Flu Shot: Are you getting one?

[MrCinatit]

I've not gotten the flue for quite some time, and haven't gotten a flu shot for decades. Then again, my immunity system seems to be much stronger than others. The few times I have felt the beginning traces of the flu, I have bombarded it by eating many oranges, a lot of honey and knocking myself out for a couple of nights with some Tylenol.

[Highlifeman21]

No.

I know they say it's not supposed to happen, but last year I got one and was sick like I've never been sick before 2 days after the shot.

I mean it was great for weight loss, if you're goin' for that kinda thing.

[Brutus]

I refuse.

And no amount of scare tactics from the media shall convince me otherwise.

[macro]

I'm surprised no one has commented on the "danger" aspect of repeated flu shots over several years. Anyone buying into that? Some believe that it's NOT a case of "it can't hurt".

My decision day for doing it at work is this Friday. I'm still unsure what I want to do. I've got three kids six and under and am in contact with 50-75 people each day.

[Degenerate39]

I refuse.

And no amount of scare tactics from the media shall convince me otherwise.

Nothing good can come from putting the flu into you. I'm with you pimp

[Rojo]

I'll consider getting one after 70.

[Cyclone792]

I'm undecided if I'm getting a seasonal flu shot this year. My workplace offers them for free since I work in healthcare, and the flu shots are given down the hall from my office so it's not an inconvenience. Given my age and immune system, I'm leaning on just passing on the seasonal flu shot this year. A good diet, good vitamin/mineral intake and routine handwashing goes a long way toward avoiding getting sick.

Two years ago when I didn't get a flu shot, I came down with the flu. Of course, it should be noted that the flu shot that year was a partial match at best so it probably wouldn't have mattered if I got one or not, and as a result, flu activity was pretty widespread all around. Last year I finally did get a flu shot for the first time that I can remember, and fortunately last year's flu shot was nearly a precise match to the strain of flu that circulated so it likely offered a great deal of protection ... and I did not come down with the flu.

Essentially, we all want each year's flu shot to be a match, even those who do not get the shot themselves. When the flu shot is a match, it cuts down on overall flu activity and that alone will help prevent infection for all of us.

I'll also most likely be passing on the H1N1 vaccine; I'll let others be the guinea pigs for that one.

[redsfandan]

Did U.S. make mistake in skipping vaccine additive?
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor Maggie Fox, Health And Science Editor
Fri Nov 20, 12:36 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As U.S. health officials struggle to vaccinate tens of millions of Americans against the pandemic of swine flu, some are looking regretfully at one easy way to instantly double or triple the number of doses available -- by using an immune booster called an adjuvant.

These additives, often as simple as an oil and water mixture, broaden the body's response to a vaccine, reducing the amount of active ingredient called antigen needed.

They are widely used in European flu vaccines as well as in Canada. But not in the United States -- even though the federal government has spent nearly $700 million buying them.

The reason -- people might not trust them.

"If we really do want pregnant women to trust this vaccine or even parents, we have to think about what is acceptable to them," Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an interview.

"We have so much vaccine hesitancy in this country," agreed Jeff Levi of the non-profit Trust For America's Health. "To add ... a new element could well have undermined the efficacy of this campaign," Levi told a hearing this week before a Congressional subcommittee.

This frustrates the World Health Organization, which says the global capacity to make influenza vaccines is about 3 billion doses a year -- not enough to cover the population of 6.8 billion people. WHO has hoped rich countries would donate leftover H1N1 vaccine to others.

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department was ready to try adjuvants had the pandemic been worse. H1N1 swine flu has infected an estimated 22 million Americans and killed 3,900, but it so far does not appear to be any deadlier than seasonal influenza.

The worry is that it is affecting younger adults and children instead of the elderly usually targeted by flu, and has the potential to mutate into something more deadly.

"If things had been worse and this would have been a more severe pandemic, we may well have needed to go that way anyway," Levi said.

TRIED AND TRUE

Instead, the United States has stuck with what CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden has repeatedly called the "tried and true" approach -- the same formulation used in seasonal flu vaccines. Five companies have contracts -- Sanofi-Aventis, CSL, Novartis, AstraZeneca unit MedImmune and GlaxoSmithKline.

Polls show that only about half of Americans plan to be vaccinated against H1N1. Of those who do not, about half say they worry about safety.

Even so, long lines have formed as people try to get the 50 million or so swine flu doses that have rolled out of factories. Drug companies have struggled with an unpredictable virus that does not grow well in eggs, as well as changes to U.S. orders that slowed down packaging.

Studies suggest the supply that is out now could have been tripled.

