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Have you gotten the flu vaccine?

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124

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    #92
    Atlantic Dawn
    Registered Users Posts: 81,265 ✭✭✭✭Atlantic Dawn
    M


    Didn't get the vaccine and have instructed my family that should I be struck down with some serious illness to put me in an at risk group that I would rather die than be given the flu vaccine, I don't trust it so to speak.


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    #93
    _Whimsical_
    Registered Users Posts: 7,955 ✭✭✭_Whimsical_


    Atlantic Dawn wrote: »
    Didn't get the vaccine and have instructed my family that should I be struck down with some serious illness to put me in an at risk group that I would rather die than be given the flu vaccine, I don't trust it so to speak.

    The main concern regarding it seems to be the ingredient thimerosal, though there are no proven issue with it . There is no thimerosal in the single dose vaccine most people receive in their doctors or in the chemist.


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    #94
    Exeggcute
    Closed Accounts Posts: 402 ✭✭Exeggcute


    Gatling wrote: »
    Got it ages ago ,

    Still suffering from after effects of swine flu 3 years ago

    Is it an irrational hatred of Vladimir Putin? Lol


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    #95
    Sciprio
    Closed Accounts Posts: 790 ✭✭✭Sciprio


    I haven't, And what i mean is i haven't had it since i was a kid in primary school and i'm 30 now. I haven't really gotten sick/flu over the years apart from the odd hangover that's really it. :D


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    #96
    currants
    Registered Users Posts: 207 ✭✭currants


    Graces7 wrote: »
    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.

    I have a serious auto immune disease and am on immuno-supressant drugs and I'm strongly advised to take it, its not a live vaccine.


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    #97
    Loveinapril
    Registered Users Posts: 2,327 ✭✭✭Loveinapril


    I have had the real life flu twice and it was horrendous. I remember lying in bed crying because the pain in my whole body was so bad. I have MS so get the flu vaccine every year now and haven't had the flu since. I would honestly rather a million other illnesses than the flu!


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    #98
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    currants wrote: »
    I have a serious auto immune disease and am on immuno-supressant drugs and I'm strongly advised to take it, its not a live vaccine.

    It is highly recommended that people with auto immune disease or any "immunocompromising conditions" get the flu vaccine every year. As you say, it is not a live culture vaccine


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    #99
    RobbingBandit
    Registered Users Posts: 18,087 ✭✭✭✭RobbingBandit


    Yes, I'm a type 2 Diabetic with other health issues, currently have a dose of something and have had two rounds of Antibiotics since October for flu like symptoms.

    Driving my bloods up like twenty selection boxes the past few days.


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    #100
    Lia_lia
    Registered Users Posts: 6,691 ✭✭✭Lia_lia


    No. They were offering the jab at work alright but I never got it. I did get the swine flu jab alright a few years ago and it made my arm swell up a good bit.

    I've never in my life had the flu. Rarely get sick and when I do I usually recover quickly. Will probably get the flu now next week after saying that...


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    #101
    Goya
    Closed Accounts Posts: 464 ✭✭Goya


    LordSutch wrote: »
    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.
    Yeah it was a GP who told me you either have influenza or you don't (although I know the GP is not God either) so I likened that to:

    - You either have pneumonia or you don't
    - You either have meningitis or you don't
    - You either have glandular fever or you don't

    With the above, there isn't a mild version - you just get them. So that's how I saw influenza, especially since there is an inoculation against it. Sure, there are colds with "flu-like" symptoms but they're still not the flu in and of themselves.

    However, even if I'm completely wrong, there are still plenty of people who say they're dying of the flu when they have a cold. I think a lot of the time they genuinely think the flu and a cold are always the same thing.


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    #102
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 26,052 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Flimpson wrote: »
    Yeah it was a GP who told me you either have influenza or you don't (although I know the GP is not God either) so I likened that to:

    - You either have pneumonia or you don't
    - You either have meningitis or you don't
    - You either have glandular fever or you don't

    With the above, there isn't a mild version - you just get them. So that's how I saw influenza, especially since there is an inoculation against it. Sure, there are colds with "flu-like" symptoms but they're still not the flu in and of themselves.

