What myths do you have about the flu vaccine?

None.

My granny always used to tell me that I will catch flu if I go out in the cold weather or go out with wet hair. I used to get flu shot when I was a kid and I always got the flu afterwards. I don’t get them anymore and I have’nt had the flu in years. I still believe you can prevent flu to a great extent by just washing our hands with soap and water several times a day and I always keep hand sanitizers close at hand.

I get a flu shot, I get the flu. Not a myth, true story. lol

I don’t trust when the government is pushing something without giving us a enough time and information about the risks. I also believe that if one is allergic to eggs that you can get sick.. I am also scared of needles.

Thanks. @Rarebear. The info about the superbug myth was very helpful. That was my main reservation. Last thing we need is another MRSA, amirite?

35 or so years ago, there was a concern that the Swine Flu shots that everyone was getting could cause a heart attack. My father, who was a heart patient, felt chest pains after he got the shot, but it was probably from the stress of the shot, rather than the actual shot.
It turned out later that there was nothing to the rumor.

@talljasperman Are you scared of dying of the flu?

How can I tell if it’s a myth without reading the article?

@ccrow So read the article.

@Rarebear No. I get the flu every year and I am still alive.

I just did:-)
I have an issue with #1— I’m completely willing to accept the vaccine doesn’t actually give you the flu, but then “Edit: One thing worth noting is that some people may feel “under the weather” or generally crappy for a few days after the shot or a week or two later. A headache, nausea, fever, etc. can be a result of the side effects of the vaccine, usually from the immune system ramping up and producing antibodies against those influenza strains. Some may consider this feeling “sick,” but you are not sick in the sense that the flu vaccine caused you to fall ill from a pathogen, and the vaccine certainly didn’t give you the flu.” So, it does make some people sick, even though they want to be all nitpicky and say, ‘oh, no, it’s just your immune system ramping up!!’ If I have ‘headache, nausea, fever, etc’ I am sick. And if it’s a result of the flu shot, then the shot made me sick.

Yeah, but those are the same side effects as a tetanus shot.

@talljasperman So you must enjoy getting the flu then.

I ignore vaccine-nayers and get a shot every year (just got one last week). At this age I endeavor to minimize as much risk as possible to illness, and I’m confident that this little poke has helped stave off the flu bug.

@ccrow But it won’t kill you like the flu might.

@Rarebear Yes. I do love it , I get to sleep in all day and my landlord brings soup and ginger ale. If I need I can get Tylenol 3’s.

” What myths do you have about the flu vaccine? ”

None. I am a biologist.

I’‘l skip the article, thank you.

None. Just had my flu shot as I do annually.

@talljasperman Ah. So there’s a secondary gain. Got it.

Is this myth or fact? Flu shots are regionally based. The reason for asking is that about half of the year is spent in Tennessee and Virginia (US) and the other part is spent in Lancashire, England. The partner and I also travel to other countries. How resilient is a flu shot when traveling around?

The myth that you will still get the flu, or contract it from the vaccine.
Yep, just got mine last week too. I’m a believer now after having 2 years in a row of bad flu in 2006 & 2007.
The first was on a 2 week road trip through the southwest and I almost died in Sedona Arizona. I was lying on a rock in the sun, unable to move and the vultures were circling. lol

I don’t think I have myths. I think a lot of people don’t really know what the flu is and when they catch a cold or bacterial sinus infection after getting the vaccine they don’t understand that it is not the flu they are catching. Sometimes it is, sometimes the vaccine doesn’t contain the strain that happened to hit you and you get the flu even after the shot, but I think often times people are calling an illness like a cold or bacterial infection the flu when it isn’t.

I also don’t understand how someone gets the flu every year, years in a row. Sure maybe it happens two consecutive years, but many many years in row? I find that odd and wonder if it is really the flu they are getting. I personally don’t know anyone who has had the flu ten years in a row.

I do disagree with one thing on that link about GBS. I believe it can be a very rare side affect and if someone has had GBS before from another vaccine the flu vaccine probably should not be given except in very specific circumstances where the risk is worth it. It is a contraindication.

