Flu shots!

[asterroc]

I'm curious whether people are planning to get the flu shot this year.

[Poll #1449243]

Comments

[freakylynx.livejournal.com]

I stopped getting flu shots a few years ago. Everytime I got one, I ended up getting sick. I've had better luck staying healthy from taking a lot of vitamin C than with getting a flu shot :P

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

My father gets reactions from the flu shot too.

[spazzy444.livejournal.com]

I put "Other" in the do these apply to you, and thought I would specify my other.

I have a new baby at home who isn't old enough to get a flu shot. By me getting a shot I am also protecting him to some degree.

My job also pays for my flu shots. But even if they didn't I would get one anyways - I had a very severe case 2 years in a row when I was a child and do not want to go through that again.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

I have a new baby at home who isn't old enough to get a flu shot. By me getting a shot I am also protecting him to some degree.

Excellent. They call this "herd immunity" - if a sufficient number of people in a large group are immunized, then it can break the cycle of infection, providing protection to even those who do not (or cannot) get immunized. Oppositely, if enough people fail to be immunized, then a disease can make a comeback, such as whooping cough.

[jennekirby.livejournal.com]

I'm assuming that coming into contact with lots of students makes me part of a population that's supposed to get flu shots.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Actually, the CDC has only recommended caregivers of infants and healthcare workers be vaccinated, not teachers. I checked "sensitive group" for my asthma (and maybe my heart murmur) and did not check "work in a field recommended" b/c teachers are not on the CDC list of recommended fields. Full list of who is recommended is here. I find the lack of teachers on that list surprising, but their argument may be that we aren't exposed to any more people than our students are (since they're all exposed to each other).

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

I have very, very, did I mention very? mild asthma. It only kicks in after aerobic exercise, but not every time I exercise.

I had to get a flu shot every year while I was in the Air Force. It made my arm ache for a week, every time.

I had the flu once as a child, and never since. I know I'm not immune, by any means, but I've never caught it as an adult, which - combined with the hatred of the pain of the shot - means I am highly unlikely to get a shot for normal seasonal flu.

The H1N1 makes me more nervous, what with it hitting healthy younger adults much harder than regular seasonal flu, so if/when that becomes available, yes I will have some of that vaccine, thank you.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

My own asthma isn't severe, I've only had one significant attack in my life, and even then it wasn't at a hospital level. Mine is also exercise triggered, with the unfortunate result that it tends to curtail my exertions during exercise, so I tend to use my inhaler prior to exercise. It's also triggered by some of my allergies, so I wonder how much of my allergy symptoms as a child were actually asthma symptoms.

I am just out of the "young adult" age range I believe (I'm 31), but between my asthma and a heart murmur (also so mild that doctors hadn't bothered to mention it to me until in my 20's), I'm planning to get the H1N1 shot.

[sildra.livejournal.com]

My risk-benefit analysis is: There is a tiny likelihood that I'll get the flu and be sick for 2-3 days (plus an extra recovery day), and not nearly a 100% chance that whatever unlikely thing makes me sick will be the flu I would have otherwise been vaccinated for. It's guaranteed that the flu shot will hurt for several minutes when I get it, with the possiblity of hurting a lot, and also the possibility of being sore for days thereafter. Therefore, it doesn't make any sense to get vaccinated.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

You must have a better immune system than I do. Normal colds put me out of action for 3-5 days, and when I had the flu once I recall it being more than a week. I had the flu shot once and of course it hurt, but I didn't have any reaction to it (unlike my father who gets flu-like symptoms for days) and I can't recall any significant lingering pain. So between that, the fact that I work with young adults and am exposed to many people, and that I've some underlying health factors, I'm planning to line up for it.

[sildra.livejournal.com]

For me, normal colds are rather uncomfortable for about 2 days, and often mildly uncomfortable for another day or two. During those first 2 days, I often feel tired, but not so tired that I can't put in a full day of work at 80-90% productivity; during the later days (if they even happen) I am fully clear-headed, and just maybe have a sore throat and sniffles. But it isn't like I get colds every winter or anything (I used to, up through college, and I think in middle school and elementary school I even got them more than once a year). I think I've had maybe three colds in the past five years.

I've had the flu twice. Once in high school--and it made me nervous, because I'd never been that sick before. I had a fever for 2 1/2 days, and it got up to 102 F at some point (both the duration and temperature are still a record for me). But my parents said it was just the flu, and nothing to worry about. I think they made me miss four days of school. And once in grad school, where it only lasted two days, but I took a third day off for recovery. About once a year when I was a kid, I'd also get the "stomach flu" with a one day fever, and two days of throwing up, and I got that once in college as well, but haven't since. I've also had strep twice, bronchitis twice, and chicken pox once (which didn't make me sick, only itchy), food poisoning a couple times... And that's every disease I've ever had in the 26 1/2 years I've been alive (and I've been in school for 23 of those 26 1/2 years, and large public schools for 16 of those 23 years, including all of grade school).

