Flu Vaccine

Twisted Mentat · Jul 15th 2009, 9:29pm

Well yesterday I went and got a flu vaccine for the first time and I was wondering if anyone else gets them?

I know that it isn't going to do shit against swine flu as it was produced before swine flu came around. But it is available and I'd rather a day or two of mild symptoms as opposed to full on flu.

Lord Squishy · Jul 15th 2009, 9:30pm

I never get a strong flu hit, so I've never bothered.

Q99 · Jul 15th 2009, 9:40pm

I do occasionally. I figure if nothing else it gives my immune system a workout, which isn't bad to do.

Firethorn · Jul 15th 2009, 9:42pm

I get them every year like clockwork.

The US Military has done the math and determined that medical costs and manpower lost from NOT getting the shots exceeds the costs of the shots, thus they are mandatory unless counter indicated.

I've never really been sick from them, but I've read that the side effects are supposed to be less if you get it every year because eventually they're only giving you boosters - they only put around 3 strains in the vaccine, but there's often repeats year to year. The vaccine actually lasts multiple years, so getting it each year can reduce the odds of getting the flue - the first year you got strains A,B,C, the next D, E, F, etc...

It's also often psycho-somatic - the shot is of DEAD vaccine. The nasal version is live, but so weakened it can't reproduce in humans anymore.

Desert Fox · Jul 15th 2009, 9:45pm

I get one each year from the VA Clinic

foamy · Jul 15th 2009, 10:03pm

Every year for the last four years, since my grandfather was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died this last January, so I don't know if I will this winter, but I suspect so. It's not much of an inconvenience, nor expensive, and the flu sucks.

The Wild Turkey · Jul 15th 2009, 10:16pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Squishy

I never get a strong flu hit, so I've never bothered.

I don't get flu's period. At worst I get a bad cold. I wonder if I might have some natural immunity?

Q99 · Jul 15th 2009, 10:17pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Wild Turkey

I don't get flu's period. At worst I get a bad cold. I wonder if I might have some natural immunity?

Maybe more resistance than most, but I don't think there's a such thing as immune. I'd recommend getting them, not being primed against other flu strains may mean you'll be more vulnerable if one does hit you.

Bryan · Jul 15th 2009, 11:25pm

I get them sometimes. I haven't the last two years because I've been too lazy to walk to our clinic. I might this year, I don't know.

Entilza · Jul 15th 2009, 11:42pm

I also never get a bad flue so I've never gotten one.

Slayer_of_Gods · Jul 16th 2009, 12:05am

I too never gotten the flu. How does it compare to a cold?

TK99 · Jul 16th 2009, 12:25am

I work in the Health care industry so I have to get one every year.

Including the Black Death, alien pod syndrome and the various Zombie strains magical and man made.

Umm good Union and CVS may or may not be and evil organization bent on world domination.

Lancelot D · Jul 16th 2009, 12:43am

Mm we only get them as kids up until 12 or 13.
After this it's usually people with a lowered resistance due to one condition or another that have to get them each year.

not sure about the general populace though, but I assume hospital staff would most likely have to as well due to being in a hospital/clinic dealing with sick people all the time.

Jack Fetch · Jul 16th 2009, 1:22am

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Wild Turkey

I don't get flu's period. At worst I get a bad cold. I wonder if I might have some natural immunity?

It'd be more likely that you just haven't had flu, rather than are immune.

It can be an absolute bitch if you do get it though. I can remember lying in bed hallucinating that dragons and knights were running all around my walls.

Q99 · Jul 16th 2009, 1:37am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slayer_of_Gods

I too never gotten the flu. How does it compare to a cold?

Depends on the strain. Varies from worse to a lot worse.

Grand Admiral Kharr · Jul 16th 2009, 3:03am

All the time, i fall into the high risk category but even if i didnt i would still have em.

Only takes a few minutes and yoru better with it than without it.

As for the swine flu vacs im signed up for one when they arrive next month here.

l33telboi · Jul 16th 2009, 3:16am

They give out flu vaccines for free at work. I always decline, though. It's only natural to get a mild flu every now and then, and it's hardly dangerous.

Q99 · Jul 16th 2009, 3:29am

Quote:

Originally Posted by l33telboi

They give out flu vaccines for free at work. I always decline, though. It's only natural to get a mild flu every now and then, and it's hardly dangerous.

Still, the vaccine is just giving you an ultra-mild flu so that when you get one you won't take the other co-workers who opted out off work for a week all at the same time.

l33telboi · Jul 16th 2009, 3:37am

I generally don't take pills or shots or anything unless I have too. I don't even eat painkillers (even though I could use one right now). I don't trust doctors and their pills. They're all evil.

Twisted Mentat · Jul 16th 2009, 3:39am

Quote:

Originally Posted by l33telboi

They give out flu vaccines for free at work. I always decline, though. It's only natural to get a mild flu every now and then, and it's hardly dangerous.

Ummmm... In America alone around 36,000 people die each year due to flu complications. I'd call that a bit more than hardly dangerous.