@Pied_Pfeffer They can be different. The flus are tracked as they travel the world and one country or continent might choose different strains than the US. The one in the US would be the same all over the US as far as I know, but Japan and the UK for instance might have different strains in the vaccine. More than likely some of the strains would be the same though, some years identical. There are several WHO offices around the world, WHO makes recommendations and in colaberation with governement agencies like the FDA in America and other agencies for other countries final decisions are made for what to put in the vaccine each year. You can look up the strains in the vaccines each year and compare them if it is a worry for you.

@JLeslie Exactly! I was going to expound on your points myself. Yes, I think people do not realize and confuse other viruses with the “flu.” Also the point you make about there being many strains of flu virus and the flu vaccine only covers the strains most likely to be contracted, not every potential strain.

Same as @Katniss, too many of us, even at my workplace, refuse to get them because when we have we’ve been more ill than in years we don’t get them.

It’s hard to debunk that myth when so many people have lived through it via a walk-in clinic when they couldn’t breathe. I actually had to get an inhaler as it was almost walking pneumonia.

As I rarely ever get sick, I’m just not sure it’s necessary.

I hold many myths about flu vaccines as does Russell Blaylock, MD. I will list some of these myths:
1. vaccinations cause massive loss of health including mental health
2 . vaccinations will become mandatory
3. they cause autism
4. they are encouraged in pregnant women
5. Bill Gates announced publicly they should be used to reduce population.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QBcMYqlaDs

@Aster – you would think the experts and Fox News would have blown this out of proportion by now. You would need a huge govt conspiracy, and lots of smart people, to make it work. Govt can’t even make the ACA website work.

I call BS to the technobabble, which more than rivals that of Star Trek: TNG.

@Rarebear “But it won’t kill you like the flu might.”
No argument there! But it still might make me sick.

@RocketGuy no way Fox News will come down on vaccines . You think they have no boundaries on what they can discuss?(or denigrate). They didn’t even get into Bill Clinton’s shenanigans in detail.
And I doubt they’ll be recommending flu shots. The show isn’t called Conspiracy Theories.

I got my last one in 1988 after I was terribly sick for four weeks afterwards. And I haven’t had the flu since. Or the shot.
Just follow the money. And the Powers that Be.

I don’t have any myths but my friend thought she couldn’t get the flu twice in the same season.

The myth that flu vaccines are poisonous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0p5AC7JW9M

I get a flu shot faithfully every year. And even though I am highly susceptible to the bronchial complications of colds, I’ve been getting through most winters without much illness for probably the last 20 years.

(It also helped that I quit smoking about that long ago.)

Before that, bronchial asthma damn near did me in a few times, and twice I was an invalid for a period of four months.

Who is likely to think of their beliefs as myths, though? That’s a label that people are more inclined to attach to the contradictory beliefs of others.

None. I never get one. It’s not because I think it’s harmful. I’d rather build immunity on my own.

@flip86 You really can’t. The flu mutates from year to year so your immunity one year may not carry over the next year. Also with the flu, immunity wanes.

@Aster Your avatar is apt.

I’m very much a ‘better paranoid than dead’ type, but it took exactly one good bit of evidence to change my mind about the vaccine/autism scare.

Vaccinated and non vaccinated kids are diagnosed with autism at the same rate.

The autism thing is. A. Lie.

A lie that’s causing polio outbreaks in motherfucking 2013.

@Rarebear I hardly ever get the flu. I had it once about 5 years ago and before that I don’t remember. I get colds now and then but that isn’t the same thing.

My personal myth: Germs don’t mess with me, because I scare them!

My reality: I just spent the past 3 days flat on my back with some nasty illness.

@flip86 you are correct. Different viruses altogether.

I’m with @JLeslie… I think that people don’t realize what a bitch the flu is, or that people really do die from the regular ol’ flu. I also think that the socially responsible thing to do when you can be immunized is to be immunized. I also really couldn’t care less if you feel under the weather after getting an immunization. That’s nothing compared to the actual disease. My little one cries and screams when he gets his shots, and then usually gets a fever and I have to leave work to take him home. He still gets his shots… on schedule.

