Flu Shot?? - Spring Hill,TN

I get it every year. I get it for everyone in my family every year. The flu stinks, and people die. I am not going to be responsible for passing this virius on to someone who dies later.

M.

The only reason the H1N1 was not in the "regular" shot last year was because they predicted wrong. They always try to predict which 2-3 strains will spread the quickest and cause the most hospitalizations and deaths. Those are the ones that they put in the the shot. They were not expected the H1N1 strain to make a comeback last year which is why it was made separately. Google 1918 spanish influenza if you want to learn more about H1N1, because it is the same strain of flu (it makes it a little more understandable why the medical world was in a panic)

The H1N1 vaccine has no long term studies. I am 4 and 1/2 months pregnant and will not take the vaccine. I work in the medical field and almost everyone I work with refuses the vaccine. Just think of the other vaccines that were pulled from the market, like the rotatage vaccine. When it was first released they had to pull it from the market because it was causing intestional blockage and death in infants. The choice is yours but please some research on what you are about to put into your family. My family will not be getting the vaccine.

My husband and I get flu shots every year and do the same for our 3 year old daughter. We did the H1N1 vaccine last year for all 3 of us and plan to do it again (combined with the "regular" flu shot) this year. None of us had any problems or side-effects stemming from being vaccinated. For us it's kind of a no-brainer. I would rather not take our chances with catching the flu because the last thing we need is to be that sick and wiped out from having the flu, or even hospitalized or worse. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Absolutely not! Never gotten the shot for myself or my kids. It is worthless. Do your research.

Lisa

Do some research, and take vitamin D, its more effective as the flu shot without all the added junk that your body can't handle and doesn't need.

My kids are 8, 5, and 3, and none have had, nor will they ever have, a flu shot.

We don't bother, because we catch the seasonal flu off season, before the shot is on the market it THIS country.

The flu starts out in Asia every year and travels west, mutating as it goes and typically getting weaker. As soon as a new strain starts up immunologists start culturing it and producing a vaccine against it (takes a few to several weeks). The the immunizations also race west (it's a race of production against travel time, trying to vax people before the wave gets to them, and we can barely keep ahead of it, which is why we don't all get flu shots in the spring for next year's flu). The flu is almost always avian or swine in nature.

We have good friends in the MidEast and E. Europe who visit every summer bringing the flu with them (it's an unavoidable thing, dragging your germs around with you). So we get sick and quarantine ourselves for about a week - 10 days. By the time the flu jumps the pond over here and is in circulation, we're already immunized against it, from having already had it.

The reason H1N1 was so crazy (in large part) was that it did NOT do the "typical" thing and start off in Asia, but started off down south and moved north. It threw everyone for a loop, but it was pretty typical of any flu as far as how "strong" it was in the beginning. Like most flues, it attenuated over time.

If we DIDN'T get the flu every summer? Yes, we'd vax against it.

Edit to add: It takes as long as it takes to come up with a vax. There was not "rush" in the production last year (hence the controversy), it took the same amount of time to DEVELOP it that it always does. It's just typically been in production for several months by the time we get it. What ADDED to the problem -that we had to wait for it to be produced, instead of just ordering boxes and boxes of it- was that one of the (very few) places where the seasonal flu goes into production was DOWN. So there was the time delay and lack of facilities which created shortfall. It wasn't "rushed" or half assed. But because people are used to it already being in stock, and don't understand how the system works... people got freaked out that it wouldn't be as "good". Which isn't the case, but the fear is understandable from people who don't know how the system works. And people who are afraid don't listen well. Neon signs and fireworks can't get people who are afraid to listen.

I... have already gotten this year's seasonal flu vaccine. I got the one without the preservatives/Thimerasol in it.
I have had NO side effects whatsoever.

Yes, it is a combined flu shot.... for 3 strains of flu.

I get it because I have Asthma. And if I get sick, I get severe complications... and it can even be critical or deadly for me, per my Asthma.

My kids, get the nasal spray version. They have never had any side effects either. Both my kids will get it. Also because, I have Asthma....

I had worse luck WITH the shot than I've had not getting it. For some reason, EVERY time I've gotten the shot, I've gotten a worse case of the flu than had I just allowed nature to run its course.

Yep - both of my kids will be getting the flu shot. I have a 9 month old who I don't want to get sick because the flu can be devastating for an infant. I don't want the 3 year old to get it and bring it home and get his brother sick.

My kids have to have the flu shot because they have allergy induced asthma if they get any kind of respiratory illness they need nebulizer treatments or worse.

Not happy about it being multiple versions but that also means it covers more strands.

