawn, reenactment of the bathroom scene from Dumb and Dumber every 20 minutes and now I feel like I've been hit by a truck.
I mean it this time, no more flu shots for me. My wife did some research and while it's rare some people do get the flu from the shot.

cxhb
cxhb HalfDork
10/20/10 3:52 p.m.

Same thing happens to me. I believe it happens to a lot of my friends and family members as well. Get the the flu shot? Be prepared to be down about a week...

Cotton
Cotton Dork
10/20/10 3:56 p.m.

I never get sick off the shot. Good thing because were I work you pretty much have to get it or you have to wear a mask.

spitfirebill
spitfirebill Dork
10/20/10 4:01 p.m.

I really don't think you are going to come down with the flu 24 hours after a shot. I'm not a doctor, I just wish I was.

Auto ADD
Auto ADD Dork
10/20/10 4:04 p.m.

I haven't gotten a flu shot in years and haven't gotten the flu. The last time I got a shot I came down with the flu in a couple of days. Sucks big time.

mndsm
mndsm Dork
10/20/10 4:15 p.m.

Never had a flu shot. Don't intend to. I figure man survived for hundreds of years before we all went around doing stupid E36 M3 and injecting diseases into ourselves. I took my chances with the bird flu, r2d2 flu, and SARS and came out fine. I don't suspect that will change.

chaparral
chaparral GRM+ Memberand Reader
10/20/10 4:42 p.m.

In reply to mndsm:

In 1900, the average life expectancy in America was 47, and at the time that was considered quite an achievement.

wbjones
wbjones Dork
10/20/10 4:45 p.m.

what you have to understand is you CANNOT get influenza from the flu shot... it is IMPOSSIBLE .... it's a DEAD virus + and this is the biggy ... influenza is a pneumonia (i.e. a lung disease ) not a stomach ailment... common colds and various stomach viruses are often referred to as the flu... neither of which will kill you... (just feels like it sometimes influenza can/will depending on your ability to fight it off.... the shot is a guess each year as to which "flu" will be "the one" that yr ... but even if they miss their guess it still helps you fight off the virus if you are unlucky enough to come in contact with the virus

failboat
failboat New Reader
10/20/10 4:47 p.m.

Haven't had a flu shot in years. Haven't had the flu since.

Otto_Maddox
Otto_Maddox Reader
10/20/10 4:48 p.m.

WB is right. Flu shots can't give you the flu.

But if you skip the flu shot, you are more likely to get the flu, and thus more likely to give it to an old lady or an immune system compromised child and kill them. That would make me feel bad.

It is like paying taxes. It kind of works better if everyone does it.

nocones
nocones GRM+ Memberand Reader
10/20/10 4:53 p.m.

Oh but I'M DIFFERENT!! I get the flu from dead viruses

You're probably allergic to something in the shot. I know if you have an Egg allergy you can get nauseous/very stomach virus like sick. I'm pretty sure there is probably other stuff in their that can give you similar reactions.

Grtechguy
Grtechguy SuperDork
10/20/10 4:57 p.m.
wbjones wrote: what you have to understand is you CANNOT get influenza from the flu shot... it is IMPOSSIBLE .... it's a DEAD virus + and this is the biggy ... influenza is a pneumonia (i.e. a lung disease ) not a stomach ailment... common colds and various stomach viruses are often referred to as the flu... neither of which will kill you... (just feels like it sometimes ) influenza can/will depending on your ability to fight it off.... the shot is a guess each year as to which "flu" will be "the one" that yr ... but even if they miss they're guess it still helps you fight off the virus if you are unlucky enough to come in contact with the virus

Not always...last years h1n1 vaccine was LIVE.

81gtv6
81gtv6 GRM+ Memberand Dork
10/20/10 5:07 p.m.
nocones wrote: Oh but I'M DIFFERENT!! I get the flu from dead viruses You're probably allergic to something in the shot. I know if you have an Egg allergy you can get nauseous/very stomach virus like sick. I'm pretty sure there is probably other stuff in their that can give you similar reactions.

That is probably the case. Being in the military we have to get one every year, never had an issue in the last 15 years.

f86sabjf
f86sabjf Reader
10/20/10 5:09 p.m.

get it every year and seem to get less colds and other ailments . coincedence??? The first year i felt down for about 24hrs and then was back to full strength.

cardiacdog
cardiacdog New Reader
10/20/10 5:30 p.m.