I’m a public health student and clinical data analyst. I don’t have myths about the flu vaccine.

P.S. @Rarebear That is a great blog. Thank you for sharing.

@Cupcake Just to be totally candid, I never get the flu shot. But, I am not against it or vaccines in general.

@all Also, I realized on my answer that I said history of GBS is contraindicated, and what I remember is one of the vaccines I think the live one? I wish I knew this for sure, my memory isn’t good on that detail, it is contraindicated; and for the other type of vaccine a history of GBS should be taken into consideration. As far as I know there has never been a study to clearly rule in or out whether GBS is connected to the flu vaccine, but that might have changed since I last read about it. I would guess people who have had GBS are paranoid enough that they don’t get the vaccine no matter what their doctor says, but that would be up to the individual of course, and is an extremely small percent of our population.

Side effects are very underreported. How many of you who had side effects bothered to tell your doctor? Even when told very few doctors actually report it. As I have said before when I had a bad reaction to tetanus shot (previously I never had a problem) the hospital talked me out of doing a VAERS form. Idiots. And, I am an idiot too for letting them talk me out of doing one. That batch could have been bad. They are so worried about being accused of something they didn’t give a damn about the public health.

I’d like to add that my daughter always gets her flu shot.

After waffling for a few years for the wrong reasons, I had my shot this summer when I saw my PCP for pre-op appointment. From now on, it will be part of my yearly routine. I also had a pneumonia shot several years ago.

All actions/inactions, including getting vaccinations, carry risks and consequences. You have make the trade off yourself. Good to get correct info from reputable sources to make the trade off.

@RocketGuy Well, it’s more than that, though. If you fail to get vaccinated, you also fail everybody around you since you risk getting them sick.

Curiousity got the better of me. I should have googled and linked this before regarding GBS since my memory was sketchy. Basically it says any history of GBS within 6 weeks of a previous flu shot warrants not taking the shot again. So, I am not sure why the original article is saying it absolutely is not a consideration.

Heh..well…I WIN!
I, not only got my flu shot, but..I also gave blood on the same day, and same arm. What was I thinkin’ anyway? lol

@Coloma WINS!

@Rarebear LOL…yes, indeedy. Well ya know, I have RH negative blood. They want my blood! :-p

* pouts *

I can’t give blood. Someone screwed up a Hep C test on my first donation when I was 17, and now I’m blacklisted.
All the negatives of being O+, none of the benefits.

I guess I give more credence to the “feeling sick” consideration than most. When I get flu shots, I generally get ill a few days afterwards. I understand that it’s not “the flu”, but it’s not a cold and there’s no sinus symptoms. Just achy, tired, and foggy. It’s not debilitating but isn’t something I’m lining up for either.

After getting my last tetanus booster I just hurt, everywhere, when I woke up the next day. It wasn’t localized to the shot site, I wasn’t expecting it, ibuprofen really didn’t help, and it gradually got better but it was enough to keep me in bed for a while. When I called the doctor they said it was common and were really nonchalant about the whole thing. It was the oddest medical experience I’ve had.

When we had our kid, our pediatrician mentioned my wife and I should get the pertussis vaccine, but it’s only available with tetanus for whatever reason. I told him I’d get it if he recommended it, but after weighing both sides he said it’s probably not worth it.

So is something off with me? I don’t know, neither does my doctor, nor my kid’s pediatrician, but it seems people are different in significant ways. I would imagine there are others in the same situation.

So if there’s a good reason to get the flu shot, then I’ll get it, figure I will get ill afterwards, and just choose the lesser evil. If I don’t get ill, bonus. I’ll get it this year because of the baby, and got it the last few (ok, I missed one) because my wife was working in a hospital.

I wish the article could be informative without the condescending tone. I understand the frustration of anecdotal evidence and misinformation, but some of the “myth debunking” seems to ignore that many have a slim element of truth. The absolute tone throughout and the pointed word choice isn’t converting anyone, just firing up those already frustrated in the same way.

