Did youhave a flu shot and still got the flu?

John Baker

John Baker

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I'm 70, and have lungs that are less than perfect, so I have been meticulous about getting my flu shots every year. I get a pneumonia shot every five years.

This years flu bug seems a little more aggressive than those of the last few years and it is finally permeating California, so I'm more than a little concerned.

I had my flu shot in October of last year. Should I be worried?

-John
 
I think those shots are worse than anything for your health! But what do i know i dont believe in that ****.
 
marcoseddi said:
I think those shots are worse than anything for your health! But what do i know i dont believe in that ****.
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I don't know how old you are but when I was much younger, the flu shots actually gave me the flu. I think in those days the shot was a live, but weakened version of the flu. I avoided them myself until about ten years ago when the flu almost killed me, and my doctor convinced me that todays flu shots do not give you the flu. I have not caught it since.

This year, however, has got me a little concerned.

-John
 
Well, John, I had the shot; and recently I've had opportunities to play nurse to some of my friends who didn't get the shot. Let's just say I'm glad I did.

I personally don't know anyone who had the shot and got the flu, anyway. I'm sure there are some of them around, but I don't happen to know any of them.

-Rich
 
I have been getting the flu shot every other year for the past 6 years. It is only every second year because something happens to cause me to miss out on the other ones. I have not gotten the flu since I started getting the shots. Everyone around me is getting sick and I just keep plugging along.

As mentioned in another thread, I got the really nasty flu back in the late 50s and never want to go through that again.

This year, I got the flu shot and the pneumonia shot. Then a few weeks later I got the shingles and DPT shot. I have already had a bout with shingles and they said that it might come back again. That is not pleasant. Since I'm doing a lot of remodeling work on our old house, the tetanus seemed like a good idea and since we have little grandkids that haven't had all their shots yet, the pertussis part of the shot protects them. It turns out that older folks can carry the germ and pass it on to the little ones even though we don't get sick with it.

I hope you get the flu shot. Even if you don't care about getting sick yourself, you might want to be sure you are not spreading it to those you love.
 
I missed getting mine this year (I usually do) and I was down for a couple of weeks, during the holidays. I wish I had done it and I probably still will.
 
I got the shot last year for the first time. No reportable ill effects but oddly, I seem to be always tailed by a Google van now.
 
John Baker said:
I'm 70, and have lungs that are less than perfect, so I have been meticulous about getting my flu shots every year. I get a pneumonia shot every five years.

This years flu bug seems a little more aggressive than those of the last few years and it is finally permeating California, so I'm more than a little concerned.

I had my flu shot in October of last year. Should I be worried?

-John
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No you should not be worried. The big blast of flu has already come and gone.

Keep in mind that all the advertising for flu shots is mostly driven by the need to $$$$ support the biochemical warfare capabilities of the USA. Vaccinations are the perfect vehical as they are paid for mostly by the Federal Government offered free to Vets, medicated, medicare, and every social outlet there is including grants....Hardly anyone pays out of pocket for this.

The whole partnership Drug companies/government created because it is illegal for the military to fund biological and chemical warfare so we keep the capacity by actively promoting vaccinations of every manner even though many are not in our best interest or the interest of our children.

para phrased by sources found and reported by Robert F. Kennedy Jr who researches consumer issues.
 
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They say that this year's flu shot has about 60% efficacy, meaning that it has a 60% chance of working for you.

Since not everyone gets the flu anyway and you have better than half the odds of a statistically normal individual, I don't think you need to be worried.

Besides, worry leads to stress which weakens your immune system. Maybe that's why I don't get sick - I don't worry.
 
I get a flu shot every year and have for probably twenty-five years. I did however get the worst cold that I have ever had in my life. I went to the doctor and he just sent me home. I wanted to die. I'm almost over it now, but it has been over a week.
 
AuntPeggy said:
I have been getting the flu shot every other year for the past 6 years. It is only every second year because something happens to cause me to miss out on the other ones. I have not gotten the flu since I started getting the shots. Everyone around me is getting sick and I just keep plugging along.