Sorry, I have to throw in some comments here since I did the whole MD thing. The flu shot is an "inactivated" virus. The nasal spray is a live attenuated virus meaning it is weakened. So you can get the "flu" but not from the shot. You can get low grade fever, soreness, etc...If you really get the flu the day after the shot, you probably had it before the shot. You can get flu despite getting the shot, but it is usually a milder case. Influenza is not a pneumonia either. If you get pneumonia after the flu it is usually a Staph pneumonia and can be dangerous. This year's vaccine will protect against H1N1 and the other projected subtypes. Sorry to wax poetic, but while I may not know e36M3 about cars, I do know medicine

Rufledt
Rufledt Reader
10/20/10 5:57 p.m.

The way i see it, I only get the flu every 3-5 years, and it only sucks for a couple days. Going to the doctor's office and getting a shot is annoying enough to choose the occasional flu. Besides, i'm an active male in my 20's, I shouldn't have any serious lasting problems with any virus averted by that shot. I'll take a meningitus vaccine, but screw the flu shot.

neon4891
neon4891 SuperDork
10/20/10 6:05 p.m.

Never had the shot, never got the flu, not gonna start till work requires it. And I turned down a free shot the other day.

Stealthtercel
Stealthtercel Reader
10/20/10 6:09 p.m.

I can't make you get a flu shot, but you might want to look at the stats from H1N1 last year, which seemed to kill young, healthy people at a higher rate than old, less healthy people. Granted, dying from the flu is rare, but it ain't nonexistent either.

1988RedT2
1988RedT2 HalfDork
10/20/10 6:41 p.m.

While you're at it, research healthy people who got a flu shot and suffered severe, and sometimes life-changing illness from the vaccine itself. There aren't many, but there are some.

z31maniac
z31maniac SuperDork
10/20/10 6:46 p.m.
f86sabjf wrote: get it every year and seem to get less colds and other ailments . coincedence??? The first year i felt down for about 24hrs and then was back to full strength.

And I don't get sinus infections or colds anymore since I was in grade school and forced to get the shot?

Correlation does not equal causation.

Trans_Maro
Trans_Maro Dork
10/20/10 8:13 p.m.

Never had a flu shot, don't plan to.

It's the flu fer chrissakes, you won't die from it unless you're stupid or Jim Henson.

If you do get the shot, get the ANTI-flu shot.

Shawn

wbjones
wbjones Dork
10/20/10 8:23 p.m.
Grtechguy wrote: Not always...last years h1n1 vaccine was LIVE.

this yrs isn't... or so they said at the VA....

wbjones
wbjones Dork
10/20/10 8:29 p.m.
cardiacdog wrote: Sorry, I have to throw in some comments here since I did the whole MD thing. The flu shot is an "inactivated" virus. The nasal spray is a live attenuated virus meaning it is weakened. So you can get the "flu" but not from the shot. You can get low grade fever, soreness, etc...If you really get the flu the day after the shot, you probably had it before the shot. You can get flu despite getting the shot, but it is usually a milder case. Influenza is not a pneumonia either. If you get pneumonia after the flu it is usually a Staph pneumonia and can be dangerous. This year's vaccine will protect against H1N1 and the other projected subtypes. Sorry to wax poetic, but while I may not know e36M3 about cars, I do know medicine

if I'm wrong about the pneumonia then I apologize .. but my Dad is (was) a bacteriologist (microbiologists) and his explanation was that pneumonia had come into general usage (ala Plexiglas...) and it's old time definition was any lung infection with the pointed names of viral / bacterial pneumonia being what is now commonly referred to as "pneumonia"....

don't mind being corrected... and you are right ... and I was referring to the shot not the spray

wbjones
wbjones Dork
10/20/10 8:34 p.m.
Trans_Maro wrote: Never had a flu shot, don't plan to. It's the flu fer chrissakes, you won't die from it unless you're stupid or Jim Henson. If you do get the shot, get the ANTI-flu shot. Shawn

death rate is down (from the flu) this from : http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/general/news/jun1208deaths-br.html

A total of 56,247 deaths were attributed to flu and pneumonia in 2006, a rate of 18.8 deaths per 100,000 population, according to the CDC report.

neon4891
neon4891 SuperDork
10/20/10 9:31 p.m.
Trans_Maro wrote: It's the flu fer chrissakes, you won't die from it unless you're stupid or Jim Henson.

And now we have wrong sounding muppets.

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