@funkdaddy You can get a titer done for tetanus and petussis. It’s a simple blood test that will show if your immunity is good so you don’t get repetitive shots you don’t need (or you may need). Most doctors know what it is, although my husband’s last one didn’t. My husband, mom and I all get titers for tetanus and we are at 14,16, and 25 years since last vaccination respectively and plenty high in immunity. I might check pertussis now that you mention it, since that disease is awful. I just had my rubella done and it is super high from my vaccination when I was a little kid. I have no idea if titers can be done for the flu. I imagine they can, maybe @Rarebear knows.

A lot of I, I , I on this question.

We do not get shots just for ourselves but for others, especially children.

YOU are a vector for many parasites, cold, flues, pertussis and so on. If if you never get any of these things, or their symptoms, you could be a carrier of said parasites and transfer them on to others. Combo shots are one thing but I am sure that individual vaccines could be obtained easily enough and the combination shots will not harm you anymore than is now statistically significant. That is to say not much at all.

@Neodarwinian – find me a pertussis vaccine without tetanus and I’ll get it… at this point I’ve asked two doctors.

Until then I’ll keep discussing my options with my doctor, and following their advice as long as it makes sense.

I wish your concern for others extended to avenues beyond their biology

There are no pertussis-only vaccines available. It suggests discussing with your doctor whether the benefits of being vaccinated outweigh the temporary discomfort of a mild or severe reaction. The vaccine is contraindicated for those who have had a life-threatening reaction to a part of the vaccine.

Article Source
CDC source

@funkdaddy

” find me a pertussis vaccine without tetanus and I’ll get it ”

There is that word again. Perhaps you hurt was, shall we say, psychosomatic? Conformation bias? And your doctor’s recommendation was stupid Regardless…,

” I wish your concern for others extended to avenues beyond their biology ”

I see yours does not even extend that far. So you would be alright with giving pertussis to a child when you were just the vector for that disease?

Whatever.

Personally, if I could show with sufficient evidence that someone who skipped vaccination infected someone else the penalties would be sever. You can drive without a good set of brakes also but the risks are clear there.

@Seek_Kolinahr

” The vaccine is contraindicated for those who have had a life-threatening reaction to a part of the vaccine. ”

Now how many could that be? A rhetorical question not in need of an answer.

@Rarebear – thanks for the link to the excellent blog. The writer sure did a lot of research.
Many of those myths I’d never heard of..but still, interesting.

I will share, however, that both my Internist and my Immunologist have specifically instructed me to NOT get a flu shot the past 3 years. To be clear, I’m not anti-vaccine, I have a compromised immune system and I so I do sometimes get very very ill from the flu vaccine. Instead I get the pneumococcal vaccine because I’ve had pneumonia repeatedly.

My father is a retired ER physician and he used to, in years past, tell me whether to skip the flu shot or not based on whether it was a year where they got the right strain (they have to guess each year and effectiveness varies year to year) – but a few years ago it became clear to my health care team that the flu shot wasn’t a good idea for me.
Some years I just felt “under the weather” and other years it caused me to become very ill. So, when the blog writer says that it’s just not true that the flu shot can make you ill, I’m sorry—me, and many other physicians know otherwise. That’s just not true for everyone.

@Neodarwinian He could very well be immune to whooping cough. One of his more recent tetanus shots easily could have included pertussis. A lot of people don’t even realize they are being given the combination. Or, he could still have immunity from childhood. A titer will show if he is immune. Why blast him about the vaccine, if you are worried about the greater good all that matters is his immunity. If he isn’t immune he might be willing to risk the shot for his own sake and others. If @funkdaddy is immune the lecture is moot.

Most doctors give vaccines with little worry about side effects. For patients or doctors who are worried they can suggest doing a titer, but most don’t, I don’t understand why, it is up to the patient usually to suggest it. The only specialty that I have come into contact with who has ever routinely done titers for diseases we vaccinate for are RE for rubella and Hep B as part of the fertility panel. Why guess and worry when we can know?

” He could very well be immune to whooping cough. ”

There is that word again!!

I don’t give a damn what he is! He could also be a vector, immune or not, (that you do not know this is telling—the immune system may take several days to clear the pathogen and in that time he shows no symptoms but can act as a vector ) and carry the disease to a child that could die of it!