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Wow yeah, that's much better than me. I used to get a cold the first week of the semester like clockwork. Paranoid hand washing the past few years has reduced that, but I get a cold or two at random other times of the year now. Sometimes it'll be really mild, but if I feel borderline and I try to push myself through it, it just gets worse and lasts up to a week of non-functioning.

[meig.livejournal.com]

I, too, have a very healthy and robust immune system and rarely get sick.

The only thing that concerns me with this particular flu is that many of the mortalities have been in young, healthy people, those who normally just shrug it off. The Spanish Flu was the same way, and when they did postmortems on the victims, it was found that the immune system had actually gone into overload, and the lungs had filled with fluid. The particular strain of flu out right now has similarities to the Spanish flu, and with my hyper immune system (and my kids have immune systems like that as well), it gives me pause.

However, I will not be getting a flu shot, and neither will my kids, due to other immune system issues. But it does worry me a bit.

[meig.livejournal.com]

Since my TENs a few years ago, I worry about anything that can possibly cause an immune system overload, and the flu shot has GBS as a known risk.

I am also cautious with my kids for the same reason, because there is evidence that kids who have parents or siblings that have gotten TENs are more prone to getting it as well.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Toxic epidermal necrolysis and Guillain-Barré syndrome?

I am curious, have you had your kids get other routine vaccinations, like MMR? This certainly sounds like a case where not vaccinating would be a sane and safe choice.

[meig.livejournal.com]

Yes and yes. If you haven't seen, pictures of me when I was in the hospital with TENs are posted in my FB photos.

My kids already had all of their vaccinations when I came down with TENs, and never had any issues. I never had any issues with vaccines as a child, either. At the moment, I am just careful with what drugs my kids are allowed to have. For example, my TENs was thought to be caused by an allergic reaction to ibuprofen (though I believe there was more to it, I was also diagnosed with Epstein-Barr before my skin started to slough), so I do not allow them to take any NSAIDs. NSAIDs are a known cause of TENs. So are sulfa drugs, so they are not allowed to take those, either. I am also VERY picky when the doc wants to prescribe something, and I have had fights with ER staff because they roll their eyes at me when I insist I know what I am talking about. The fact is that most doctors have no idea what TENs is. They have heard of Stevens Johnson Syndrome, which is considered the precursor to TENs, but very few know about TENs or have ever seen a case of it. I spent 2 days in ICU being treated like a contagious leper, and not getting proper treatment, because the docs had no clue what was wrong with me. So, I actually do know more than most about it, especially since it almost killed me :P

Anyway, rant over ;)

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Sounds a bit like how I inform every new doctor that I have hidradenitis suppurativa. Nowhere near as big a deal as TENs, but it's rare enough that I expect most of my doctors end up having to look it up before talking to me. My current dermatologist, I told him what treatment to use for my flare-up, and he even asked me the dosage of the cortisone shot. Thankfully my records finally came through b/c I didn't actually know that one.

I'm apparently allergic to sulfa too, but for me it's just itching and irritation - I've only had a topical form though, I forget if there's also an oral form. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't take NSAIDS.

[meig.livejournal.com]

Not being able to take NSAIDs sucks. I am stuck with Tylenol, whoopdedoo. It works, but no where nearly as well. If I get arthritis, I don't know what the heck I will do.

[rosefox]

[x] Other: I would, but my doctor won't give me one because I fainted after getting it last year.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Huh! Was this from a vasovagal episode? I get those from prolonged needles (donating blood, getting an IV) and some other triggers, but I haven't ever gone so far as to pass out.

[rosefox]

Yep. I get it from IVs too, and it's why I don't donate blood.

[l0stmyrel1g10n.livejournal.com]

I didn't know there was a specific H1N1 vaccine. How widely-available is it?

I get normal flu shots every year, and haven't gotten the flu since I've been getting them, since 2001.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

The H1N1 vaccine is supposed to be available mid-October, but experts worry the peak of H1N1 infection this fall may be as early as mid-September (as opposed to normal flu being in January I think). Unlike the normal flu shot, the H1N1 shot will require two administrations 3 weeks apart, with peak protection starting 2 weeks after the second shot, so even if they were able to move the production up by a few weeks, if the H1N1 peaks in September people wouldn't yet have sufficient immunity from the shot to stave it off. The H1N1 flu shot will be separate from the normal flu shot.

I have only once gotten the flu shot (due to disinterest at first, and then scheduling difficulties in more recent years), two years ago, and I have only gotten the flu once (it must have been in high school, as I was living at home). T$ had the flu a couple years ago and I only had a sniffle, so it might be that I had a light dose of the flu then.

[kelsin.livejournal.com]

I haven't gotten a flu shot in a LONG time and have been generally fine every season.