As mentioned in another thread, I got the really nasty flu back in the late 50s and never want to go through that again.

This year, I got the flu shot and the pneumonia shot. Then a few weeks later I got the shingles and DPT shot. I have already had a bout with shingles and they said that it might come back again. That is not pleasant. Since I'm doing a lot of remodeling work on our old house, the tetanus seemed like a good idea and since we have little grandkids that haven't had all their shots yet, the pertussis part of the shot protects them. It turns out that older folks can carry the germ and pass it on to the little ones even though we don't get sick with it.

I hope you get the flu shot. Even if you don't care about getting sick yourself, you might want to be sure you are not spreading it to those you love.
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I got chickenpox in my early 30s. Not pleasant at all for adults to get it. I have heard that shingles is similar. I didn't know that there was a vaccine for that.
 
I get a shot every year and get sick every year within a week of getting the shot.

Except last year.

Last year I got my shot at Walgreens one day when I was stopping by and they had a flu shot kiosk set up.

It was then that I realized...

It wasn't the shot that was making me sick. It was entering a doctor's office with all those sick ***** sitting in the waiting room coughing on me.
 
timwinters said:
I get a shot every year and get sick every year within a week of getting the shot.

Except last year.

Last year I got my shot at Walgreens one day when I was stopping by and they had a flu shot kiosk set up.

It was then that I realized...

It wasn't the shot that was making me sick. It was entering a doctor's office with all those sick ***** sitting in the waiting room coughing on me.
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Have you seen the prescription waiting area at Walgreens? :vomit: It's not just healthy hot chicks getting their birth control pills. :)
 
I didn't get anywhere near the actual "pharmacy" section of that particular "convenience" store.
 
nddons said:
I got chickenpox in my early 30s. Not pleasant at all for adults to get it. I have heard that shingles is similar. I didn't know that there was a vaccine for that.
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Its the same virus. And the same vaccine.

I never had the pox. Got the vaccination in '97 when I started working in hospitals. My titer finally waned in the last year and I just got a booster.

As for flu. I've had the shot every year for as long as I can remember. Haven't had the flu in over 20 years. Got the extra H1N1 shot when we had that problem. The past two years have been the tri-valent (three strain) vaccine.

No ill effects. Ever. And I work around sick people all the time. Even my first year working in a pediatric ER and catching every OTHER viral bug known to man, I never caught the flu. Strangly I rarely ever get sick now after THAT experience :yes:
 
I'm 23 and have never got the flu shot. Knock on wood, I've never got the flu (or its just been so mild it didn't appear any worse than a common cold to me), in the last 10 years or so.
 
Influenza is a serious illness. Unless you have been dying of the flu or wish you were dead, you haven't had it. What most people regard as "the flu" just isn't. I doubt even one single person on this thread has had it, and nobody has gotten it from a vaccine.
 
steingar said:
Influenza is a serious illness. Unless you have been dying of the flu or wish you were dead, you haven't had it. What most people regard as "the flu" just isn't. I doubt even one single person on this thread has had it, and nobody has gotten it from a vaccine.
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Agreed. A few people at work claim to have had the flu. When I ask if their temp got above 104 degrees, they said that they had a fever for about half a day. They didn't have this flu.
 
nddons said:
Agreed. A few people at work claim to have had the flu. When I ask if their temp got above 104 degrees, they said that they had a fever for about half a day. They didn't have this flu.
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They didn't have influenza. There are quite a few viruses that will generate mild flu-like symptoms.
 
John, There's something real nasty going around the Sacramento Valley. It hit me, my wife and all my employees. Since over half of us have had the flu shot, it must be a really bad cold. My wife and I felt like crap for over a week and at week two are still running at about 70 percent.
 