” suggest doing a titer, but most don’t, I don’t understand why ”

I told you why. Typhoid Mary was immune also.

” RE for rubella and Hep B as part of the fertility panel. ”

That rather suggests itself.

@Neodarwinian Typhoid Mary was an asymptomatic carrier as far as I know.

I don’t understand why if we have immunity you think a shot makes us more or less likely to be a silent carrier and infect others? I would need a doctor to explain that to me, or some sort of link maybe that you have. Are you a doctor? I am not challenging you, I am just saying it doesn’t make sense to me. If you have immunity you have immunity. The vaccine is only going to raise your immunity that you already have, but if you are in immune ranges already so what? Most like @funkdaddy would be symptomatic if he caught pertussis. Typhoid is spread through poor hygiene if I remember correctly, not airborn. Mary didn’t wash her hands and cooked for many people so she spread the disease. I guess the bacteria can stay in high levels for many years, but things like flu and whooping cough are not contagious forever like that typically. Typhoid Mary infected people over years, not just a few days or weeks.

I don’t even understand your comment about the RE. Do you care if I can get and spread Rubella? That disease is pretty bad and very contagious. We don’t vaccinate people if they have immunity according to the titer, which contradicts your Typhoid Mary example.

Most other doctors just shoot you up with vaccine. When my husband was travellling abroad they didn’t check to see if he was immune they just gave him 4 shots at once, I was pissed. If he had had a reaction we would have had no idea which one.

” Typhoid Mary was an asymptomatic carrier as far as I know. ”

What difference does that make!!

” I don’t understand why if we have immunity you think a shot makes us more or less likely to be a silent carrier and infect others? ”

What are you talking about? A shot strengthens immunity which is why you need boosters from time to time and someone who has immunity has statistically better immunity if vaccinated. So one is less likely to carry pathogens as a vector with heightened immunity as many more are destroyed. All here is a statistical exercise. .

Typhoid Mary was a quick example and not meant to be anything more.

” Most other doctors just shoot you up with vaccine. When my husband was travellling abroad they didn’t check to see if he was immune they just gave him 4 shots at once, I was pissed. If he had had a reaction we would have had no idea which one. ” ( this is telling )

So? Statistically it is not likely he would have a reaction which is why they ask about allergies to vaccine components and allergies should be recorded on all patients.

Having immunity just means that one will not likely have the disease, due to less elevated levels, not that one will not give the disease.

What I don’t understand is your attempt to dismiss vaccination by some run around that mean very little.

@Neodarwinian Explain why fertlity doctors don’t just vaccinate all their patients for Rubella? Your argument makes no sense. If his titer is way high for whooping cough he doesn’t need to make it even higher, in fact super high tetanus titers have been shown when people have severe reactions to tetanus vaccine. It is extremely rare, I am not saying people should not get their tetanus shot, I think it is very important to have that immunity and thank goodness we have such a vaccine, tetanus is a horrible disease. I feel the same about measles, and mumps, and polio, and all those terrible diseases. I think herd immunity is very important for society and to help protect those who cannot get the vaccine or our littlest ones who have not been vaccinated yet. I’m not anti vaccine, I just don’t like loading up on unnecessary drugs or vaccines. If I had a child I would probably give them 90% of the vaccine regimen, maybe a 100%, I would have to look it over again.

@Neodarwinian I really can’t see any argument against getting a titer if someone is in question about a vaccine being dangerous for them because of their personal history with a specific vaccine. I’m not saying everyone should get titers done for everything before they get a shot, @funkdaddy has a particular case with particular concerns. Why are you against additional information to make an informed decision when there is a specific concern?

@Neodarwinian Maybe you will find this from the CDC interesting. If I understand it correctly, it supports that pertussis immunity from vaccination typically wanes rather quickly (but I am sure it varies in individuals). It also says that highly vaccinated populations in this particular study were silent carriers or reservoirs for infection. I don’t understand the entire silent carrier related to immunity levels, I am not a doctor and I have not studied such a specific topic. It seems to me immunity does not necessarily relate to whether a person is a silent carrier, but I simply don’t know enough to argue that point. I would think there are many different parts of immunity from fighting the actual cells to reduce the numbers; and somewhat separate, but not entirely; the symptoms a person has from a pathogen. I’m sure it is very complex.