My opinion on this is the flu shot is its "new" every year a lot of people freaked out last year and did not get the h1n1 vax because it was "new" and there were no long term studies well its made the same way as every flu shot every year. Both of my kids got the regular and h1n1 shot last year and they got their flu shots over a month ago for this year and are just fine. My oldest has asthma and ends up needing albuterol and prednislone and usually a trip or 2 to the hospital with just a cold. He had h1n1 last year he caught it in between dose 1 and dose 2 :( and it was nightmare I never want to relive. And you can get it mercury free our ped only offers mercury free you may want to ask your ped if you aren't sure.

Yes - it does contain the H1N1 this year in it. I really did not want my kids to have the shot (b/c of the combo), but I am also 8 months preggos and with kids being school I felt it was appropriate since the new born won't have any defense against it. So, I went ahead and got my kids the flu shot per the recommendation on my pediatrician and OB.

Good luck in your decision.

all the shots are DEAD..you need to get the shot.

We got all the shots last year. My son got his Dtap booster so he could start middle school, and we will all get the flu shot this year. We do every year. We never have side affects.

My friends mother in law gets regular flu shots and when she got hers this year, she was informed AFTER that it also had the H1N1 vaccine, which she did not want to get. I get all the regular vaccines for my children but have chose not to do flu or H1N1 shots due to all the controversy. I figure throughout our lives we are going to sick from one thing or another and the less artificial stuff I put in my and my children's body the better. That is my opinion, however it may be unpopular. Both of my children are in preschool and daycare and get whatever is going around, it builds up their immune system and I always take them to the doctor when it seems more than just a simple cold or cough, and they are 2 and 4. It's what you feel is best

they always put whatever the strains are that they think will be the most common that year. I got my daughter's yesterday and will be getting mine on Friday.

My kids get a flu shot every year and have never had the flu because of it. So yes, we will be getting them again this year. I get them too.

There are always several strains of the flu combined into one flu shot. It's the makers best guess at the strains that will be more prevalent.

Last year, they guessed wrong.

Had the H1N1 strain started a few months earlier, it would have been lumped in with the regular flu shot and no one would ever have known the difference.

I always get the flu shot for both myself and my child. So I will be again this year, especially as my son recently started pre-school.

Every year the CDC predicts the 3 strains of the flu virus that will most likely be circulating and those 3 are put in each year's seasonal flu vaccine. It's always been a 3 in 1 flu vaccine, not a new concept. Last year the "Swine Flu" strain (which is just another strain of the influenza virus) was not included because it was not expected to circulated when the manufacturers starting producing the vaccine for the 2009-2010 flu season. The government decided to rush production of the vaccine for the "Swine Flu" strain so that made alot of people, including myself, nervous about getting that particular vaccination, so none of the 3 of us got it and fortunately I did not bring it home from work (I'm an immunizing pharmacist for a retail chain and I got coughed and sneezed on alot last year when the Swine Flu hit the hardest). I mean, if I'm going to put any drug or vaccine in mine or my family members' bodies, I want it to be made correctly. Well, we saw the recalls that occurred as a result.
This year, however is different. The manufacturers have had ample time to develop and produce the vaccine for the 2010-2011 flu season and the CDC believes the "Swine Flu" will be circulating some in the US as well as 2 other strains of the flu virus. We also don't have all the media hype causing people to get all freaked out over it. I see no problem with this year's seasonal flu vaccine. I'm 20 weeks pregnant now and I got my flu shot the first of Sept with the Fluzone preservative-free vaccine and my husband's shot was Fluvirin from a multi-dose vial. Our 4 year old will be getting his shot soon at his pediatrician's office. I see absolutely no need to worry about the H1N1 being included in the seasonal flu shot this year. It's just another strain of the flu virus and the government did not have any real involvement in the production of this year's seasonal flu vaccine.

My pediatrician told me last year that they were going to combine them. I did not get my daughter the H1N1 vaccine last year either. My daughter just started preschool, so I think it's in her best interest to get the flu shot even if it's all in one. However, if she was not in preschool and staying home with my like last year, I wouldn't get her any shots. The only reason I got the flu shot last year, is we did a lot of traveling during the holiday and cold season and were going to spend many hours on an airplane (a hot bed for disease). I would evaluate her risks and make a decision that way.

My husband and I got it, it was fine, just a sore arm for a few days. We are not getting it this year for my son. I was not aware that for young children, even if they are in the risk group for complications, its not that effective. I would not have given it to him the last 2 times if I had known that. I think his greatest risk of getting it is from us...I hope I am right!