Health Do you get the Flu Vaccination?

[Tadpole]

My almost 4 year old daughter and myself got the flu vaccination this morning. I don't have it every year; but when I do, I've been fortunate enough to never have anything more than a bit of a sore arm as a reaction to it.

 

[William Wonka]

There's a big difference between the flu and the cold. The shot can't give you the flu so it's probably that people just happened to have caught a cold. If you got the flu, you would hardly be able to get out of bed.

Spot on.
I once asked a microbiologist who worked in this area how to tell the difference between a flu and a cold and she said exactly this.
If you can get out of bed, its a cold.

Flu kills people.

I'm referring to the people i have spoken to at work regarding their own personal accounts. Not the media

Get the shot, people unfairly attribute all sorts of unrelated things to vaccinations.
My mate was whingeing about it giving him a headache three days after he had the shot, even though he had a half a slab of cider the night before his headache appeared.

Actual common reactions are: a very slight temperature, and a bit of pain and redness from the needle.
Thats it.

 

[MrKK]

I started getting it a few years ago when my son was born. My current work does it for free and I've never had a reaction more than a mild temperature.

 

[ioppolo]

Autism bro

 

[Yidaki]

No thanks.

 

[RedEffingBull]

Yes, I get it every year. Drink plenty of fluids to keep symptoms away.

 

[NaturalDisaster]

Every year.

Haven't had the full on flu before, but I get sick pretty easy so wouldn't want to risk it.

 

[perthblue]

Never had the flu shot, never had the flu. Touch wood.

I too have heard people having unfavourable reactions to it, so it scared me off.

 

[MWPP]

Flu vaccine is cultured in eggs, so some people react because of that.

It’s true that a small proportion of people react to components of the flu vaccine , but it now safe for people who have anaphylaxis to egg to have then flu vaccine (and this has been the case for several years now )

Current evidence is that patients with egg allergy (including anaphylaxis) for whom influenza vaccine is indicated can be vaccinated safely as long as the amount of residual egg ovalbumin is limited to 1ug or less per dose. This requires checking the egg ovalbumin content for any planned vaccine prior to administration, although at the time of writing (2017) all vaccines licensed for use in Australia and New Zealand contain less than 1ug egg ovalbumin. Split dosing and prior allergy testing with the vaccine is no longer recommended. Egg allergy does not increase the risk of anaphylaxis to the influenza vaccine but anaphylaxis to other components may occur. Vaccines should always be administered in facilities with staff able to recognise and treat anaphylaxis.

https://www.allergy.org.au/health-professionals/papers/vaccination-of-the-egg-allergic-individual

I get the fluvax every year at work - to protect others even moreso than myself

 

[Quadzilla]

Alwys get it...in 2004 bank I worked at offerred it. As an aged care worker from 2008 we have to source it ourselves.

Other than a sore arm never had any problems

 

[JG22]

I've had it every single year since 2006.

In 2005 I caught a nasty, and I mean really nasty, dose of the flu and was confined to bed for three weeks. It was the only time in my life when my throat has been so sore that not only could I not speak, I couldn't really eat solids either (the act of swallowing anything other than liquid was just too painful), and the soreness was so severe that it kept waking me up in the middle of the night too. The generalised muscle soreness was so bad that it took me about five minutes just to walk from the bedroom to the bathroom, and I've certainly never had such extreme fatigue either; I reckon I was sleeping about 15 hours a day.

So yeah, without hesitation I get the flu vaccine now, and I've never had any side effects, and I've also never had the flu since.

Wow, didn't know you could really be so affected by the flu.

That would depress me.

 

[MWPP]

Influenza doesn’t just hit people who are elderly /very young children /have a chronic medical condition (even though these groups are at most risk )- it can also affect older children , teenagers and adults in their 20s/30s/40s who were preciously fit and well . Most people will eventually recover (though unlike a common cold /virus , it’s a horrible illness to go through ), but a small % of people
(even those from the latter group ) will have a life threatening illness /lose their lives

 

[Doss]

Wow, didn't know you could really be so affected by the flu.

That would depress me.

Flu is much more severe than a standard cold. As a rule, if someone tells you they missed say a single day of work because of the flu, then they really have a cold.

Not saying all flus result in illness as protracted as mine was, but the severity is amped up by several orders of magnitude than just a standard cold.

 

[raskolnikov]

I have the last couple of years and got sick straight afterwards so not bothering this year.

 

[HomerThompson]

Yep, I get the full dose every year now.
With the type of athsma I have, there could be serious long-term consequences beyond getting the flu.

 

[Teagueeee15]

Alwys get it...in 2004 bank I worked at offerred it. As an aged care worker from 2008 we have to source it ourselves.

Other than a sore arm never had any problems

I’ve never worked in aged care before, but that’s staggering to think that an aged care facility wouldn’t offer it to their own staff. I would have thought for the safety of staff and patients the employer would arrange for it themselves, although not sure if they can force you to get it. Whichever Union is responsible for aged care should be all over that.

 

[HBF]

I didn't bother in the past, but being a dad now i get it to help protect my son.

 

[Doss]

For the first time, I was sporting a nice angry-looking bruise after the vaccine this year and my arm was definitely more sore than previous years, for a few days afterwards too.

But, the injection itself also hurt more than previous years, so I'm pretty sure I just lucked out and got someone who wasn't so smooth at giving shots - it was at a Chemist Warehouse, paid for by work.

 

[Big Cox 88]

I never have and will very unlikely be getting one in the future. It is guess work based on strains currently in circulation in the opposite hemisphere. The virus mutates quickly and is pure guesswork by the manufacturers who are getting lined up with cash coming from the taxpayers pockets.

I try and keep my immune system strong through a good diet, exercise and keeping my vitamins and minerals in check and I rarely get sick even though I am exposed regularly to nasties at work. I am all for building strong immunity and if that means I catch the flu once every ten years then I will deal with that, but so far, touch wood, I have never had a flu in the last 15 or so years since I finished high school.

 

[Firestarter]

I'm convinced it makes me worse than I am before I get it. For the last four years.

 

[Doss]

Given how easy travel is these days, ‘pure guesswork’ of judging on what is happening in the opposite hemisphere isn’t a bad guide at all, even allowing for mutation. And the rate of mutation of influenza viruses is not so rapid as to mean you can’t at least have some confidence there will be certain strains that are particularly prevalent for a given time period.

This is not the case with the common cold, which mutates so quickly and frequently as to make vaccine development infeasible.

 

[sherbrook]

I've never had it and I've never caught flu
I'm 60 YO
Just lucky i guess!

 

[Thegibbsgamble]

I've had it every single year since 2006.

In 2005 I caught a nasty, and I mean really nasty, dose of the flu and was confined to bed for three weeks. It was the only time in my life when my throat has been so sore that not only could I not speak, I couldn't really eat solids either (the act of swallowing anything other than liquid was just too painful), and the soreness was so severe that it kept waking me up in the middle of the night too. The generalised muscle soreness was so bad that it took me about five minutes just to walk from the bedroom to the bathroom, and I've certainly never had such extreme fatigue either; I reckon I was sleeping about 15 hours a day.

So yeah, without hesitation I get the flu vaccine now, and I've never had any side effects, and I've also never had the flu since.

Are you a chemist?

 

[JW Frogen]

I've never had it and I've never caught flu
I'm 60 YO
Just lucky i guess!

Either that or you confused that fever, sweating and aching for great sex with God.

 

[Thegibbsgamble]

In a past life I ate a nutrionaly balanced diet and rarely sick. When I started feeling symptoms come on mum would make me this soup full of vitamin c rich vegies and herbs.

Worked everytime.