Have you gotten the flu vaccine?

Goya · 05-01-2017 12:52am

Thought the flu jab was only for old people? The flu is really dangerous for them and I can understand why.

I had the flu twice as a child and once in recent years.

I couldn't even stand - had to practically crawl to the toilet. The heating on for several hours in my easily heated room, and still shivering, yet sweat pouring out of me, and a crimson face. The symptoms of a cold are actually the least concerning ones. The stomach bug symptoms and delirium eclipse them. So I don't believe anyone who says they went anywhere (apart from the doctor, and that would be a struggle) when they had the flu, let alone work. The flu can actually kill some people.

There are awful, awful colds - absolute misery (had one myself over Christmas and I thought I was going to cough up my insides) and they may share certain attributes with the flu, but you can still drag yourself to work with them (very much not advisable though).

metaoblivia · 05-01-2017 12:54am

Never had one. This year there's been a particularly nasty virus hitting everyone but I've somehow remained untouched. I've either got an excellent immune system or I'm the Typhoid Mary of the office.

fixXxer · 05-01-2017 1:46am

Flimpson wrote:

Thought the flu jab was only for old people? The flu is really dangerous for them and I can understand why.

Theres a thing called herd immunity, where by if enough of a group are immune then the illness has a hard time spreading. Basically if all the people who can get vaccinated do, then it helps protects those who cant.

Wibbs · 05-01-2017 11:53am

Flimpson wrote: »

So I don't believe anyone who says they went anywhere (apart from the doctor, and that would be a struggle) when they had the flu, let alone work.

Because you're making the all too common error of assuming your experience automatically translates to others. I don't suffer nearly as bad when I've contracted influenza, but I don't make the mistake of assuming others may suffer worse effects.

The flu can actually kill some people.

Exactly, yet you survived three doses of it, now walk that thinking forward and see that others might not have nearly a miserable a time as you. Yes it is a miserable dose, but people vary a lot.

The Backwards Man wrote: »

It's a pity nobody can come up with a hardasses on the internet jab. :P

Comes as part of the huge dick and high IQ jab.

I'm defo no hard man, far more a wuss, especially medically. I avoid doctors like the very plague and even the thoughts of a blood test would render me rigid with fear. However the various flus I've had down the years while bloody awful didn't reduce me to a near death bed ridden wreck.

Indeed this may actually indicate my immune system is not as good as others. When deadly strains of flu have come along they often show an odd reversal of mortality demographics. The "average" flu tends to hit the elderly, the very young, or otherwise compromised the hardest and the deaths cluster in those groups. The real killer flus instead kill off more of the young and strong adult population. Their strong immune systems can actually do the damage as it runs away trying to kill the virus.

Goya · 05-01-2017 12:14pm

I'm not saying my experience is everyone else's. The flu is not an illness with mild strains where you can still carry on without taking to the bed (like a cold) - you either have the flu or you don't. And when you have the flu, you can't get out of bed. A running joke among GPs is "the tenner test" - if there's a tenner on the window and you are keen to get up and grab it, and can do so, even if you feel terrible, it's a bad cold. If you've the flu, you won't care less. And it's true.

The reason I said flu can kill is to illustrate how serious it is, but those whom it kills are only likely to be the very old or very young/chronically ill.

fixXxer · 05-01-2017 12:20pm

Flimpson wrote: »

The reason I said flu can kill is to illustrate how serious it is, but those whom it kills are only likely to be the very old or very young/chronically ill.

Spanish Flu and H1N1 being fairly big examples of flu types that effect healthy people more :

https://www.scripps.edu/news/press/2014/20140227oldstonerosen.html

daheff · 05-01-2017 12:37pm

got the flu vaccine this year '(in early nov)as i'd had the flu the last 3 Xmas periods. Hoped that getting the vaccine would mean that I'd be fit & well to enjoy the christmas period this year.

Well f*ck that for a game of soldiers. Sick as a dog the last 2 weeks with....the flu. Not going to bother my hole getting the vaccine again. waste of time.

LordSutch · 05-01-2017 1:38pm

route9 wrote: »

Have you gotten the flu vaccine?

I guess I will when I reach fifty five or sixty?

My sister in law works in a hospital, and she says there are more Flu victims than usual this year filling up beds. This year's strain of Flu being a particularly nasty strain. I think I have only had the flu two or three times in my life and on both occassions I was bed bound for a week or ten days, unable to drive or operate in any normal capacity, weak legs, vision & cordination destroyed, bangiung head, no appetite, it was bloody awful.

PS; I get annoyed with people who say they have the Flu, when they only have a bad cold :mad:

You can carry on as normal with a bad cold, but 'the flu' is totally debilitating.

jester77 · 05-01-2017 1:44pm

The flu vaccine is a bit of a joke. What is the point of getting vaccinated against an old variant of the flu. The flu evolves and you can be pretty sure that the vaccine you get will not be effective against whatever flu mutation is doing the rounds. You are better off building up your immune system so that you are more capable of defending whatever hits you.