Old Geek said:
John, There's something real nasty going around the Sacramento Valley. It hit me, my wife and all my employees. Since over half of us have had the flu shot, it must be a really bad cold. My wife and I felt like crap for over a week and at week two are still running at about 70 percent.
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Just got over that, first day back at work.
 
Old Geek said:
John, There's something real nasty going around the Sacramento Valley. It hit me, my wife and all my employees. Since over half of us have had the flu shot, it must be a really bad cold. My wife and I felt like crap for over a week and at week two are still running at about 70 percent.
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Every year they have to GUESS which flu strains will be making the rounds. This year there are 3 strains and they guessed right on 2 of them. Hence the 60%. It would be 66% if the shots were perfect.
I suspect the "something nasty" that is going around your area might be that 3rd strain they didn't guess right on.

John, NO, you should not be concerned. Primarily because it would do no good and like someone else said, the stress of worrying about it would be worse than not worrying about it. Just try to be sure you are only exposed to the two strains they guessed right on.
 
JOhnH said:
Every year they have to GUESS which flu strains will be making the rounds. This year there are 3 strains and they guessed right on 2 of them. Hence the 60%. It would be 66% if the shots were perfect.
I suspect the "something nasty" that is going around your area might be that 3rd strain they didn't guess right on.

John, NO, you should not be concerned. Primarily because it would do no good and like someone else said, the stress of worrying about it would be worse than not worrying about it. Just try to be sure you are only exposed to the two strains they guessed right on.
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Yeah, but the 1 they missed is making about 10% of the hits, so the percent of coverage is better than 66%.
 
Maxmosbey said:
I get a flu shot every year and have for probably twenty-five years. I did however get the worst cold that I have ever had in my life. I went to the doctor and he just sent me home. I wanted to die. I'm almost over it now, but it has been over a week.
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I think your natural system of protections is so dependent on having the correct flu shot each year you are unable to protect yourself against other flus. There are dozens in the wild at any one time, hundreds of possibilities. The flu shot is but the best guess of what is going to hit most of the US any one year.
 
I've never gotten a flu shot, and have never gotten the flu. I think I'll stick with what I've been doing.
 
Tony_Scarpelli said:
I think your natural system of protections is so dependent on having the correct flu shot each year you are unable to protect yourself against other flus. There are dozens in the wild at any one time, hundreds of possibilities. The flu shot is but the best guess of what is going to hit most of the US any one year.
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Without a vaccination you cannot protect yourself from viral infection. Viruses are very, very good at infecting humans, you can't beat it yourself. Yes, vaccines will only immunize you against the strain or strains to which they were directed. But those are the prominent strains that year, and being immune to a few beats no immunity.
 
steingar said:
Without a vaccination you cannot protect yourself from viral infection. Viruses are very, very good at infecting humans, you can't beat it yourself. Yes, vaccines will only immunize you against the strain or strains to which they were directed. But those are the prominent strains that year, and being immune to a few beats no immunity.
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I do not believe this at all. Eat berries, honey, cinnamon, veggies, keep yourself healthy, get plenty of sleep.
 
To quote Dr Bruce. SIGH.

That being said, to the OP do yourself a favor, instead of asking a bunch of pilots what you should do about your health ask your physician. There is a lot of misinformation disguised as medical fact on the web, in the public, and even in this thread. Even if everything on this thread is true and it is not, what pertains to you and your particular situation is best answered by your personal physician, and not someone else, not even your pharmacist despite what Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, or others would like you to believe. Like the commercials say, you probably do not want your physician running yor business, so why are you trying to do his/hers.

Again, ask your physician.

Doug
 
The AMA is so corrupt they make the mafia seem like a girls Choir.

AMA is a union like association whose 1st purpose it is to benefit physicians, medical industry not the public. Often what is best for people is not what is best for the medical industry. There is as much crap coming out of AMA and medical journals as there is from fox news.

Just try taking someone with insurance off of chemo and watch all those medical professionals become alert. Why? $50,000 per week treatment fees.