In September, GlaxoSmithKline found a single shot of its H1N1 vaccine protected 98 percent of volunteers, using an adjuvant and just 5.25 micrograms of antigen. A standard dose without adjuvant takes 15 micrograms of antigen.

Vaccine makers urged Congress this week to help federal agencies find ways to approve the use of adjuvants, and to assure skeptical Americans about their safety.

Dr. Vas Narasimhan, president of Novartis Vaccines USA, noted adjuvants had been licensed for use in Europe for 10 years and tested in 200,000 people.

"Adjuvanted vaccines produce higher immune response than unadjuvanted vaccines particularly in the elderly and young children," Narasimhan told a hearing this week.

He said they may protect better than standard vaccines against viruses that have drifted a little -- the single biggest reason that flu vaccines must be re-formulated every year.

They may also eventually help require less vaccination. "Adjuvanted vaccines have been shown to more broadly prime patients' immune response (up to seven years later), requiring fewer vaccinations to the newly circulating strain," he said.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is intrigued. Last month it awarded $60 million to researchers and companies to develop new adjuvants.

(Editing by Philip Barbara)

[Redsfan320]

No, I'm not getting a flu shot this year (maybe next year). I've had the flu this year, just a few days ago. I was on Tamiflu within six hours of my symptoms showing up and it worked a miracle. I was alot better within two days. They say that it's unlikely you'll get the flu twice in a year.

320

[GAC]

I always get the seasonal flu shot. But the H1N1 I'm not. I'll wait to see what happens to the rest of the population first. I don't want to end up like the population in the Will Smith movie "I Am Legend".

[15fan]

Nope. No flu shots for me.

20+ years ago, I had a nasty case of the Taiwan flu. Since then, I've had the flu maybe 3 or 4 times.

And I already get allergy shots on a regular basis, so I'm not exactly jumping at the chance to get stuck with yet another needle.

[Larkin Fan]

I always get the seasonal flu shot. But the H1N1 I'm not. I'll wait to see what happens to the rest of the population first. I don't want to end up like the population in the Will Smith movie "I Am Legend".

Here is something that I don't get... I hear the "I always get a seasonal flu shot, but I'll let others be the guinea pig for the H1N1 shot" argument all of the time. And it's an argument that based on faulty logic and misinformation. Both vaccines are produced THE SAME WAY. That seasonal flu vaccine you're getting every year has undergone the same amount of testing as the H1N1 vaccine. The only difference is which killed virus the vaccine contains. Had H1N1 surfaced just a few months earlier, it would have been included as part of the seasonal vaccine and will be next year.

I don't mean to single you out, GAC, it's just that you were the last one to make a comment like that.

[GAC]

Oh, I know my logic is most likely faulty and illogical LF, when it comes to the H1N1, and that I am probably basing it on a "fear" that shouldn't be. But I'm human.

Besides.... I got that seasonal flu shot two weeks ago - and I have never, never had any adverse reaction to one the entire time I've been getting them, which has been around 10 years - until this one. Now, for the last two weeks I've been fighting "coming and going" flu-like symptoms. Upper respiratory congestion, minor sore throat, and occasional "aches and pains" with a low-grade fever. I'm fine for a couple days, think I'm coming out of it, and them "Bam!"

I have a Dr's appt next week for a separate situation, so I'm going to bring it up to him.

[LoganBuck]

Oh, I know my logic is most likely faulty and illogical LF, when it comes to the H1N1, and that I am probably basing it on a "fear" that shouldn't be. But I'm human.

Besides.... I got that seasonal flu shot two weeks ago - and I have never, never had any adverse reaction to one the entire time I've been getting them, which has been around 10 years - until this one. Now, for the last two weeks I've been fighting "coming and going" flu-like symptoms. Upper respiratory congestion, minor sore throat, and occasional "aches and pains" with a low-grade fever. I'm fine for a couple days, think I'm coming out of it, and them "Bam!"

I have a Dr's appt next week for a separate situation, so I'm going to bring it up to him.

GAC how old are you? My mother who is a nurse, says that the doctors say there was a flu in the late fifties/early sixties that was similar enough, that some people have partial immunity to H1N1. My wife is a teacher and brought the plague into our house, symptoms starting on a Monday. We had been around my parents on Sunday. My mother had been vaccinated already but my father had not been. He has had the same symptoms you describe, but never really "sick".

I am going on my fourth week of coughing and wheezing from my bout with H1N1.

[wolfboy]

I received the H1N1 vaccine (spray) and no amount of internet scare tactics could have convinced me otherwise. It was about a month ago and I'm not dead yet. So far, so good.