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572651 tn?1530999357

Flu Season and a Poll

The news tells us the Flu Season is upon us with a vengeance this year and is going strong in all 50 states.  Whether to get the flu vaccine or not has been debated here every time flu 'season' rolls around and if you are interested in reading more of the varied perspectives, I will find an old thread to bring to the first page and give the link here.

In the meantime, I really am curious as to what you decided this year about getting the vaccine and would like to know - please feel free to add comments for more insight because a simple poll usually doesn't tell the whole story.
41 Responses
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572651 tn?1530999357
good question, Lisa, but this was definitely laryngitis... it is rampant around here right now.  PD can be my witness to that.....
Helpful - 0
751951 tn?1406632863
Had a dose of laryngitis myself a few weeks ago.
Helpful - 0
738075 tn?1330575844
Hey, Lulu, are you sure your laryngitis isn't a flare?  Are the muscles around your larynx tired and sore (possible spasticity)?  Stanger things have happened - just sayin'

Hugs,
Lisa
Helpful - 0
572651 tn?1530999357
There are these three different serious illnesses going around - my husband and I have been 'fortunate' to have two of them and it wasn't the flu.  

His round with the Norovirus was exactly as they talk about when whole cruise ships are stricken with this one - violent diarrhea and projectile vomiting. He has never been so suddenly sick.

I went to the doctor for the laryngtitis and the doctor said they are effectively treating the laryngitis cases with z-packs and it worked for me. My boss just had the same thing and she was also prescribed the z-pack, so there must be something to it, at least helping to waylay any secondary infections. She did say they would normally let it run its course of about 7 days but there was advantages to using antibiotics.

Neither the laryngitis or the norovirus are the influenza....Two of the doctors in my PCP's practice who see pediatric cases were out with the flu, despite having had their vaccines.  That was told to me straight from the doctor who treated me, and I trust that she knows for sure it was the flu. They were running short-handed in their office because of it- the docs had been out over a week. Regardless of how the statistical numbers land, I still figure it is better to have as much protection as the shot gives rather than no protection at all.
Helpful - 0
1045086 tn?1332126422
FYI
Norovirus causes gastrointestinal symptoms.  It isn't influenza.  Flu always causes respiratory symptoms.

Rhinovirus causes colds.  It isn't influenza either.

Antibiotics fight infections (caused by bacteria).  They do nothing against viruses.  They are sometimes ordered to prevent superimposed bacterial infections if that is important for a specific reason.
Helpful - 0
1045086 tn?1332126422
Protection can't be averaged or easily reduced to a single number.
In general, the majority of vaccinated people are well protected this year.
Individual protection can't be measured until we are exposed.... or sick.

Here's why.

Each year's seasonal influenza vaccine contains three strains of flu virus delivered via a live virus nasal spray or an inactivated virus injection.

The 2012-2013 vaccine (for N. America) contains two type A influenza viruses (H3N2 and H1N1) and one type B influenza virus.

The number of active cases for '12-'13 is presently at epidemic level.
Thus far, specific testing in cases of confirmed influenza is showing:  
**Nearly 80% are caused by type A (H3N2) influenza,
**About 20% are caused by type B influenza and
**Very few are caused by type A (H1N1) influenza.

Further testing in those confirmed cases has shown:
**Of those with type A (H3N2) influenza, more than 99% had a strain that matched well with the H3N2 virus this year's vaccine protects against.
**Of those with type B influenza, about 67% had a strain that matched well with the type B virus this year's vaccine protects against.

“Matched well with the virus this year's vaccine protects against” = probably could have been avoided with vaccination.

This jives well with the news reports I've heard that our regional hospitals have CONFIRMED NO CASES OF INFLUENZA IN THOSE WHO RECEIVED FLU VACCINE this year.
Helpful - 0
572651 tn?1530999357
*bump* to keep this active - there seems to be three major illnesses right now -
Influenza strain H3N2 (I think that was the number) - and the flu vaccine is targeted toward that strain and is 62% effective. They say Tamiflu does help with the symptoms and shortens the disease course if taken in the first two days.

A strain of norovirus (think cruise ship disease)  - I think that is what my husband experienced recently and he was violently ill but it only lasted one day.

A  potent rhinovirus that is responsible for laryngitis - probably what I experienced for several days and got a z-pack to knock it our just before Christmas.
Helpful - 0
572651 tn?1530999357
If you are an SNL fan, check out Freddie Prinz Jr's monologue about the flu... pretty funny if you don't actually have the flu...

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/freddie-prinze-jr-monologue/1350241/

Helpful - 0
198419 tn?1360242356
I was not prescribed the anti-virals - didn't know I was getting the flu. Wish I had. But the Ab's did the trick for the chest or upper respitory, or whatever wretch I had.

Giving this a healthy bump. So many good responses and info regarding timing etc..