I’m going to stop following, the Q is now way off track.

@JLeslie: The CDC study you cite was published over 13 years ago, it used only 46 children as test subjects and concluded that “More studies are needed to find the immunologic basis of protection against infection and colonization and thus an effective way to eradicate pertussis.”

@JLeslie ”. I feel the same about measles, and mumps, and polio, and all those terrible diseases.” I had measles, chicken pox, mumps and whooping cough and it seems to me they were not terrible. They were most unpleasant but were gone from my body in ten days to two weeks. They went all over the school and everyone recovered. Maybe this is why I haven’t had a cold in over fifteen years. Maybe not. I recall my bed was covered in coloring books. lol
I don’t have much faith in pneumonia shots. They were at my dad’s nursing home, being paid for each shot given, and they ran at him like a train with a needle!. He felt violated and said, “hey; what the heck do you think you’re doing?” Then he got pneumonia twice, was under an oxygen tent and recovered both times.

I was hospitalized with pneumonia at the age of two and had a very bad case of whooping cough at fourteen. I have no doubt that those assaults on my respiratory system are related to my long history of severe, lingering chest colds, coughs, bronchitis, bronchial asthma, and more. It would have been a great benefit to my lifelong health to have averted one or both of those illnesses. I was very glad to have the choice to vaccinate my children against pertussis.

I had the others, too—measles, mumps, and chicken pox—and still remember being very, very sick with chicken pox. My kids had it, too, when there was an epidemic in their schools. They were miserable for several weeks. Why not spare someone if you can?

I remember chicken pox week rather fondly. Sure, I itched like crazy, but it was a week off of school with my best friend (who also had it) and comic books.

However, REALLY not looking forward to shingles.

My husband and I both got the shingles vaccine. We’ve known a number of people who had shingles and reported on how painful, nasty, and lingering it was. I asked myself: if I had shingles, would I pay $200 to make it go away? The answer was an easy yes, so I went and got the shot.

There is a misconception about the pneumovax shot. It’s not a vaccine against all pneumonia, but just pneumonia caused from a particular bacteria called Streptococcus pneumoniae. That form causes a particularly severe form of pneumonia. I won’t get into the details of exactly what can happen but trust me, you don’t want it.

@Rarebear Ok, so I have a husband with bronchial asthma, and a son with diagnosis pending (hasn’t been to his 5th year checkup yet, and his ped. doesn’t diagnose asthma before 5 years old for whatever reason)

Any time either of them get a cold, it takes at least a month for them to get over it, it almost always turns into a chest infection, and twice, my son has gotten pneumonia. My husband probably has, too, but chest x-rays are expensive. ^_^

Pneumovax help, or no?

I’ll research and get back to you. Usually it’s recommended for people over 50, but let me check.

@Seek_Kolinahr As far as I can tell, the answer is yes for your husband.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/pneumo/vac-PCV13-adults.htm

Probably for your son. He doesn’t meet the criteria on this site, but it can’t hurt.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/pneumo/vacc-in-short.htm

Thanks, @Rarebear

We’re saving our pennies for a specialist visit. He’s due for another cortisone injection. Add one more. ^_^

It looks like you will be a poster child of the ACA assuming your state website works.

We don’t get a state website, or a Medicaid expansion. I qualify for something called “medicaid for the medically needy” that only covers me if I spend $2000 on one person in a month, then they cover the rest of the month. And only hospitals accept the coverage. Basically, Florida has determined they rather LIKE poor people using emergency rooms as primary care providers.

You could probably go to your local public health clinic and get vaccines for low cost.

@Seek_Kolinahr I don’t know if this makes you feel better, but people get shingles even if they had the chicken pox vaccine. I don’t know if they get it statisically less often than people who actually had the chicken pox.

