should we or should we not get the swine flu shot?

i am just curious on this, seems like i cannot get a straight forward answer? anyone else feel this way?

[newleaf09]

The only way in which you are immune compromised is in likely having fewer neutrophils, the white blood cells that fight off bacteria in the body.  There is no reason not to get a flu shot, either the standard seasonal one or against H1N1.  They are viruses and, girl, you probably have enough killer T cells in your body on TX to fight off darn near anything, but if not, it would be misery to have to fight off the flu on top of feeling lousy from immunotherapy.  Get all the vaccinations.  It can only help.

[orphanedhawk]

You should do what you feel is best.

I'm not getting it. I'm not convinced that there's any need.
I think the whole thing is hugely blown out of proportion.
If lots of people in my area were seriously ill from H1N1 then I might think about it.

And why can FDA rush this thing out and we sit here waiting for the new HCV meds?

[Rockerforlife]

Swine flu shots are a money racket

[Rockerforlife]

They just did a canada survive and 53% wont be getting no flu shot.


"My doctor gave me six months to live, but when I couldn't pay the bill, he gave me six months more".

[Trish77]

2/3 don't plan to get an H1N1 flu shot in Canada at last survey in September, down from 45% in August.  

Your 53% oddly corresponds with the number of persons in the U.S. who don't plan on getting a regular flu shot.  Maybe you got your facts mixed up.

[meakea]

Jonney...  There are only certain groups of people who are supposed to be getting the H1N1 shot right now and the medical profession knows that those groups are (children, pregnant women, etc).  Check with your doc and follow his/her advice as to whether or not you should get this specific shot.

I got my regular flu shot last week and my GP recommended that I not get the H1N1 shot because I do not fall into any of the recommended groups at this time.  Also, keep in mind that people who do get the H1N1 shot should get the regular flu shot first and then wait a month before getting the H1N1 shot.

If my GP had recommended that I get the H1N1, I would get it.

[meakea]

My post should have read:  "...and the medical profession knows what those groups are..."

[meakea]

By the way, I disagree with Rockers assessment of the H1N1 being a money racket.  

Vaccinations are created to help us, not to drain our pockets.

My dad got polio about 6 months prior to the polio vaccination being available.  He would have given anything to have had the vaccination available to him so he could have avoided losing the use of both of his legs.

For the parents who are allegedly having swine flu parties so that their kids will get the flu before it supposedly mutates rather than having them get the vaccination, I have to wonder how they will feel if their child dies from the flu.

[justme53]

My Dr. told me pretty much the same thing as Meakea's. I DID get the seasonal flu shot again this year per her recommendation (had the pneumonia shot last year as well) but will hold off on the H1N1 at this point.

[Bill1954]

Hi Jonnie,

I was given the option for seasonal flu shots over the last few years, including those years on HCV treatment. I’m not prone to cold or flu; I get a sniffle every five years or so, and to date haven’t bothered with vaccines for them. If I felt I was in need for one, I’d get it in a heartbeat though; the unfounded fears of vaccination we hear about in the news is unbelievable to me.

Meakea, this is the first I’ve heard about ‘swine flu parties’; ignorance knows no bounds, eh?

Bill
  

[Rockerforlife]

Im sorry about you Dad but you may find this interesting

The polio death rate was decreasing on its own before the vaccine was introduced, and there is no credible scientific evidence that the vaccine caused polio to disappear. Cases of polio increased after mass inoculations.

http://www.whale.to/vaccines/polio.html

[Rockerforlife]

Article in the Metro paper to says nurses are refusing the swine shots

[Rockerforlife]

Workers are being told to either get the swine flu vaccine or lose their jobs.

New York is the first state in the country to mandate flu vaccinations for its health care workers. The first doses of swine flu vaccine will be available beginning next week. Much of it is reserved for state health care workers, but there is growing opposition to required innoculations.


http://wcbstv.com/topstories/swine.flu.h1n1.2.1216352.html

[meakea]

Rocker, I read the article but I found it hard to believe so I referred to the WHO website and found much different information.  Read the WHO report on vaccine-induced polio.  Much different.