Zzippy · 05-01-2017 1:57pm

Had the flu twice in my life, last time it was swine flu. Since then been diagnosed with something else which puts me in one of the at-risk groups, so I get it every year. For those saying it's useless, in some years it is less effective alright, but most years it confers good protection against most of the common strains doing the rounds. Hopefully this year's one is effective...

byte · 05-01-2017 2:37pm

Yeah, I got the jab a few months ago.

I'm on immuno-suppressants so I was advised to do so and I obliged. Never had to, or thought about it, til this year.

r93kaey5p2izun · 05-01-2017 2:41pm

I'm considering getting the vaccine but put it off due to cost. I think I will go for it tomorrow but I already have a cold so will they give it to me? I had swine flu confirmed by swab during the big outbreak and was still at work because I believed all the rubbish spouted about not being able to get out of bed if it was flu.

elefant · 05-01-2017 2:45pm

It's been offered to me free of charge in my last couple of jobs, but it was recommended only for individuals in certain categories so I've never taken it up.

I've never had the flu that I can remember thankfully.

IvyTheTerrible · 05-01-2017 2:47pm

I got it last year because I was pregnant, and this year because I'm teaching and the teenagers are super efficient germ incubators!

EDIT I had the flu once when I was younger, I couldn't stand up, I remember having to crawl to the bathroom. Miserable stuff.

Beasty · 05-01-2017 2:52pm

Pretty sure I've never had flu. Never had the vaccine either. Meant to get it this winter but never got round to it. Probably starting to get to the age where I should think a bit more about getting the vaccine.

Get the odd head cold but that will typically clear up after a day or two.

Goya · 05-01-2017 2:55pm

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

I got it last year because I was pregnant, and this year because I'm teaching and the teenagers are super efficient germ incubators!

EDIT I had the flu once when I was younger, I couldn't stand up, I remember having to crawl to the bathroom. Miserable stuff.

I don't think your legs can actually hold you up when you've the flu - this is why people literally cannot get out of the bed with it.

Wibbs · 05-01-2017 3:15pm

Flimpson wrote: »

I'm not saying my experience is everyone else's.

OK and then you say this…

The flu is not an illness with mild strains where you can still carry on without taking to the bed (like a cold) - you either have the flu or you don't. And when you have the flu, you can't get out of bed.

This is bollocks. While influenza is a nasty old dose people respond differently to infection. This is a scientifically demonstrable fact. I really don't know how often this has to be said.

Oh and there are most certainly different levels of threat with different strains and even extremely closely related strains can rapidly change aggressiveness over time. EG the Spanish Flu that killed more people than World War One(and likely adding in WW2 as well). The first strain and wave was a little above background levels in mortality but tended to more affect the old and weak, the next wave that followed months later was a hideous pox that felled tens of millions of mostly young men and women(pregnant women were severely hit), then a year after that it had mutated back to mild enough. This was the same strain or damned near it as those infected in the first wave were immune to the next two.

The reason I said flu can kill is to illustrate how serious it is,

While missing my point by a country mile. Let's try again… Did you die from flu? No. Do most people? No. ergo different people respond differently to the infection. Now again try imagining others who while debilitated aren't as debilitated as you.

but those whom it kills are only likely to be the very old or very young/chronically ill.

Wrong again. The most deadly strains of all are notable for hitting the young and healthy adults disproportionately.

Flimpson wrote:

I don't think your legs can actually hold you up when you've the flu - this is why people literally cannot get out of the bed with it.

Some people. Jesus. You really won't be told will you?

Goya · 05-01-2017 3:17pm

Wibbs wrote: »

OK and then you say this… This is bollocks. While influenza is a nasty old dose people respond differently to infection. This is a scientifically demonstrable fact. I really don't know how often this has to be said.

Oh and there are most certainly different levels of threat with different strains and even extremely closely related strains can rapidly change aggressiveness over time. EG the Spanish Flu that killed more people than World War One(and likely adding in WW2 as well). The first strain and wave was a little above background levels in mortality but tended to more affect the old and weak, the next wave that followed months later was a hideous pox that felled tens of millions of mostly young men and women(pregnant women were severely hit), then a year after that it had mutated back to mild enough. This was the same strain or damned near it as those infected in the first wave were immune to the next two.

While missing my point by a country mile. Let's try again… Did you die from flu? No. Do most people? No. ergo different people respond differently to the infection. Now again try imagining others who while debilitated aren't as debilitated as you. Wrong again. The most deadly strains of all are notable for hitting the young and healthy adults disproportionately.

Some people. Jesus. You really won't be told will you?

Crikey, such anger - no need to be so rude and aggressive. It's not difficult. I wasn't rude to you. I stand corrected.

Wibbs · 05-01-2017 3:24pm

Flimpson wrote: »

Crikey, such anger - no need to be so rude and aggressive.

How was I "rude and aggressive"? I suggested your opinion on the matter was in error, end of.

Goya · 05-01-2017 3:33pm

Wibbs wrote: »

How was I "rude and aggressive"? I suggested your opinion on the matter was in error, end of.

