Flu jabs

[Not your average framer]

I like to convince myself that flu jabs make really good sense and will save me from having time off sick. Well on one hand, I can say that I have not had full blown flu for years, but I've had a flu jab a few days ago and you don't feel all that well for a while afterwards. Runny nose, sore throat, tired, etc, and the I end up trying to work through this. Usually takes a couple of weeks to get through all this.

Is it worth the bother?

[prospero]

I get the flu regularly just after Christmas. It's the only holiday I get.

[poliopete]

I've been in the "high risk if flu strikes" group for the last few years and had the flu jab with no ill/after effects, until this year But this year for two days I felt like death warmed up So I sympathise Mark.

On the bright side, I now get my jab at Sainsbury's no queueing at the health centre and double nectar points

Peter

[red]

Im not far off 65 which they say is the age to get it,unless other
health concerns exist.I always do research before taking any pill/potions
-big pharma has huge power over doctors and indeed the public
would I have a flu jab -no .I usually get a dose of flu about once a year
isn't that natural?

[Jamesnkr]

I usually get a dose of flu about once a year
isn't that natural?

That's not 'flu. That's a bad cold. 'Flu kills.

[Tudor Rose]

I used to have a flu jab years ago as a child because my grandparents lived with us and any of us getting the flu put them at risk so the whole family had them. Yes, it can make you feel a bit poorly for a few days, but compared to actually getting flu, well I know which one I'd rather have. My parents are now both high risk and so they have the jabs every year.

I've only had proper flu twice in my life and it was horrendous. A heavy cold and flu are not the same.

[red]

I know the difference between a cold and the flu james,
For years I thought my flu was man flu, -wrong it nearly
did finish me off some years ago, Why I get it is a mystery
to docs but I don't want the flu jab ,after all they are giving you
a minute dose of the flu.I will take responsibility for my own health.

[Jamesnkr]

I don't want the flu jab.I will take responsibility for my own health.

Sounds as though you are *not* taking responsibility for your own health! I had 'flu two years ago for the first time in twenty years. Turned into pneumonia. A month off work. I'm quite happy to have the jab and take the slim risk of feeling a bit rubbish for 48 hours.

[Rainbow]

I usually get a dose of flu about once a year
isn't that natural?

That's not normal. Colds might be normal as most people seem to get at least one a year, but I can't think of anybody I know who has had flu in the last several years. I've only ever had flu once in my lifetime and I think I would have been a teenager or early 20s at the time. I'd never want to have it again and for the last few years I've been paying about £10 for an injection at a pharmacy. I've never had the slightest ill-effect after it. I keep reading though that this year's flu injection is more likely to cause some adverse effects though, even with people who haven't had ill-effects before. I'm due to get flu jab shortly and compared with the one bout of flu I had many years ago, I'd still want whatever protection it gives even if I get some side-effects. Being out of action for a few weeks, as I was on the occasion when I had it before, is something I'd like to try and avoid.

[poliopete]

James and Rainbow

Absolutely correct

[red]

flu like lots of other illnesses are 'natural' its maybe not natural
to get it yearly and james I am more than taking responsibility
for my health I question what pill potion I take.
the list of harm done by health interventions beggars belief
do some homework......

[prospero]

Thing is, what we lump together under the general heading of 'flu can be all sorts of ailments with similar symptoms.
So 'flu jabs can be a bit hit'n'miss.

I was reading the other day about the great 'flu pandemic that happened toward the end of WWI. "The Spanish Lady" as it
was dubbed. It claimed more lives by far worldwide than all the war causalities. Something like 3% of the world population.
It didn't originate in Spain. The first cases were somewhere in the South Pacific I believe.
It came a went within a few years.

[Not your average framer]

I don't want flu, thank you very much! I'm one of those who get a free flu jab every year, primarily because I'm a heart attack patient and have diabetes. Unfortunately the human body fights serious infections by not only increasing your body temperature, which enables your body to produce large volumes antibodies, but it also elevates your blood sugar level.

This is a problem for people who have diabetes, because the blood sugar level can go up more than is a good thing and adversely affect the immune systen. Flu can also be a big problem for some elderly people and also babies, because as you get older, your immune system gets weaker and the immune system in babies is often still developing.

Babies receive antibodies in their mothers milk, but not all mothers are able to breast feed their children and children with limited immunity can be a greater risk with some strains of flu. We have not had a serious killer strain of flu for a very long time, the last really bad one was when I was a school kid and I'm 65 now.

People who are younger won't remember how bad flu can be, the experts say that we are well overdue for a bad flu epidemic, so taking the flu jab might not only be a smart thing to do, but in some cases it might just happen to be a question of saving peoples lives. Lets hope that the health authorities continue to be good at picking the right strain of flu each year for the flu jabs.

[misterdiy]

I too have been in a high risk category for the last two years and so last year I had my first flu jab. Zero after effects at all.

This year as my treatment ramps up I had the flu jab and was OK for 48 hours and then went down with the most horrendous cold I have had for ages. I would like to say it was the jab but unfortunately I caught it off my wife who in turn caught hers of someone in her local choir.

My time down this time was about 4 days of feeling really crap but being outside at the weekend mixing concrete worked it off a treat.

Incidentally she has her jab today and was told that the concoction they mixed last year did not include any of the strains that were about in the UK

[IFGL]

It's not the flu jab that makes you feel ill, that is completely harmless, it's the visit to the doctors that does it, all that snot and mucus on the door handles and in the air, if you can get in and out without touching anything or breathing you will be fine!