Colds and flu season is here

The Cush

I've got the flu vaccine every year since the mass innoculation programme back in 2009, thankfully no flu since. I can only remember having the real flu a few times in my life and it knocks you completely flat for at least a week, wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Unfortunately got lots of colds/sore throats/vomiting bug etc in those years, I wish they had a vaccine for the common cold too.

Forgot to mention, I got this season's jab last week, €18 at the local pharmacy.

Graces7

Helen Obedient Xenophobia wrote: »

Oh totally, anybody who is at risk should be getting the flu jab.

depends. some of us are more at risk from the flu vaccine then from flu. and they admit that they have no idea which strain of flu is going to be the dangerous one this year so it is hit and miss anyways. no way.by needs care I meant that some are more at risk from the vaccine than from flu. proven.

Graces7

EdgeCase wrote: »

You didn't get that from the flu vaccine. If you've flu symptoms, you might just have coincidentally got the flu. Also the vaccine wouldn't be much use for two weeks after you got it.

I know folk who have been very very sick after the vaccine.

coffee_cake

I got the flu jab today. haven't died yet. phew

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Are we back to the asinine assertions that the flu vaccine can give you flu? It's is a dead virus. It is physically impossible to contract the flu, or any other viral illness, from it. But the anti vaxers will continue with the tin hats and anecdotal nonsense.

EdgeCase

You can coincidentally get a bad cold or even the flu after having the flu vaccine. It does not mean that the vaccine gave you the flu, rather you just had unfortunate timing.

Typically you get the flu vaccine during cold and flu season and it absolutely does not prevent you getting anything other than the specific viruses listed on its particular formulation and you remain vulnerable to the flu for about 2 weeks. It takes that long for your immune system to make up antibodies for the virus so your immunity doesn't really begin until then.

It's the old human problem with being unable to distinguish correlation from causation.

If you react to the flu vaccine, you will typically just get a bit of a sore arm or a very mild feeling of being a bit tired. It doesn't give you the flu symptoms.

PlaneSpeeking

Jeffrey Abundant Pinto wrote: »

Are we back to the asinine assertions that the flu vaccine can give you flu? It's is a dead virus. It is physically impossible to contract the flu, or any other viral illness, from it. But the anti vaxers will continue with the tin hats and anecdotal nonsense.

There are posters - I will not name names - who remind me on occasions of the villagers from the Wicker Man.

Truly scary.

El Weirdo

Had the flu jab yesterday.

Felt absolutely shite over night and this morning, but I know it wasn't the flu and I'd rather feel like that for a relatively short period of time than being knocked out completely for a week with the actual flu.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

This is about flu awareness
Gotta be aware of the flu in the airness
Yo, I'm a flu hatin' rapper

Neyite

Zorya wrote: »

Try Echinecea Angusifolia rather than the Echinecea Purpurea variety which is what is generally available - you may have to order it online. It is stronger. Use only when needed, and then also from time to time as a boost but not in an ongoing fashion as a preventative.

Me: Hi, I'm looking for some Euthanasia tablets please? My partner has man flu?
Pharmacist: Haha I think you mean Echinecea tablets.
Me: ....

Lollipops23

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

I got flu jab and now have flu, feel awful

*Sigh*


It's not a live vaccine, so cannot "give" you the flu. It's possible you have a nasty headcold- if you had actual influenza you wouldn't be able to type.

r93kaey5p2izun

Lollipops23 wrote: »

*Sigh*


It's not a live vaccine, so cannot "give" you the flu. It's possible you have a nasty headcold- if you had actual influenza you wouldn't be able to type.

Whilst I completely agree re the flu vaccine and possibility of getting the flu from it, this notion of not being a ble to do anything with "real" flu is equally complete nonsense. It's also a dangerous piece of misinformation to perpetuate because it encourages people to keep going and spread it around if they're not "that" sick. I have had flu confirmed with a swab and still been in work because I used to believe this rubbish. People claiming they have the flu with every sniffle is annoying but insisting you must be bedridden to have flu is just as bad.

gctest50

Graces7 wrote: »

I know folk who have been very very sick after the vaccine.

Better than death though :

2018/2019 season

Influvac® sub-unit
Suspension for injection

Influenza vaccine (surface antigen, inactivated)






During clinical trials, the following side effects have been observed. Their frequencies have been estimated as:

Common (affects 1 to 10 users in 100)

• headache
• sweating
• muscular pain (myalgia), joint pain (arthralgia)
• fever, generally feeling unwell (malaise), shivering, fatigue
• local reactions: redness, swelling, pain, bruising (ecchymosis), hardness (induration) around the area where the vaccine is injected.
These reactions usually disappear with in 1-2 days without treatment.



In addition to the above common side effects, the fo
llowing side effects have
been reported since the
vaccine came on the market:
• allergic reactions:

leading to medical emergency with a failure of the circulatory system to maintain adequate blood flow to the different organs (shock) in rare cases, swelling most apparent in the head and neck,including the face, lips, tongue, throat or any other part of the body (angioedema) in very rare cases.