Don't be so disingenuous. And you "suggested" nothing - you told me I was wrong (which is fine) with completely unnecessary hostility, "end of".

seamus · 05-01-2017 3:44pm

jester77 wrote: »

The flu vaccine is a bit of a joke. What is the point of getting vaccinated against an old variant of the flu. The flu evolves and you can be pretty sure that the vaccine you get will not be effective against whatever flu mutation is doing the rounds. You are better off building up your immune system so that you are more capable of defending whatever hits you.

You're making the mistake of assuming that every time you contract a variant of the virus, that it's a "new" one.

When they prepare a flu vaccine, they use recent statistical data to determine which variants are in flight at the moment and which are most likely to be doing the rounds in the following months.

So if you contract the 'flu, you are most likely to contract one of these variants. But of course you may contract a different variant. However, just having the vaccine means less work for your body to adapt if the variant is close enough to one of the ones contained in the vaccine.

Wibbs · 05-01-2017 3:51pm

seamus wrote: »

just having the vaccine means less work for your body to adapt if the variant is close enough to one of the ones contained in the vaccine.

Plus IIRC some variants proffer immunity and/or lead to less aggressive infections even against new strains? I got hit with that Swine flu that did the rounds 7/8 years back? That was a right heavy dose, but I read subsequently that if you've had that strain you're more protected against other strains than those who didn't. There might be something to it as I've had no flus since(and have been exposed to a couple).

IvyTheTerrible · 05-01-2017 3:52pm

seamus wrote: »

You're making the mistake of assuming that every time you contract a variant of the virus, that it's a "new" one.

When they prepare a flu vaccine, they use recent statistical data to determine which variants are in flight at the moment and which are most likely to be doing the rounds in the following months.

So if you contract the 'flu, you are most likely to contract one of these variants. But of course you may contract a different variant. However, just having the vaccine means less work for your body to adapt if the variant is close enough to one of the ones contained in the vaccine.

My husband's granddad was vaccinated but he caught the flu anyway, but it didn't hit him as hard as usual, so luckily he's getting over it grand now. Not sure how he would have reacted if he hadn't had the vaccine.

Wibbs · 05-01-2017 3:56pm

And the more that are vaccinated the fewer opportunities for the virus to mutate into something nastier. One theory why the Spanish Flu went so rogue was because it happened in the middle of WW1 and those soldiers who got the milder dose stayed in the trenches while those with the really deadly variant were shipped off and collected in large infectious groups to hospitals, ship, trains etc and it spread from there.

LordSutch · 05-01-2017 4:40pm

Flimpson wrote: »

I don't think your legs can actually hold you up when you've the flu - this is why people literally cannot get out of the bed with it.

I like your message . . .

Far too many people confuse the common cold with the flu, and although some flu strains are not as deadly as others, the flu by its very nature is more serious & debilitatging that a bad cold.

hairyslug · 05-01-2017 4:48pm

Got the pnuemovax a few months ago as part of a test (I like getting the odd dose of pnuemonia every year) was told to come back for the flu vaccine but Im just to lazy.

Graces7 · 05-01-2017 5:46pm

Not had it and not going to.

I have an immune system illness and the consultant said no. Far too dangerous.
So I have obeyed that advice .

Two folk I know had terrible reactions to it last year, Totally wrecked one lady and she has never fully recovered.

Have had two serious colds?infections?the last month anyways.

TOEJOE · 05-01-2017 6:11pm

Got the flue injections on Tuesday got the flu on Thursday I had a cold and perhaps had the beginning of the flu when I got the injection. Just over it now after two weeks .WOuld not wish anybody to have it ,you would definitely not work with it.I had Pains where I never knew I had parts.It must have been a man flu!,,

Graces7 · 05-01-2017 6:22pm

TOEJOE wrote: »

Got the flue injections on Tuesday got the flu on Thursday I had a cold and perhaps had the beginning of the flu when I got the injection. Just over it now after two weeks .WOuld not wish anybody to have it ,you would definitely not work with it.I had Pains where I never knew I had parts.It must have been a man flu!,,

I had a bad flu a few years ago
Hit so suddenly. I came in from shopping , stopped at the Post Office and it hit me like a bomb... Staggered home and to bed

Come to think of it, the same with the flu that triggered my immune system illness... Was teaching and had to leave school. I remember staggering through M and S with this total obsession that I HAD to buy a new nightie to die in.

Just is a total bomb.

_Whimsical_ · 05-01-2017 7:22pm

Zzippy wrote: »

Had the flu twice in my life, last time it was swine flu. Since then been diagnosed with something else which puts me in one of the at-risk groups, so I get it every year. For those saying it's useless, in some years it is less effective alright, but most years it confers good protection against most of the common strains doing the rounds. Hopefully this year's one is effective...

They mentioned on the news that the variant doing the rounds right now is one that is protected against by the vaccine if that puts your mind at ease at all.

Have you gotten the flu vaccine?

Comments