CDC -- Flu Q&A

Brain_Caster · Jul 16th 2009, 3:41am

Quote:

Originally Posted by l33telboi

They give out flu vaccines for free at work. I always decline, though. It's only natural to get a mild flu every now and then, and it's hardly dangerous.

You're confusing the flu with the common cold and all the other relatively harmless influenca-like viral infections out there. The flu, that is the genuine Influenza virus, is not something it's only natural to get from time to time, and it is definitely not harmless.

As for the only natural and hardly dangerous stuff you're refering to, I don't think an influenca vaccine would help against those anyway.

Twisted Mentat · Jul 16th 2009, 3:42am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Q99

Still, the vaccine is just giving you an ultra-mild flu so that when you get one you won't take the other co-workers who opted out off work for a week all at the same time.

The Flu vaccine doesn't even give you that if you have the jab. It's a dead virus with the flu markers that stimulates a immune response from the body. So you might feel like you have a mild case of the flu but you can't actually infect anyone.

Weyoun the Dancing Borg · Jul 16th 2009, 4:24am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twisted Mentat

Well yesterday I went and got a flu vaccine for the first time and I was wondering if anyone else gets them?

I know that it isn't going to do shit against swine flu as it was produced before swine flu came around. But it is available and I'd rather a day or two of mild symptoms as opposed to full on flu.

I've had it once a year for the past 5 years - my company offers it for free, I see no reason to turn it down.

And as someone already said, the Influenza Virus is not just a "cold", it can lay you off for weeks... or kill you

"I had a mild case of the flu" - no you didn't. You had a cold.

Twisted Mentat · Jul 16th 2009, 4:46am

Went looking for more data and found this on the WHO's site.

Quote:

Seasonal epidemics

Influenza epidemics occur yearly during autumn and winter in temperate regions. Illnesses result in hospitalizations and deaths mainly among high-risk groups (the very young, elderly or chronically ill). Worldwide, these annual epidemics result in about three to five million cases of severe illness, and about 250 000 to 500 000 deaths. Most deaths associated with influenza in industrialized countries occur among people age 65 or older. In some tropical countries, influenza viruses circulate throughout the year with one or two peaks during rainy seasons.

Emphasis mine.

WHO -- Seasonal Influenza Factsheet

Out of 6 billion that might not seem big but to put it into a bit more of a perspective that's around one Wellington City, NZ of deaths and around a New Zealand in severe illness every year.

Wellington has a population of around 380,000 and NZ around 4.3 million.

Kodiak1 · Jul 16th 2009, 5:37am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twisted Mentat

Ummmm... In America alone around 36,000 people die each year due to flu complications. I'd call that a bit more than hardly dangerous.

With normal flu, that's almost all the very elderly or people with weakened immune systems. For most people, the flu is just annoying. I never get the vaccine - and they usually don't want people in my age and health bracket to hog vaccine.

Swine flu, on the other hand...certainly getting the vaccine. The virology department at my university just finished a study on it and it's not remotely like normal flu.

http://www.news.wisc.edu/16893

Jul 15th 2009, 9:29pm	#1
Twisted Mentat Mentat of House SB Captain Retired Join Date: 20 Jun 2004 Location: Geidi Prime Posts: 5,057	Flu Vaccine Well yesterday I went and got a flu vaccine for the first time and I was wondering if anyone else gets them? I know that it isn't going to do shit against swine flu as it was produced before swine flu came around. But it is available and I'd rather a day or two of mild symptoms as opposed to full on flu. __________________ Civil Disobedience is still Disobedience. The most damage is done by those that know how and not why. "Sir Isaac Newton is the deadliest son of a bitch in space!" -- ME2 Gunnery Chief SB body count: 11 -- Latest trophy -- BobJob5 Spacebattles Secret Police - We know what threads you should be reading.

Jul 15th 2009, 9:30pm	#2
Lord Squishy Registered Join Date: 21 Jan 2006 Posts: 18,002	I never get a strong flu hit, so I've never bothered. __________________ *To the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee!*

Jul 15th 2009, 9:40pm	#3
Q99 Registered Join Date: 3 Jan 2005 Posts: 34,856	I do occasionally. I figure if nothing else it gives my immune system a workout, which isn't bad to do. __________________ "My name is Mike Nelson...a temp. A radiation wave hit and I got shot through a wormhole. Now I'm lost in some distant part of the universe...on a satellite, a satellite full of strange robotic lifeforms. Help me. Listen please. Is anybody out there who can here me? I'm being hunted by a mad scientist's mother...I'm doing everything I can...I'm just looking for a way home." My deviantArt page <--- check it out

Jul 15th 2009, 9:42pm	#4
Firethorn Cleric, Church of Weber Join Date: 25 Jan 2005 Posts: 7,946	I get them every year like clockwork. The US Military has done the math and determined that medical costs and manpower lost from NOT getting the shots exceeds the costs of the shots, thus they are mandatory unless counter indicated. I've never really been sick from them, but I've read that the side effects are supposed to be less if you get it every year because eventually they're only giving you boosters - they only put around 3 strains in the vaccine, but there's often repeats year to year. The vaccine actually lasts multiple years, so getting it each year can reduce the odds of getting the flue - the first year you got strains A,B,C, the next D, E, F, etc... It's also often psycho-somatic - the shot is of DEAD vaccine. The nasal version is live, but so weakened it can't reproduce in humans anymore. __________________ In Ogreverse that's know as 'Tuesday' (the complete glassing of the planet) - Q99

