MetaChat - Are you getting a flu shot?

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07 October 2006

Are you getting a flu shot? I can't decide whether or not I am (and this thread has only made me more uncertain). I haven't had the shot in years and I can't remember the last time I had the flu. Should I leave well enough alone, or am I pressing my luck? How do you decide if you're getting the shot?

post by: amro at: 10:07 | 22 comments

My school dist offers them to all employees. . .my policy has been, if I happen to be in the place where they are offered at the time, I get one. If not, I don't.

Pretty casual, I know. . .

posted by danf 07 October | 10:13

I've been getting them since we had our first kid. It's a crapshoot sometimes since they have to guess which flu variation will predominate and I've come down with the flu or something like once or twice. But as long as you're not allergic to eggs, there's little downside to getting one.

posted by tommasz 07 October | 10:30

"flu" shot. heh. yeah right. s'cuse me, i'm putting on my gas mask now, there are contrails overhead.

posted by quonsar 07 October | 10:51

Age is big factor, and if you're over 50 or so, you probably need to get in line, all other contra-indications not being a factor for you. Medical history is another big one. I had a run in about 10 years ago with what may have been Guillame-Barr, and was told to skip flu vaccinations in particular in the future. Otherwise, I'd be getting them regularly now. The generally anti-vaccine site vaccineinfo.net has an interesting page of alternate opinion if you're looking for the flip side to the CDC line on the topic. And, you might be candidate for the new nasal flu vaccine.

posted by paulsc 07 October | 11:13

I too get it when it's offered by my employer. Got it last year.

posted by bingo 07 October | 11:46

I get the flu shot mainly because I have chronic health issues and can't take the risk (the last time I got the Capital F Flu was about 10 years ago, and it triggered an autoimmune response so severe that I was ill off and on for more than a year). A very close second, though, is that I genuinely believe vaccination is a civil and social obligation that everyone should share. (In fact, if pressed I would say that I probably feel more strongly about vaccinating than I do about voting!)

posted by scody 07 October | 11:50

I see your point, scody. In my mind I've sort of gouped together flu-shot-getters with those people who blame a particular person for giving them the flu, but it would probably be a good thing if masses of people did it, like a firewall.

posted by StickyCarpet 07 October | 12:15

I genuinely believe vaccination is a civil and social obligation that everyone should share.

Absolutely. I've expounded upon this before, so will just chime in with a "WORD" here.

posted by gaspode 07 October | 12:21

Being diabetic I'm supposed to get a flu shot every year. I have yet to do so since diagnosis. The one time I did get a flu shot I got really, really sick.

posted by deborah 07 October | 12:21

An immunized population reduces the chance of everyone getting the flu. Not just healthy you who could shrug it off in a few days but also the very young and very old and people with compromised immune systems to whom the flu is a life-threatening illness. Do yes, get the shot, for your neighbors.

posted by LarryC 07 October | 12:34

No, nobody really does over here, except for the vulnerable and those that work with them.

I wonder why the attitude is so different.

posted by flopsy 07 October | 12:41

No. I'm not around AIDS patients, children, or the elderly, so if I get the flu, I'll just tough it out.

posted by cmonkey 07 October | 13:00

I've never gotten a shot and I've never had the flu, ever in my life. I don't get colds or flus. I think it's because I don't eat dairy products, but that's another discussion entirely. I also don't take medicine or get shots. Sorry if anyone thinks I'm selfish but I'm not putting the stuff from that vaccine into my body.

posted by iconomy 07 October | 13:44

I do it for selfish reasons.

I can barrel my way through a cold or a sinus infection, even the nastiest ones, and get to work. I cannot work with the flu. If I don't go to work, I don't get paid.

So I invest $15 in the flu shot to avoid losing a couple hundred dollars in wages.

posted by jason's_planet 07 October | 14:07

Every year my elderly mother freaks out and bugs me about getting a flu shot, right now, absolutely, etc., etc., and every year I swear I'm going to do it and then I just never get around to it, which drives her into a progressively more intense state of hysteria every time I see her. That's annoying, but not quite annoying enough for me to break through my inertia and go get a shot. Something about this system is working, though, because the last year that I had the flu (1998) was also the last year that I had the shot, and I only had the shot that year because at my old job they made everyone get one.

posted by mygothlaundry 07 October | 14:09

mgl - not that I advocate lying on a regular basis, but I'd lie to her. It can't be good for her if it stresses her out that much.

posted by deborah 07 October | 14:42

I've had my flu jab for the last couple of years. It's offered through work. Years ago I had it, and got the worst dose of flu I've ever had, I was really very ill. I told the nurse this before I started having them through the office and she said that they've changed them in recent years, and, touch wood, I haven't had flu in the last few years, so either they're working or I've just been lucky and not been exposed to flu.

posted by essexjan 07 October | 15:17

Well i just had mine yesterday and now i feel all fluey! My arm hurts and i have a headache.

posted by ramix 07 October | 15:49

We offered it in the store today, and they ran out of vaccines. They had to send out for more. I was amazed at the line up. I'd have liked to have gotten one, but since I work there, they wanted to reserve the shots for the customers. We will be having another later on, so maybe I'll get one then. I come in enough contact with people to want to protect myself.

posted by redvixen 07 October | 17:45

I always get one.

posted by BoringPostcards 07 October | 17:57

I don't get shots. Everytime I get a shot, I get really ill. My mother tells me that when my four siblings and I were little our GP always gave us half-strength shots because if he didn't we'd get really ill.

The last time I got a flu was in January 2002. I was ill for a month. But then I was ill for so much of that winter, probably because I was going through a really horrible time emotionally. Haven't been ill since, though.

posted by Orange Swan 07 October | 18:19

Yep. I have some health issues that make it a very good idea. I feel quite strongly about vaccination, as well, but have never thought to apply that to flu vaccine. There was a whooping cough outbreak in my town recently. With a very few exceptions, people who don't vaccinate their kids are fools, selfish, or both.

posted by theora55 07 October | 19:47

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