Flu Vaccination - Yes or No?

ShayBells · Oct 17, 2018

I have never had the flu shot. And never got the flu... until last year.

Got my DS (now 10) a flu shot when he was 2... he ended up in the hospital with pneumonia and bronchitis from the flu so I never got it for him again. He never got the flu again... until last year.

Last year was so bad I’m reconsidering my position. It’s time to give it another chance.

goofyintoronto · Oct 17, 2018

Pea-n-Me said:
I think the mask isn't even an option for some anymore! I know people who've had a "reaction" before who still cannot opt out of the shot.

Katie Dawn said:
Goofy in Toronto, do you have contact with hospitalized patients? If so I'm surprised they give you the option. As Pea-n-Me said at many hospitals it's either get the shot or wear a mask the entire time you're at work during flu season.

They cannot force you, and the shot isn’t mandatory. If you choose not to get vaccinated, you sign a form saying you understand that you won’t be able to work until the outbreak is over, if there is a flu outbreak in your dept. We’ve never had an outbreak in my dept.

In Toronto recently the nurses union (ONA) won a second ruling that strikes down the vaccinate or mask policy in Toronto hospitals. It is absolutely ridiculous. So I’m very happy with this ruling. I’ll give you an example of how ridiculous it is. A few years back when the VOM policy was in place, I didn’t have to wear a mask at my desk. But if i step three feet back, I’d have to put the mask on. Lol.

Pea-n-Me · Oct 17, 2018

goofyintoronto said:
They cannot force you, and the shot isn’t mandatory. If you choose not to get vaccinated, you sign a form saying you understand that you won’t be able to work until the outbreak is over, if there is a flu outbreak in your dept. We’ve never had an outbreak in my dept.

In Toronto recently the nurses union (ONA) won a second ruling that strikes down the vaccinate or mask policy in Toronto hospitals. It is absolutely ridiculous. So I’m very happy with this ruling. I’ll give you an example of how ridiculous it is. A few years back when the VOM policy was in place, I didn’t have to wear a mask at my desk. But if i step three feet back, I’d have to put the mask on. Lol.

I understand what you're saying, and I used to think the same thing. But they are forcing nurses and other staff in clinical roles to get the shot now in some places. Wearing a mask is no longer an option but for a very select few people.

ronandannette · Oct 17, 2018

wvjules said:
Got mine today!

Me too at a mobile clinic held at my work. :scared:

My arm hurts like bejebbuz even though the nurse did a pretty gentle job. Common side effect so I'm told and I'm not expecting anything worse.

dotfurio · Oct 17, 2018

We got ours a couple weeks ago. Our employer has a couple days employees can go get one for free, but it's free with our insurance anyway so we just pop into our pharmacy and do it. I didn't used to get them, but we all have gotten flu shots the last few years and, knock on wood, we haven't had the flu.

taylor3297 · Oct 17, 2018

katie01 said:
Here's the thing, I love the idea of the vaccine, I *want* to get it and hope that it will prevent the flu. But I got the flu twice in the 2 years in a row I was required to get the vaccine (a month or two after the vaccine), and both of those times that flu progressed to pneumonia and I was so very sick. I decided to see what would happen if I did NOT get the vaccine the last two years, and those two years I was the healthiest I've ever been, and no influenza this time. There's probably nothing scientific about that, just weird backwards luck? Also, my dad got parsonage-turner (sp) syndrome after a vaccine so while I get all the other required vaccines, I do hesitate when it comes to something optional like flu vaccine. I'm really not sure what to do this year. I have also heard the argument that I should get the flu vaccine to protect all those who can't get it, but if the only years I've caught the flu (and therefore can spread it) is in years I've had the vaccine, by that logic, I should protect others by NOT getting the vaccine. I may just get it the vaccine this year and see what happens. I have to say though that if I get influenza again in a vaccine year, I think I may be done with it

I used to get the flu shot and I would still get the flu every year. I stopped getting the flu shot 4 years ago and haven't had the flu since. So, I totally understand where you are coming from.

Mirielle · Oct 17, 2018

A friend of mine does medical research at Duke. She has urged her friends to not get the flu vaccine. Said no one who is in her department would consider it. I don't know...this worries me a good deal.

AustinTink · Oct 17, 2018

frank430316 said:
My wife had this reaction as well several years ago, and so no longer gets it (but she insists I do ) I talked to the nurse who gave me mine, and she said Guillain_Barre is becoming a very common side affect and might be related to auto immune problems (my wife has Celiac).

Interesting. A girl we know was just diagnosed with Guillian-Barre. i honestly had to no prior knowledge of this disease, but it sounds so scary. She was fully paralyzed for weeks and just sat up for the first time recently. I didn't know it was associated with the flu vaccine.

DLgal · Oct 17, 2018

Mirielle said:
A friend of mine does medical research at Duke. She has urged her friends to not get the flu vaccine. Said no one who is in her department would consider it. I don't know...this worries me a good deal.

And her reason why not to get it is....????

Sorry, but I trust the many, many, many, many OTHER researchers, scientists, and medical professionals who wholeheartedly recommend the flu vaccine, not to mention the empirical evidence proving it prevents hospitalizations and deaths from the flu over one person with an opinion who is a researcher at one institution.