    However, even if I'm completely wrong, there are still plenty of people who say they're dying of the flu when they have a cold. I think a lot of the time they genuinely think the flu and a cold are always the same thing.

    A lot of people will also tell you that they've definitely had the flu, not a cold! Unless they've been swabbed they've no idea though, they're just assuming it's the flu and they've manfully battled on where lesser mortals have fallen.

    Viral meningitis is quite mild btw, completely different to bacterial strains.


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    #103
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    If the vaccine is inactive it cannot protect. If it is active then it can and does cause side effects. Period.

    I know folk whose health the vaccine wrecked .


    I checked all this at consultant level and abide by that professional wisdom. No vaccination for my immune system illness.

    Up to each to decide..


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    #104
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 8,647 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Graces7 wrote: »
    If the vaccine is inactive it cannot protect. If it is active then it can and does cause side effects. Period.

    I know folk whose health the vaccine wrecked .


    I checked all this at consultant level and abide by that professional wisdom. No vaccination for my immune system illness.

    Up to each to decide..

    Yeah. I think you should change consultants if they don't understand how vaccines work.


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    #105
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Yeah. I think you should change consultants if they don't understand how vaccines work.

    They do; far more than a GP and with my particular illness, age and other factors, and their experience of other sufferers. For me the flu would be less damaging than the vaccine.

    Gps are just that. Great at what they do but not specialising. Trust a general rather than a captain time.


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    #106
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 8,647 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Fair enough. I don't know your illness but it's ludicrous that a consultant thinks an non live vaccine doesn't work


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    #107
    mansize
    Closed Accounts Posts: 14,521 ✭✭✭✭mansize


    No. I'm not in an "at risk" catagory currently


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    #108
    currants
    Registered Users Posts: 207 ✭✭currants


    Graces7 wrote: »
    If the vaccine is inactive it cannot protect. If it is active then it can and does cause side effects. Period.



    I checked all this at consultant level and abide by that professional wisdom. No vaccination for my immune system illness.

    Up to each to decide..


    http://www.publichealth.org/public-awareness/understanding-vaccines/vaccines-work/

    It may be not advised for you but that's not because live vaccines are bad and nonlive vaccines don't work. Anyone on immuno-supressants is strongly advised to have the flu vaccine- injectable immuno suppressants cannot be prescribed by a GP, it must be a consultant so its defintely consultants doling out this advice.

    I would hate anyone reading this to think they shouldn't bother getting the flu vaccine as it wont work, it does work, it isn't dangerous and potentially keeps people like me, byte, robbingbandit and loveinapril alive and well.

    To those folk who constantly get colds and flu the most effective form of prevention is washing your hands with soap and hot water for 20 secs every time before you eat or drink. Its cut down drastically on the amount of sniffles I get. Make sure whoever is cooking at home does it too. Anti bac gel is a good sub if you're not near a sink, you don't have to go full on Howard Hughes, training your self to get out of the habit of touching your face is quite effective too.
    For those who like to indulge in traffic nose picking its a very effective way of spreading viruses


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    #109
    The Cush
    Registered Users Posts: 15,493 ✭✭✭✭The Cush


    Got the flu once in the last 20 years, had to take 2 weeks off work, prefer not to go through it again. Know someone who died of swine flu (H1N1) back in 2009, recorded on the death cert, was one of the 24 recorded during that outbreak.

    Got the vaccine back in 2009 during the mass inoculation programme that year and every October since, no side effects and costs just €15.

    I know it may not cover a strain or two of flu virus going around in a particular year as the vaccine has to be finalised by a particular time for manufacture and distribution by October in this part of the world, maybe before a potential strain is identified for inclusion, but it protects from most others.


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    #110
    fixXxer
    Registered Users Posts: 6,283 ✭✭✭fixXxer


    Graces7 wrote: »
    If the vaccine is inactive it cannot protect. If it is active then it can and does cause side effects. Period.

    I know folk whose health the vaccine wrecked .


    I checked all this at consultant level and abide by that professional wisdom. No vaccination for my immune system illness.

    Up to each to decide..

    Inactivated vaccines are quite common
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inactivated_vaccine

    But as the article mentions, the immune response can be weaker, so maybe it wouldn't be effective for you?