• skin reactions that may spread throughout the
body including itchiness of the skin (pruritus, urticaria) and rash

• blood vessel inflammation which may result in skin rashes (vasculitis) and in very rare cases in temporary kidney problems

• pain situated on the nerve route (neuralgia), anomalies in the perception of touch, pain, heat and cold (paraesthesia), fits (convulsions) associated with fever, neurological disorders that may result in stiff neck, confusion, numbness, pain and weakness of the limbs, loss of balance, loss of 4/6 reflexes and paralysis of part or all the body (encephalomyelitis, neuritis, Guillain-Barré Syndrome)

• temporary reduction in the number of certain types of particles in the blood called platelets; a low number of these can result in excessive bruising or bleeding (transient thrombocytopenia) and temporary swelling of the glands in the neck, armpit or groin (transient lymphadenopathy)

byhookorbycrook

I'm another MS-er on immuno-modulating meds. I get the flu shot each year. Can I beseech any and all parents to teach their children cough hygiene and how to wash their hands properly?

We have a number of children for whom anything respiratory can be close to fatal and you don' want your child to be the one who gave them (and me) something awful. Likewise, sending your sick child to school with a note to ring home if they are "worse" isn't right.
And to the anti-vaccers, a lady I knew, perfectly healthy, fit and active, an outdoors type all her life died from flu last winter.Get the jab.
If it were to actually cause flu, I'd be the first to get it due to my other meds. It doesn't.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Some people seem to have got the issue regarding Flu Vaccine for those with compromised immune systems completely backwards.
Medical advise is that all patients with immune deficiencies or weakened immune systems, and all members of their families or other contacts should get the killed vaccine for influenza as a priority.
I'm coming across people here who are either self diagnosing or fabricating their immune deficiencies, listening to people around or close to them who just haven't a notion about the flu vaccine, trawling the Internet for pseudoscience, or just being contrarians, or all of the above. All well and good; let them delude themselves but posting it all as irrefutable fact is dangerous, dishonest, and downright spiteful.

They also seem to have issues with every other vaccine - even those that don't have any relevance to themselves.

byhookorbycrook

I’d love to be imagining my compromised immune system, Srameen, but it’s a medical reality .Have a look at Tysabri and how it works .

Mister Vain

prinzeugen wrote: »

It annoys me when people crawl around in work for weeks feeling like crap and spreading germs when it would gone in a few days if they just spent a day or two in bed with a hot water bottle.

Nobody is going to give you a medal for going into work ill and you are delusional if you think your multi national employer is going to go bust over night because you took a day or two off.

If I stayed at home every time I got a cold I would hardly ever be in work.

lertsnim

I'm feeling fabulous OP. Thanks for the interest!!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

I’d love to be imagining my compromised immune system, Srameen, but it’s a medical reality .Have a look at Tysabri and how it works .

And you were not one of those I was referring to at all. You still get the flu vaccination though? My point was trying (ham-fistedly obviously) to quell the posts from some posters saying they couldn't get the vaccine because of compromised immune systems and risked death of they got the vaccine.

byhookorbycrook

Yes, I get the vaccine . Can’t risk it .

I have a pretty unpleasant cold at the moment. Got it a week and a half ago, it’s got worse. I’m middle aged and it’s a good long time since I got a cold, so had kind of forgotten just how unpleasant they are. Or maybe this one that’s doing the rounds is extra-unpleasant. It’s drfinitely not influenza-the latter sets in very suddenly with near-collapse, is quite shockingly severe and binds you to the bed for up to a week and with several weeks recovery after that. Also Influenza virus does not cause the fiercely running head mucus I have now. The Flu is more of a dry bone-achey disease that you remember for life. I can recall each episode if it I have had from the rapid onset of Hong Kong Flu in 1968 where one, during recovery, could only get down stairs on bum to take in post. I’ve had it 4 times in my life. My current virus would be a Coronavirus, an Adenovirus, or a Rhinovirus. It’s not the Flu, but it’s very pathogenic and has led to an area of pneumonia in one lung which is being treated by antibiotics. When recovered it will be time to get the Influenza vaccine against a more severe virus.

byhookorbycrook

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

I’d love to be imagining my compromised immune system, Srameen, but it’s a medical reality .Have a look at Tysabri and how it works .

Yes indeed, it seems there is a big question mark over this, and indeed possibly some other biological therapy cases
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4912669/

JP Liz V1

I never said the flu jab gave me the flu but I do always get sick when I get it every year but I still get it

Any tips please for congestion, clearing the head etc.,

Lia Scarce Dean

Lia Scarce Dean wrote: »

Whilst I completely agree re the flu vaccine and possibility of getting the flu from it, this notion of not being a ble to do anything with "real" flu is equally complete nonsense. It's also a dangerous piece of misinformation to perpetuate because it encourages people to keep going and spread it around if they're not "that" sick. I have had flu confirmed with a swab and still been in work because I used to believe this rubbish. People claiming they have the flu with every sniffle is annoying but insisting you must be bedridden to have flu is just as bad.

+1.

This really needs to be publicized more.

JP Liz V1

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

I never said the flu jab gave me the flu but I do always get sick when I get it every year but I still get it

Any tips please for congestion, clearing the head etc.,

The vaccine often gives a relatively mild episode of fever and the feeling of a hot red aching bruise in arm where you got it. That's a good sign, you can be fairly sure you've been newly protected against the virus strain you haven't encountered before. It may even send you to bed early that evening, tuck in and be glad you're getting good protection against a horrible virus that's in another league from even the worst cold.


You can get s bit of temporary relief from snot in the head and pressure in sinuses by using a sinus rinse that's available from Boots or a pharmacy, Neilmed is the only brand I see available and I find it somewhat satisfactory and at least it's safe. Takes getting used to gushing the fluid through your nose!