[Rockerforlife]

Isnt the WHO just a larger form of FDA.?....and more than likely with big pharma funding.

[Bill1954]

Rocker, your paranoia and inability to grasp scientific method are only exceeded by the individuals that produce the material you quote. Please keep to the other side of this forum where these criteria aren’t critical to discussion. If you don’t have the sense to be embarrassed for yourself, others will have to fill in and help, I suppose.

Bill

[nygirl7]

i'm all for regular flu shots - having had the flu once it was one of the most severe illnesses I can ever remember having in my life, WAY worse than pneumonia even.  People die every year from the regular flu.........that shot is a good one to get.

But H1N1 is supposed to be considered extremely mild compared to the regular flu - just more contagious.  Therefore I really am not too concerned about it just like I don't worry about getting a cold overly.

IF everyone around my area was getting it I'd consider it but not otherwise really at this point.  Just like the bird flu the pig flu will probably come and go.

[FlGuy]

I received word this morning that an employee in our Mexico City office died of a confirmed case of H1N1.  He had no other underlying medical conditions.  I did not know him personally, but I've been follwing updates on him over the past several of days.  When I left work last week his organs were beginning to fail.  His three fatherless children would probably not agree that the risk of vaccination exceed any benefit.  The back story is very sad. If only the vaccination was sooner...

[meakea]

I agree FIGuy...  Anyone who has lost a friend or loved one from anything for which there is a vaccination available will not hesitate to get the vaccination.  Sometimes it takes a reality check.

Sorry about the employee...

[jdwithhcv]

I will definitely get the flu shot.  If I were undecided, he fact that Rocker recommends against it is enough to convince me that it must be a good idea.

Bill, I will help fill in if you will!

[mikesimon]

I'm getting both of them until my doctor recommends otherwise.
I love a good shot now and then.
Mike

[Rockerforlife]

Riddle me this,why are some doctors and nurses refusing the vaccines?..

[mikesimon]

Why are more doctors and nurses getting the vaccine?

[Rockerforlife]

60 Percent of Doctors Don't Get a Flu Shot
Despite pushing the flu vaccine on their patients, a 2008 study reports that 60% of doctors don't get the flu vaccine themselves, for a variety of reasons.

Every year, doctors and health experts warn that the flu vaccine is the best protection against dangerous strains of the influenza virus. But despite talking the talk, 60% of doctors decline the flu shot themselves, while others refuse to vaccinate their own children. Why are so many doctors avoiding the flu shot?


http://naturalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/60_percent_of_doctors_dont_get_a_flu_shot

[mikesimon]

"Despite pushing the flu vaccine on their patients, a 2008 study reports that 60% of doctors don't get the flu vaccine themselves, for a variety of reasons."

It's 2009 now - closer to 2010 than 2008. The 2008 study was probably based on 2007 survey.

Why I even reply to this rubbish is the real question. Of course, I'm getting the flu shots!

[nygirl7]

I just don't get why anybody wouldn't get a flu shot.  In most cases work insurance companies pay for it because they want you to continue working and to not get sick.

I can't imagine if they had a hepc vaccine that worked not getting it.  both my kids are innoculated against everything out there and the parents that DONT make me crazy - they are the ones who enable things like smallpox or measles or whatever to make it's way back into the world.  

They aren't giving the H1 flu shot out here yet though - so it's all a moot point.

[Bill1954]

I agree, Michael; none of this should be dignified with response. Once in a while it gets so over the top, I can’t help myself either though :o).

Bill

[Rockerforlife]

I cant believe this,,,  i am in total disbelief  why anyone would pump viruses and perservatives and God knows what else into their  bodies ,i never had the flu shot and i never get the flu...maybe some people will readwaht i think and it may help them...i am not the only one who thing flu vaccines are not required .Just beacuse everyone elese is doing dont mean you have too too...as a matter of fact less people are not getting the vaccines anymore...people are starting to wonder

[GoofyDad]

Riddle me this,why are some doctors and nurses refusing the vaccines?..