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    #111
    Bandage
    Registered Users Posts: 137 ✭✭Bandage


    No, but considering it.


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    #112
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    Graces7 wrote: »
    If the vaccine is inactive it cannot protect. If it is active then it can and does cause side effects. Period.

    I know folk whose health the vaccine wrecked .


    I checked all this at consultant level and abide by that professional wisdom. No vaccination for my immune system illness.

    Up to each to decide..

    That is utter nonsense and very misleading to people. It is an inactive vaccine, has negligible side effects, does protect and does NOT permanently affect people's health. That consultant sounds like a quack.


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    #113
    coffee_cake
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Politics Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 81,310 CMod ✭✭✭✭coffee_cake


    I don't understand why people say only old people should get it. Why would you risk making yourself miserable for 2 weeks when there's an easy solution

    I asked in a local pharmacy they don't do it I'm sure some bigger ones do


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    #114
    mirrorwall14
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,751 ✭✭✭mirrorwall14


    I'm an asthmatic so generally get it. Though I'm late this year got the jab yesterday. Better safe than sorry


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    #115
    Danbo!
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,942 ✭✭✭Danbo!


    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.

    No it's not a joke. It's not getting vaccinated against an old variant. Research gives a good indication of the strains circulating that are likely to flare up and protects against them. A couple of years ago they got it wrong and a different strain ended up far more dominant than expected, it happens. In other years it is thought to be approx 60-70% effective.
    jester77 wrote: »
    You are better off building up your immune system so that you are more capable of defending whatever hits you.

    That is exactly what the flu vaccine does. Builds up your immune system to be more capable of fighting the flu.


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    #116
    Danbo!
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,942 ✭✭✭Danbo!


    Graces7 wrote: »
    I know folk whose health the vaccine wrecked .

    :confused:

    I've heard so many people speak out against the vaccine due to anecdotes like this, or the common "The flu jab gave me the flu" rubbish.

    You need a new consultant btw.


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    #117
    Reiketsu
    Registered Users Posts: 1,096 ✭✭✭Reiketsu


    I've never gotten the vaccination but I will be starting work in a hospital soon so I'll likely take it then. More for the sake of those around me than myself. I've had the flu twice. Once at 14 which I don't remember well but was off school for a week or so with it. The last was about four years ago. I left work early on a Monday as I just didn't feel well. Got home and into bed and didn't get out of it until Saturday, when the fever finally broke. I woke up on the Thursday thinking I was feeling better. Wrong :D. Almost killed me to use the toilet and that was me zapped of all energy. I was miserable!


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    #118
    The Cush
    Registered Users Posts: 15,493 ✭✭✭✭The Cush


    bluewolf wrote: »
    I asked in a local pharmacy they don't do it I'm sure some bigger ones do
    My small local pharmacy does it for €15, the problem is a member of staff must be qualified to give it, smaller one-off pharmacies may not have the trained staff.


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    #119
    scdublin
    Registered Users Posts: 643 ✭✭✭scdublin


    I had the flu once when I was a kid and it flattened me and my mam for at least two weeks, probably more like 3 before we felt back to normal. I remember barely being able to crawl to the bathroom and as I slowly got better a bit faster than my mam, I had to scoot down the stairs on my bum (taking forever on each step because I just had no energy) to refill a glass of water when there was no one else home. I don't remember eating at all during the time either, though I must have had something. Always wrecks my head when someone says they have a flu but they just have sniffles and a cough.
    I haven't ever got the flu jab and I've not really thought about getting it either. I should really look into it.


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    #120
    boardsuser1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,196 ✭✭✭boardsuser1


    Got the Flu injection 6 years ago. 2 weeks later I got the flu itself. never again will I get the injection.


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    #121
    Danbo!
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,942 ✭✭✭Danbo!


    KC161 wrote: »
    Got the Flu injection 6 years ago. 2 weeks later I got the flu itself. never again will I get the injection.

    It takes about 2 weeks to be effective, and you likely pick up the flu a couple of days (1-4) before you feel any symptoms. It's also not 100% effective, but either way you dont get the flu from the flu vaccine.


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