Ha!

I haven't had the flu in years, but last time I did, it got me for about 8 days. That is a virulent illness...makes you remember that it kills people. I didn't get a flu shot last year because (I think?) there was a vaccine shortage, but I usually do; I work with the public enough to warrant it.

my company has the VNA come in every year and do a flu shot clinic. Free if you have company health insurance, $20 if you have no insurance or are insured elsewhere.
I missed my shot one year- that was also the last time I got the flu. I don't miss it now.

The flu shot makes me sick whenever I get it...fever and body aches. I am hesitant to get it except on a Friday, because I know I'll be sick the next day. Unfortunately, our only Friday clinic at work is a day I'll be out of the office.

What an awesome conceit.
Reminds me of ....

Chardonnay, chardonnay how I love you Chardonnay

As I reach to hold you with my trembling hands
In my hands my trembling hands

Chardonnay, Chardonnay you'll be glad to hear me say
I will never need you more than I do now
In my hands my trembling hands

When I'm sad sad and blue
You are my friends constant and true
I dedicate this song to you
And I would like to take you home with me

Chardonnay, Chardonnay I'm in love with your bouquet
You're so cold but you so beautiful tonight
In my hands my trembling hands

Chardonnay, Chardonnay you don't have a lot to say
But your silence has a welcome touch today
In my hands my trembling hands

When I'm sad sad and blue you are my friend constant and true
I dedicate this night to you
And I would like to take you home
With me, tonight

In my hands my trembling hands

Flu shot? Eh, I prefer to save them for the young and the elderly. If I get the flu, I get the flu.

Agreed, Eideteker. I've only had the flu twice in 20 years, all without shots. I can deal with that.

I'm not into OTC medications and unecessary treatments, but when you work with the public, you get a flu shot for other people, not for you. People spread the flu. If I have it, especially when I'm pre-symptomatic, I could easily spread it to hundreds of people. I also have two parents in their 60s and neither still has their spleen. It's easy enough to avoid being a disease vector.

I never miss getting a flu shot. I ride public transit, and work in a building full of people who travel literally all over the world where they can be exposed. Also, we're packed into this building like sardines in a can, all handling the same tapes and equipment, so it's very easy for germs to be transmitted around if someone does bring in a bug.

The fewer people who get the flu each year, the fewer chances there are for the disease to mutate into nastier, more resistant forms, so there's that, as well.

The flu shot makes me sick whenever I get it.

Me, too. It was offered for free at my last two 'regular' jobs (especially the earlier one--we dealt face-to-face with people suffering poverty, extreme stress, crowded housing, health issues, etc, so it was pretty important), but every time, I'd spend at least two days of the following week sick as a dog. I finally gave up. If it works for you, though, definitely have at it.

agree with BP and Miko. And I really have to get one this year, having a newborn in the house. Unfortunately, the most convenient time to get it was last week when the pharmacy next door had a flu shot clinic. Of course, I forgot. My PCP is in the Bronx and it's going to be a PITA to lug the kid all the way there and wait around for the jab. Sigh.

I've only gotten the flu once in the past 17 years, last year. Last year was also the only time in 17 years I didn't get a flu shot (they were offered in the same office building I worked at so it was easy to get every year). Maybe it's just a coincidence, but I'm getting one this year. The flu sucked.

Besides, I want the flu. Lie around for a week sleeping and having people bring me chicken soup? Sounds great.

I had my flu shot a couple of weeks ago, they give them out free at work. I've had flu twice in my life and never want it again. The first time, during an epidemic in the mid-80s, a neighbour died from it.

I'm prone to bronchitis, every cold I have goes to my chest, so I'm taking no risks with the flu.

Melismata, you're talking about a cold, there. With flu, you literally cannot move, cannot breathe, ache in every bone in your body and want to die. It lasts at least a week and takes a further 2-3 weeks to recover your strength.

...but every time, I'd spend at least two days of the following week sick as a dog.

Yeah, I was going to say what essexjan said - this is infinitely preferable to the flu, i.e. 2-3 weeks of fever, aches and chills.

Back in the early days of MeCha, I asked if I should get a flu shot and melissa may told me about how her brother ended up hospitalized with the flu and urged me to get the shot. Every member of my family has gotten one every year since.