Stop the hypocritical bs.


douglas393 said:
To quote Dr Bruce. SIGH.

That being said, to the OP do yourself a favor, instead of asking a bunch of pilots what you should do about your health ask your physician. There is a lot of misinformation disguised as medical fact on the web, in the public, and even in this thread. Even if everything on this thread is true and it is not, what pertains to you and your particular situation is best answered by your personal physician, and not someone else, not even your pharmacist despite what Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, or others would like you to believe. Like the commercials say, you probably do not want your physician running yor business, so why are you trying to do his/hers.

Again, ask your physician.

Doug
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douglas393 said:
Again, ask your physician.

Doug
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While you are at it ask your financial adviser if you should move your pension into annuities? You will get the same professional, certified quality of answers that will give you the same level of personal benefit.

Don't trust, READ!
 
Tony_Scarpelli said:
The AMA is so corrupt they make the mafia seem like a girls Choir.

AMA is a union like association whose 1st purpose it is to benefit physicians, medical industry not the public. Often what is best for people is not what is best for the medical industry. There is as much crap coming out of AMA and medical journals as there is from fox news.

Just try taking someone with insurance off of chemo and watch all those medical professionals become alert. Why? $50,000 per week treatment fees.

Stop the hypocritical bs.
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This may all be true, but none of it changes the fact that without a vaccination you are susceptible to viral disease. Such susceptibility does not change with diet or exercise, though the severity of the disease can be affected by one's health status.
 
douglas393 said:
There is a lot of misinformation disguised as medical fact on the web, in the public, and even in this thread.

Doug
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Every fact on that site is tied to the actual news article so the reader, if not lazy can read the raw data and decide for themselves.

I got to tell you nothing is more damaging to the medical industry than the complicity of AMA, FDA and CDC to cover up actual facts and the strong arming of Big Pharma.

Don't ask your doctor, read. It is true when you google you should be mindful of the sources of documents you read. But you should read.
 
steingar said:
Better yet, simply don't interact with any other human beings and you won't contract influenza or any other infectious disease.
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For that matter you would be much healthier if you avoid hospitals altogether, to bad doctors seldom make housecalls.

If the Doctor is so smart why is the average life expectancy for a doctor less than the population as a whole? They cannot even protect themselves, how can they protect you.

I am not saying Doctors are corrupt, although many are, I am saying that they are busy and they rely on a system of trust carefully orchestrated to feed them information directly controlled from AMA and big Pharma where big money makes the decisions of which information is to be sent down the straw.
 
Get vaccinated. It is absolutely impossible to "get the flu" from the influenza vaccine, unless of course the person administering the vaccine has recently been exposed. The few people that contract the flu after being vaccinated were exposed to the virus before the vaccine took effect, or the virus is a different one than the vaccine was designed for.
Years ago, before I received yearly vaccinations, I got the flu every year and it hit me hard. Fever, bad aches, bad headache and persistent, nasty cough. I have yet to get the flu for the past ten years during which I have received yearly vaccinations.
 
Tony_Scarpelli said:
The AMA is so corrupt they make the mafia seem like a girls Choir.

AMA is a union like association whose 1st purpose it is to benefit physicians, medical industry not the public. Often what is best for people is not what is best for the medical industry. There is as much crap coming out of AMA and medical journals as there is from fox news.

Just try taking someone with insurance off of chemo and watch all those medical professionals become alert. Why? $50,000 per week treatment fees.

Stop the hypocritical bs.
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I do not disagree with the AMA being a worthless association. Fully well over half of the physician population does not even belong to the AMA. I believe it is about 25%. My post had nothing to do with the AMA and so I do not even know why you brought them into the discussion. The AMA does not speak for physicians as much as it speaks for itself, and more often than not has done things harmful to medicine. That being said the AMA and its decisions do not affect the practice of medicine at all and are more about the business and administration of medicine. As for medical research, having spent years performing basic science experimentation I can tell you the vast majority of the articles in medical journals are full of inaccuracies, bad scientific design, and incorrect conclusions. As for you taking someone off chemotherapy I doubt the sole determiner of why an oncologist chooses a particular treatment is how much they can make off it.