DLgal · Oct 17, 2018

. Duplicate post.

Dan Murphy · Oct 17, 2018

Pea-n-Me said:
For many hospitals in the U.S., it's no longer optional.

Both my FF/paramed son and his wife, an ER nurse, have to get it. Mandatory. And they are happy to get it, along with their 3 kids.

ice cube · Oct 17, 2018

Mirielle said:
A friend of mine does medical research at Duke. She has urged her friends to not get the flu vaccine. Said no one who is in her department would consider it. I don't know...this worries me a good deal.

Were with your friend never get the shot don't believe in it and we all never had the flu....DD's are school aged well now one DD is in college, wife and I deal with general public for our jobs so we
are out there in the public. My advice is to wash your hands (don't tell me you do because at the airports or in Disney restrooms I see tons of people never washing their hands) and don't put them in your mouth.

minniecarousel · Oct 18, 2018

Our insurance covers the flu shot. We went to get ours at our doctor’s office today but I have the beginnings of a cold so they said to wait until I was healthy. DH & I have gotten the shots for years. It wasn’t really an option not to when my mom lived with us. I care for my grandchildren. The 4 1/2 year old got his today. The baby is only 4 months old so she’s too young to get it.

And now that we’re 65, there’s a different shot for us old people. (Whoopie)

Starwind · Oct 18, 2018

I am asthmatic and immune-compromised due to medication, so get the flu vaccine every year. I would be covered anyway, but in our province everyone can get the vaccine paid for by the province. It will be available here in about a week.

I have had lab-confirmed influenza three times and NEVER want to have it again.

Kathryn Merteuil · Oct 18, 2018

I do not get the flu shot for a couple reasons. #1 I hear it is not all that effective, #2 I am afraid of needles.

DLgal · Oct 18, 2018

I just have to say, the lack of belief in science evidenced by this thread along with other things I see and hear about every day just disturbs me to my core. This backwards societal slide is going to have such catastrophic consequences.

goofyintoronto · Oct 18, 2018

Pea-n-Me said:
I understand what you're saying, and I used to think the same thing. But they are forcing nurses and other staff in clinical roles to get the shot now in some places. Wearing a mask is no longer an option but for a very select few people.

The flu shot is not mandatory for health care professionals here in Canada thou. Or at least we're im from in Ontario.
EDIT TO ADD: My bad, I actually mean nurses....as im not entirely certain what the rules are for physicians etc.

pezgirlroy · Oct 18, 2018

I work for a hospital so it is required and provided. My whole family does get one.

VandVsmama · Oct 18, 2018

We all get flu shots every year. For a long time (before we had kids), DH & I were in the "we don't need flu shots!" camp. Then one winter when DH was working in retail, he caught the flu from a coworker. Then I got it from him. We were both sick as dogs for 2 solid weeks and then we bought got pneumonia at the tail end of it.

It was awful. We never want to experience that ever again.

If you have a legitimate medical or religious reason for not getting flu shots, then you shouldn't get them. But if your reasoning is because you just don't like them or you don't like going to the doctor or you just don't want to bother, then you should suck it up and get one anyway. Why?

To help out others in your community. Like my friend's son who has a compromised immune system. He's been vaccinated for everything, but it never 'sticks.' He sees an immunologist regularly. They've done blood work and confirmed that all of those childhood vaccines that everybody gets...whooping cough, rubella, etc....he's had all of those shots. But according to his bloodwork, he has zero immunity to any of it. Everybody else getting vaccinated gets people like him "herd immunity."

There was an excellent book I read a few years ago about the Spanish Flu. It was fascinating. And also very scary. Millions of people died because when the virus mutated, it took advantage of healthy young adults & their vigorous immune systems. Thus, their immune systems went into overdrive and millions of people died as a result. Plus, World War I helped spread it in all of the military barracks. It totally overwhelmed everyone. Imagine going to the ER not being able to breathe and there are so many other sick people there with the same thing that you have and so many doctors and nurses sick that there's not enough resources to help you. Imagine having to completely quarantine your entire family from the outside world for months at a time.

That sort of thing can totally happen again.

I'm a pretty healthy adult. Another winter, I got pneumonia right out of the blue and within 2 days' time, I had to go to the ER because my oxygen levels were so low (83%), heart was racing, couldn't walk, fever of 104.5. I spent 5 days in the hospital on 3 different antibiotics and was on supplemental oxygen for 3 weeks. It was horrible. You get the flu and you are totally susceptible to developing a serious secondary infection like that.

If the vaccination is free to you, you'd be a fool not to take advantage of it.

erin1715 · Oct 18, 2018

AustinTink said:
Interesting. A girl we know was just diagnosed with Guillian-Barre. i honestly had to no prior knowledge of this disease, but it sounds so scary. She was fully paralyzed for weeks and just sat up for the first time recently. I didn't know it was associated with the flu vaccine.

We also know a girl (who is a nurse and got the flu shot, though she has been told it wasn't related) who was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre. She is now on the mend, but it got so bad that she was paralyzed and had to be intubated. She is in her early 30s.

Flu Vaccination - Yes or No?

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