Jul 15th 2009, 9:45pm	#5
Desert Fox Vulpes zerda Commodore Join Date: 30 Nov 2003 Location: Trapped in the buckle of the Bible Belt (Tidewater, VA, next to Regent University) Posts: 17,599	I get one each year from the VA Clinic __________________ "I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected him from your city. And don't wonder why he hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for his help because he might not be there." --Pat Robertson to Dover, PA

Jul 15th 2009, 10:03pm	#6
foamy Thoroughly lazy Join Date: 5 Nov 2006 Location: Someplace better than Toronto Posts: 14,190	Every year for the last four years, since my grandfather was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died this last January, so I don't know if I will this winter, but I suspect so. It's not much of an inconvenience, nor expensive, and the flu sucks. __________________ Think you can outwit betentacled alien monstrosities? Take your best shot. - Updated 04/07/2010 Summary of events to-date - Updated 03/16/2010 Starcraft wins. [23:55] <Cypress_z> I don't care about coherent, intelligent arguments.

Jul 15th 2009, 11:25pm	#9
Bryan The Great Goof! Rear Admiral Join Date: 16 Dec 1999 Location: United States of Jesus Posts: 34,403	I get them sometimes. I haven't the last two years because I've been too lazy to walk to our clinic. I might this year, I don't know. __________________ I am a goof! "Common sense tells us that the government's attempts to solve large problems more often create new ones. Common sense also tells us that a top-down, one-size-fits-all plan will not improve the workings of a nationwide health-care system that accounts for one-sixth of our economy."- Sarah Palin The Wise November 2010- Yes We Can Chuck Norris is a Republican. Think about it...

Jul 15th 2009, 11:42pm	#10
Entilza Waste of Space Commodore Join Date: 27 Sep 2005 Location: Land of self-pain Posts: 13,857	I also never get a bad flue so I've never gotten one. __________________ ____________ Proud believer in the coolness of Goa'uld tech.

Jul 16th 2009, 12:25am	#12
TK99 Me Use Spell Check Now Join Date: 20 May 2002 Location: Exlied in the M-86 Galaxy. Posts: 19,273	I work in the Health care industry so I have to get one every year. Including the Black Death, alien pod syndrome and the various Zombie strains magical and man made. Umm good Union and CVS may or may not be and evil organization bent on world domination. __________________ I'm Anubis and still scarest mofo you ever seen - Memeber of The Stagate Alliance"Riker gets the shit kicked out of him by the mystical martial art known as Kirk-Fu. Then Kirk goes and bangs the alien chick guest star." I'm Hesh and Hesh want some sex - Founder of the SeaLab 2021 Clan Translation-Fucking code monkeys! Work harder! New deadline!whipcrack-KlavoHunter

Jul 16th 2009, 12:43am	#13
Lancelot D Macros was wrong,I am not Join Date: 6 Feb 2000 Location: newtons rucksack Posts: 903	Mm we only get them as kids up until 12 or 13. After this it's usually people with a lowered resistance due to one condition or another that have to get them each year. not sure about the general populace though, but I assume hospital staff would most likely have to as well due to being in a hospital/clinic dealing with sick people all the time. __________________ pew pew pew.

Jul 16th 2009, 3:03am	#16
Grand Admiral Kharr Get in ma belly! Commodore Join Date: 28 Dec 1999 Location: Glasgow, United Kingdom Posts: 12,094	All the time, i fall into the high risk category but even if i didnt i would still have em. Only takes a few minutes and yoru better with it than without it. As for the swine flu vacs im signed up for one when they arrive next month here. __________________ "Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock." I am playing all the right notes.....but not necessarily in the right order....

Jul 16th 2009, 3:16am	#17
l33telboi Local Rocket Surgeon Join Date: 25 Mar 2006 Location: Finland Posts: 10,084	They give out flu vaccines for free at work. I always decline, though. It's only natural to get a mild flu every now and then, and it's hardly dangerous. __________________ "A witty remark proves nothing." -Voltaire "What's to understand? You get a boner, slap around her titties some, stick it inside her and pee." - Cartman "And ONE fag. To be taken slowly with pleasure." - Otis

Jul 16th 2009, 3:37am	#19
l33telboi Local Rocket Surgeon Join Date: 25 Mar 2006 Location: Finland Posts: 10,084	I generally don't take pills or shots or anything unless I have too. I don't even eat painkillers (even though I could use one right now). I don't trust doctors and their pills. They're all evil. __________________ "A witty remark proves nothing." -Voltaire "What's to understand? You get a boner, slap around her titties some, stick it inside her and pee." - Cartman "And ONE fag. To be taken slowly with pleasure." - Otis

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