@Aster I had chicken pox as a child. My mom had mumps and chicken pox and whopping cough as a child. My husband had mumps andnchicken pox. All of them got through it. But, it is miserable and some people have very bad symptoms and some people die. A 30 year old chicken pox patient where a friend of mine worked died. One of those common childhood diseases can cause sterility in men I think. We might actually be able to irradicate some of them if we went after them worldwide like we did small pox. Then no one would need a vaccine. I guess that would be impossible for chicken pox, but maybe one of the others? Right now the Gates organization is trying to conquer polio.

@JLeslie

They have a vaccine for shingles now and I have been inoculated as I am old enough to have had chicken pox.

@Neodarwinian I know. So far I chose not to get it. My only point was some people who were vaccinated for chicken pox do get shingles.

From what I understand there is a hypothesis out there that we who had childhood chicken pox are at more risk for shingles than before the vaccine was introduced, because kids are vaccinated for chicken pox now. I don’t know if there have been studies to further support the idea. Supposedly, we used to get “boosts” to our immunity being exposed to children with chicken pox. You might know a couple other jellies and I get shingle outbreaks since our 20’s.

I think the UK still does not vaccinate for varicella, but I am not sure. They are watching the experiment here in the US. That might have changed in recent years though.

I always get a shot every year. I work with patients directly. It is the responsible thing to do. I can’t get someone sick.

I think the shot is a good idea overall but if you don’t get one and are willing to get sick, well, it’s your health to ruin. But anyone who works in healthcare should be required to get one at the risk of losing their jobs. Not getting one puts innocent people at risk.

@seekingwolf I see nurses and people working in medical offices sick all too often. Forget the flu, I mean everything and anything that you can still make your way to work. The flu it is almost impossible to work, although I realize a person is contagious before they become symptomatic. I had a nurse sneeze all over the large “Q-tips” right in front of me and want to hand one to the doctor to use on the mole area he just cut away. I have had receptionists sick as dogs, take my ID’s and hand them back and breath the same air as me in the office and talk about how half the staff has had it. Does your place of work tell sick people not to come in to try a retard an infection from spreading through your place of work?

I agree the flu vaccine is prudent in medical environments, especially ER, pediatric, GP, where the sick people go, or any closed in work environment for that matter. Not only to help with the greater good, but so employers don’t have employees out sick. $15 for a flu shot is a lot cheaper than an employee out sick. It isn’t all altruistic motivation by companies. If it was they would tell sick employees to go home or not come in in the first place.

@JLeslie

Yes, sick people are sent home. My hospital discourages people from coming in sick to work because it spreads. It encourages employees to use their PTO/vacation time if they have to if they need to stay home but are worried about money. Everyone starts the year with PTO and vac time and accrues vacation time on TOP of what they already get, so really, there’s no excuse not to stay home when you’re sick.

The hospital also gives free flu shots to absolutely ALL of the employees. Not just people in patient care like me. The secretaries, the door men, the valet parking staff, contractors, volunteers….everyone can go in and get a free flu shot.

I know several managers too who are sticklers and if they see you having cold symptoms, they just send you home right there. “No you can’t work, go home”. Seen it happen a LOT and I’m glad.

@seekingwolf I am glad to hear it. Seriously, I find it comforting that at least some hospitals do that. Although, when vacation and sick time is combined it feels like a person is giving up vacation time.

I realize the hospital gives the shot to everyone. I worked at a behavioral health hospital and they gave it to everyone. Our biggest worry was TB. You probably wouldn’t be surprised how many patients and employees come up positive for exposure. I think I would rather get the flu.

@JLeslie

PTO and vacation time are kept separate but if you run out of PTO you can use vacation time if you get sick. It just really bothers me when I see staff come in sick and try to use the excuse “but I used up all my time…” Uhm, so that means it’s okay to infect people? I get that money is tight, it can be tight for me since I don’t make much $11/hour and live on my own, but seriously, if they can’t even take a small shift off to get better without breaking the bank, they need to manage their money better. Especially since Overtime is always available here and needed.

Luckily we haven’t had a TB exposure in a while. TB patients are in special pressurized rooms and everyone is fitted for a TB mask and has to wear one in their size prior to going in. I’m grateful for the precautions. Where I was in India when I traveled there, TB patients were out in the open. I was so scared I’d get it.