Stay well all...We are soon to hit the peak of the season in the states. Hard to believe we're not already there. What a bad year for this illness.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Dr insisted I have mine in late Sept while general patients had to wait until late October. He said anyone with a compromised immune system needed it then because of an early outbreak in that area.  Of course I'll be out of luck a month before the others.
Helpful - 0
738075 tn?1330575844
I got my flu shot in early November.  After asking the hospital pharmacist about flu shot and Tysabri, I was told to get my flu shot "mid-cycle" (week 2-3) from my Tysabri infusion.
Helpful - 0
1475492 tn?1332884167
I got my flu shot in early December. It tends to hit the west coast a little later but it sounds like it is already here. I have had influenza twice in my life. I never want it again and I MOST definitely don't want it with MS.
Helpful - 0
572651 tn?1530999357
PD - I wish there was a 'like' button here - good for the wife (and you!).
Helpful - 0
751951 tn?1406632863
Wife got hers Monday.  Her RA infusion messes with her immunity, so her rheumy and I team nagged her into it.
Helpful - 0
572651 tn?1530999357
Shell  - it sounds like the flu meds rx'd by your doc nipped it in the bud.

I just watched the story on the nightly news on NBC (I imagine the other channels have this story, too!)  about how potent this strain of flu is, and how it is quickly moving from being ill to being hospitalized.  You can ask Torikat about her mom for the details.


If you are still unsure, consider what our MS bodies do with a simple infection, fever or the summer heat.  Then imagine your body roasting at 102-104 degrees for several days.  That alone could land you in the hospital fighting both the Flu and MS.

Call your doctor(s) and ask their advice - you may be among the few who shouldn't get the vaccine and you need the rest of us to get the  shot to protect you.  If there's not a medical reason to avoid the vaccine, please take one for the team and don't hesitate to do the shot.  

wishing you well,
Laura
Helpful - 0
198419 tn?1360242356
Lu - I still think I'm still going to get it. Put me on the poster. I can't be certain it was the flu (left the docs office "before" it hit) - but it felt like it. Horrible body pain and fever. But, kicker is, that part only last a couple/few days. 2-3, barely 3.

Coincidentally, here is the story - I went to the doc for a heavy chest. Having been around so much illness (including flu, pnemonia and bronchitus) I decided to go to the doc in advance of worsening problems.  

Got me some meds, went on my merry way all happied up thinking I escaped worsening problem - only to be hit, out of no-where on my commute to the pharmacy to fill the script with the flu-like symptoms. Filled my script, came home, and worked through the rest of the week and weekend battling the probable flu and chest infection or whatever it was.It got worse before better of course.

How should we title the poster? Dummy-Shel? lol Na, seriously folks. If you haven't  went for the shot - please, please consider it.  Remember this... you get "antibodies" to the flu with the dead shot. Not the flu. It's a good thing :)

I still may go - by chance I could be exposed to another variety of it. I escaped the 1st one w/no relapse. I don't want to risk it again.
-shell
Helpful - 0
1755625 tn?1421447637
I got the flu shot once in my life. January 2007 it was. For the entire winter I experience very very painful joints in my fingers and toes. I could barely move my fingers in the morning when I woke up at 7a. And I could barely stand to walk to class it was so painful. I moved like a grandma and I was all of 18 years old then. The pain didn't exist if I woke up at 11a, oddly.
But I attributed that whole ordeal to the flu shot because its never happen again. That why I refused to take the flu shot ever again.
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749148 tn?1302860959
I also got mine back in September...   FYI people, you can still get vaccine!
Debbie
~Live as if all your dreams came true~
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572651 tn?1530999357
Shell - you can be our poster child for the reason to take the flu vaccine.  Did the flu create problems with your MS?
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198419 tn?1360242356
It's a wretched flu season. I made the BIG mistake to not get the flu shot this year. I usually get it. And, did indeed got the flu. Luckily, I had went to the doctor due to a heavy feeling in my chest and got some medicine - which warded off major secondary infection/complications that typically come after or along with the flu.

I did not take the poll because the options only included a "no" that ended in won't, lol I definitely didn't get it, but only because I didn't take the time out to go get it :)
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572651 tn?1530999357
They were just talking on the Today show that 5-20% of the US population can expect to get the flu this year. That's a range of 1-in-20 people upward to one-in-five people will have the flu this year.  And sadly they also talked about an otherwise healthy high school football player who died from the complications.

For those of you still undecided about getting  this vaccine - it isn't too late. According to the CDC it takes about two weeks for our bodies to develop the immunity to the flu via this vaccine.
Helpful - 0
572651 tn?1530999357
Welcome to this great little corner of the web.  Yes, the flu SHOT is not a live virus.  The nasal mist IS a live virus.  It is important to get the shot and not the nasal spray.  

This is a decision that has to be decided on a case by case basis and a blank statement doesn't cover this one - one size does not fit all!  

see you around,
Laura
Helpful - 0
3054080 tn?1358722856
I am so sorry, the orange button says 'Post a Question."  ;)
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3054080 tn?1358722856
Hi! To start your own thread, first click on the Back to Community link on this page, then click on the orange Ask a Question button at the top of the screen.

Hugs and welcome,
Minnie
Helpful - 0
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