And this year, when my pregnant sister was balking at getting one, I hit her with a massive guilt trip about how it's not just her, but the children and other pregnant mothers she's going to be around constantly. It's amazing what an influence the people here at Mecha have had on me.

Flu shots protect everyone. (Now who's going to watch the boy while I go get mine? I can't take him with me. He'll grab for the syringe and put out an eye.)

Flu shots protect everyone That's misleading and not really what I meant to say. The flu shot is not always effective, but it is helpful in slowing the spread of what can be a fatal illness.

I hate the flu. I lose too much weight (along with the symptoms) and it takes months to get back to normal. I don't miss my shot now. I'm booked in for Thursday - also free through work but it'd also be free through my GP because I work with a high-risk population.

flu. Lie around for a week sleeping and having people bring me chicken soup? Sounds great.

Oh, no, it's not great at all. You do have to lie around for a week sleeping, but you can't enjoy it because you have chills and fever, your muscles ache, your head is groggy, heavy, and fuzzy, and you are totally devoid of energy - even energy enough to drag yourself to the bathroom to brush your teeth and stuff like that. So you feel just grody. You don't want to eat, even chicken soup, but when you don't your stomach is sour and empty and painful, and you get weaker and weaker and more fainty in the head, so you force some down. You forget what day it is. Time drags. You try to watch movies or something and can't concentrate. You wake up at odd hours of the night, confused, tossing the blankets off yourself because you're suddenly covered in perspiration. A half hour later you wake up again, confused, chilled to the bone but too tired and weak to go grab another blanket.

It's no fun at all. It is NOT the way to be sick and have a nice sick break.

I guess I've never actually had the flu then. Go me!

This is something I never understood from biology class. You can have a disease and not get ill from it; i.e. you can be a carrier. So how does getting a flu vaccine not promote the spread of the disease? Since you've had the flu now (albeit weakened version), even though you have the antibodies, what stops you from spreading it to others?

Serious question; bio was my worst subject.

Related story: The Times reports on Google Flu Trends...the ability of Google to warn of flu spreading up to 10 days earlier than the CDC can.

Eideteker: I'm not scientist but this is who I would explain it:
A flu carrier sneezes or coughs on two people. The first person has had the flu vacination so the germs live for a while on the surface of the person (face/hands) and those germs can me transferred to other surfaces but will eventually die without a living organism to live off. The person themselves does not get sick. The second person that gets sneezed on has those surface germs and also inhales the germs where they take up residence in their body. Because there is no immunity to the germs the germs multiply and infect the person who then sneezes/coughs/grabs the door handle etc spreading their germs constantly.

Wait, re-reading your question maybe that isn't what you are asking. The flu vaccine does not give you the flu (otherwise you would be sick in bed for a week after getting poked). What it does is give you a small amount of the flu virus that freaks your body out, thinking that you are going to get sick and your body creates antibodies to fight the flu (this happens naturally all the time, you don't get sick every time you encounter a germ or virus). But because you got a lose dose (and I think the germ has been neutered in some way, I know it is considered "dead", so maybe not able to multiply or become parasitic?) your body kills off the flu in your system but remains on alert ready to kill the next flu virus that is the same it sees on contact. So you aren't developing the virus, nothing is multiplying and you are not a carrier. It takes about two weeks to develop these antibodies, which is why if you DO get the flu you are an unsuspecting carrier for a week and then sick for week and then your body develops the antibodies to kill the flu virus in your system (or not, in which case you die). So when a flu virus meets you, chances are your body will kill it before it has a chance to multiply and overwhelm your system. By preventing the flu in yourself you are then not a carrier and the less carriers there are the less flu viruses all of society has to fight.

I'm all freaked out because I am reading a book about the 1918 flu epidemic in Toronto (Dear Canada: Now I Lay me Down to Sleep by Jean Little) to my daughter and she keeps asking the schools and libraries will close with the next epidemic too. I'm getting a flu shot ASAP. Fortunately there are free clinics all over the place here. I'm going to google to see what is open today.

I've never had the flu then either. (Eideteker, is it because we're both Bostonians? :) ) Without shots. I don't intend to get one. My humble opinion; we're all wired differently, and that's what makes us all great and give each other whuffles all the time.

Eideteker, is it because we're both Bostonians?

Whoa, there. Them's fighting words. I'm here against my will.