Anyhow, all I said was the best place and most likely for the OP to get the correct recommendations as the the pros and cons of taking a flu shot is his own personal doctor, because believe me when he takes your advice and ends up worse for the wear it will be his personal physician fixing the mess and not you. You want to give medical advice, go to medical school. Until then be careful, because a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing, and it is often not what you know that hurts you, but not knowing what you do not know.

Doug
 
John Baker said:
I'm 70, and have lungs that are less than perfect, so I have been meticulous about getting my flu shots every year. I get a pneumonia shot every five years.

This years flu bug seems a little more aggressive than those of the last few years and it is finally permeating California, so I'm more than a little concerned.

I had my flu shot in October of last year. Should I be worried?

-John
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More Traditional advice is that if you very young, very old, or have some immune issues such as you speak then you should get your flu shot each year. Last I heard the pneumonia shot is more than every 5 years but I don't know. Only a few hundred people a year die from flu, thousands die from pneumonia.

There are 3 flu widely distributed strains going around this year where is normally there is 1 big flu and occasionally a 2nd smaller and possibly few that are not widely distributed.

You should be protected by the flu shot you got however only for the one flu that vaccine was created to protect against. To protect yourself by getting another flu shot you would need to find out which flu you already were immunized with and then ensure that you get the other two flu shots if they even have a vaccination for them. I am not sure this is possible as my understanding is that there is only 1 flu prepped for each season. Whether they have left over flu vax from prior years that is still within code date is unknown.

You should know enough to ask for a single doze vax rather than a dose from a multi dose pack. They do not put mercury in the single dose shots however the multi dose packs have mercury as a sterile.

Each year CDC tries to predict the most likely flu and prep for it. This year they might have gotten it wrong and thus people are unprotected against the flu that did blow up on us. Now they are saying there are three separate widely distributed flu strains. Some people are getting the flue twice (its different flus).

I would strongly recommend you avoid going out to public places, carry antiviral cleaner and clean your hands whenever you touch anything in public as the virus can live at least 8 hrs so if you go down a walkway that 100 people walked down in 8 hrs odds are good you got some on your hands, don't touch your eyes, nose, mouth without first cleaning your hands. Also if you go shopping wear a tyvex mask over your mouth. It is not that uncommon to see older folks wear these in public during the winter and in your case I think it smart.

Stay far away from anyone coughing......

Good luck.
 
Tony_Scarpelli said:
Every fact on that site is tied to the actual news article so the reader, if not lazy can read the raw data and decide for themselves..
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You are so right. I apologize. I forgot everything you read on the internet is true. How stupid of me.

Tony_Scarpelli said:
I got to tell you nothing is more damaging to the medical industry than the complicity of AMA, FDA and CDC to cover up actual facts and the strong arming of Big Pharma...
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and Elvis is alive, JFK is alive too, man never landed on the moon, and the planes never crashed into the WTC, and pentagon. Oh yea, and the new one the shootings at Sandy Hook never occurred. Please, not everything you do not like or disagree with is a conspiracy.

Tony_Scarpelli said:
Don't ask your doctor, read. It is true when you google you should be mindful of the sources of documents you read. But you should read.
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Then do not go to your doctor when your intellectual reading causes you injury and expect him to be able to help you.

You know, I owe you an apology, most doctors are just into medicine to rip the patient off, and take advantage of the patient. You seem to forget, that until recently the ones who went to medical school were the ones who graduated in the top of their classes, and worked their butts off just to get into medical school. There is probably not a single doctor in this country who could not make a lot more money with a lot less effort, and a lot less heartache than they do in medicine if they had chosen a different field. Most of them went into medicine because of the calling of medicine and not because of the economic benefits of medicine(an oxymoron if I ever heard one).
 
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