Why are some doctors and nurses substance abusers, smokers, and chronic gamblers? Should we all pattern our behaviors after theirs?

This is like trying to have a sensible discussion with a haggis.  

[FlGuy]

"less people are not getting the vaccines anymore".   I think that's the point that some people are making here.

[Bill1954]

LOL, at least a haggis can stomach the discussion...

[speed502]

According to USA today article last week, people who were vaccinated in the 50's and prior may be less likely to contract H1N1 as the vaccines are similar.

[Rockerforlife]

YOU ASKED ;Should we all pattern our behaviors after theirs? DOES this question apply to all the masses taking vaccines also..?...id rather eat a 5 gallon bucket of haggis before i get some dead viruses pumped into me and i dont at meat,unless its fed organic food or its wild game
..

"It may be possible to incorporate laugher into daily activities, just as is done with other heart-healthy activities, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator. The recommendation for a healthy heart may one day be exercise, eat right and laugh a few times a day."

[GoofyDad]

Sorry. The flexibility of your logic stretches beyond my capacity to comprehend.

[Mary4now]

Well, I'm getting the flu shot.  I had the flu once, and cancer once.  I felt like I was going to die from the flu, and just freaked out by the cancer,

Maybe those who poo poo the vaccines will sing a different tune if they get the flu.  and you can request vaccine w/o the preservative.

anywhoo natural is good, and we are so fortunate to have access to science as well.
so I prefer to combine the 2 and call it a day.

[IMstacie]

Rocker - There are a lot of articles about mandatory flu shots for state health care workers and their disatisfaction.  But, I believe it the "mandatory" part that is upsetting to them.  I don't think it is really about the vaccine.  I would be upset also, if I was told it was "mandatory."  I get very upset when someone tramps on my civil rights.

For the record, I got my first (regular) flu shot as I always do. I also had the "real" flu once and thought I was going to die.  I will be getting the "hinny" shot in a wk or so.

[pigeonca]

Last year one of my best friends skipped the flu shot and then, because she was a teacher and had final papers to read and grade, she kept postponing going to urgent care.  She died - at the age of 61.

My doctor says the seasonal flu shot doesn't prevent all cases of the flu, but it does lessen the severity of any given case.  As for H1N1, as I understand it people my age (65) don't need it as we have immunities from earlier epidemics, but all you younger folks should probably get vaccinated.  A bad case of the flu is far more dangerous, IMHO, than a little bit of mercury in the preservative.  When I was a kid my brother and I used to break thermometers and play with the mercury, so I don't worry too much.

[Mary4now]

Oh yes and I was a dental assistance talk about playing with the mercury, it is indeed freaky stuff, I'm so glad we wore gloves.  (we did didn't we?)
anyway.... If i die from the flu shot so be it. gotta die from something, (that wasn't my tune when I first learned I had hep C) I just hope to die with a good thought, thats harder for me than anything.  Not so important how long you live, but how you live.  Maybe the hope is if you live long enough you'll come out the other end as a good person thinking of others.  blah blah, g'nite

[Mary4now]

oh sorry this is about swine flu, well, I think its reserved for those most in need, younger or those with some immune compromised situation.
Today when I did get my seasonal flu shot, I blurted out that I had hep C so be careful with the needle, she said I also work in the prisons where 98% of the population has hep C, I'm always careful.  She remembers a time when she didn't wear gloves although a needle can certainly go through a glove, Then she said some good drugs are coming down the pike and now all they have to do is lower the prices.  She was very nice.....Sometimes I really like people.

[desrt]

I agree - sometimes I really like people, too.

Got my seasonal vaccine two weeks ago and will get the H1N1 as soon as it becomes available. With that said, I didn't bother with it the winter I was on IFN or the year after, but get it as soon as it's available these days.

[desrt]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/33340963#33341526

Currently researching sources for 5 gal. buckets of certified-organic-free-range haggis.