@seekingwolf It isn’t always about the money, it is about the time. Back in the old days sick time was completely separate and didn’t take away from vacation days the good thing about cmbining the two is healthy people wound up with more vacation time. The bad thing was if you get sick and you already planned your vacation, you ate up your vacation time while you still have the tickets for your flight and hotel reservations.

I wasn’t talking about active TB, I said testing positive for exposure. I personally know a lot of people who are positive. Well, a lot, I know 2 in my personal life (one a healthcare worker and one a soccer mom of three) and at work 3 people who I worked with directly, but I am sure there were many more in our hospital. Oh, and my neighbors mom was recovered from active TB, but she had the illness many years before I met her.

@JLeslie

But PTO and vacation are separate, like I said. If you’re sick, you can opt to use PTO, vacation, or go without pay. Your choice, which is nice. I have gone without pay for all the times I’ve been sick this year, my choice. If you’re saving your vacation for a trip and you have to take a day off, well, you can opt to use your PTO or, if it’s used up, you can dip into vacation time or go without pay. Being sick doesn’t automatically make your vacation disappear unless you ask your boss to use it. At least, that’s how it is where I work.

I have not had a vacation in over a year and a half. I took over a week off unpaid when I hurt my lower back at work and then spent the rest of the year trying to accrue time off for my weight loss surgery at the end of this year. I still won’t have enough, have to cut back, and no vacation because the time I’ll spend off of work will be spent drinking liquid protein and healing from surgery. Oh well.

@seekingwolf Let me clarify. Back in the day sick days were paid. When I worked at bloomingdales many moons ago, I had three weeks vacation, two days PTO, and sick days. I think when I was a wage worker the pay for sick days was just my draw (probably about half what I really made) but when I was salaried I got my salary.

I’m not making a comment on what way of doing it is better. There are plusses and minuses to both. I guess in your case it depends how much PTO you get. I think as a full timer at the hospital I got 4 weeks combined vacation and sick, no PTO. 4 weeks isn’t bad. I don’t know when my insurance for long illnesses would have kicked in, I don’t remember, so I I think that stopped my vacation from getting eaten into too much if I had an illness that lasted a week or two.

Back to vaccinating in the hospital, my sister gets sick a lot working in the hospital. She still goes to work a lot of the time; they would freak out if she took the day off. I don’t know if she takes the flu vaccine or not. She gets sick with colds not the flu. You would think she would have burned through most of the rhinoviruses by now.

01: It will get you sick. Okay, so it’s your immune system ramping up and not actually the virus infecting you. But it still does get me sick.

02: There are dangerous ingredients. Maybe not outright dangerous. But there are some questionable ingredients like the various preservatives that they use.

05: It provides millions of dollars to pharmaceutical companies. Probably. But I don’t think that necessarily affects the effectiveness of the vaccine.

11/13/14/25/26 It will cause [insert disease/disorder here]. Possibly. We don’t fully understand what the long term effects of x, y and z may be. But you weigh the pros and cons. And the statistics and likelihood.
The writer’s tone is annoying and dismissive. Not really helping the cause to be so condescending and sweeping up these “myths” that have some truth to them.

15*/16*: It’s not that bad. People don’t die from it unIess they have an underlying condition. The writer’s argument that healthy children die from it is silly. They may be healthy, but children are an at-risk group. I didn’t get a flu shot during most of college because I never got the flu. And I figured if I did it wouldn’t be a big deal. And I wasn’t around any at-risk groups. I only started to get the flu shot when I got a job working with kids.
* For myself, at this particular time and state of health.

21: You can protect yourself by washing your hands and eating well. Ummm…you can. You just can’t protect yourself from the kid who sneezes on your face or the grocery cashier who is manhandling your food. The flu is air-borne in the sense that the droplets (when someone’s coughs or sneezes) fly through the air. But it’s not like they’re hanging around in the air, waiting for you to breathe them in.

23: It can make the strains stronger. I would love to have this myth debunked. But I’ll be honest, I don’t put a lot of weight on anything else this writer might have to say. Got any other articles on this?
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I get the flu shot every year.
Good question. Terrible article.