Flu Shot or Not? - Downers Grove,IL

Well, if you've ever had a bad flu, you'll know it's about as bad as DEATH. Truly stinks. So we always get the shot, yes.

Kids especially can die from the flu, so it's not just uncomfortable, but fatal.
I'd say the shot is a great advance. Like other shots...they prevent kids from dying of things that years ago kids died from. Sad.

I just don't bother. Never have, probably never will (me or my kids).
Yes we get sick now and then, I don't find it that much of an inconvenience to get the seasonal cold/flu. I guess I find it more of an inconvenience to trek out for a shot, especially one that doesn't even always seem to work.

Reading some of the answers, I guess maybe I'd feel differently if I'd ever had THE FLU that lays you up for 10 weeks or whatever. I guess I've never had a "real" flu and I don't know too many people who have. In general I am *for* vaccines. Just not this one since it is so non-mandatory.

We opt out of flu vaccines.

Thankfully, we've been a healthy family thus far. We do eat healthy, exercise, drink a lot of water and wash hands frequently.

I'm a US Army combat medic. I give hundreds of flu shots every single year. I've researched and read many, many scientific and peer-reviewed studies on the efficacy and safety of flu shots.

The bottom line, without getting deep into how vaccines work, or people who are genetically predisposed to adverse reactions, is that I get a flu shot every year, and my kids get flu shots every year.

I can count on one hand the amount of adverse reactions I've seen in my 12 year military career. None were permanent (swelling at the injection site, pain and swelling at the injection site....both the most common adverse reaction and still rare).

I vaccinate my family because I want to protect those who cannot protect themselves. We're really healthy folks, and could likely fight off the flu without a problem. But there are people out there who can't, and I don't want my family to get and spread the flu to them.

No, the flu shot isn't 100% effective. But it's better than no flu shot, which is 0% effective.

For me and my family, it's worth it to get the flu shot. I suggest it to everyone.

I know you're going to get lots of "we never get the shot because we're healthy," or "we don't get it because I got it once and got sick," or "flu shots are an evil government conspiracy." Okay. Turn on your BS filter and think through each response logically. Vaccines save lives. Medicine and statistics prove it.

Thank you for asking a question about vaccine that isn't clearly rife with bias from the start. I appreciate that.

ETA: If you do decide to get the flu shot for you and your family, choose a quadravalent vaccine (it has four viruses). More coverage. ;-)

ETA2: Penny, you clearly give more vaccines to a wider cohort of persons than I. I give vaccines to SOLDIERS, who range between 18-60 years old, who are all required to be generally healthy and in excellent physical condition.. Have you considered that the current health of the recipient might, in fact, play a role in whether or not they have an adverse reaction? Hmmmmmm. Perhaps the overall lack of physical conditioning in YOUR cohort might result in higher instances of adverse reactions.

We do not get flu shots.

I would love to laugh at the idea that peer-reviewed studies on the CDC website are unbiased but the fact the people think that the CDC has no bias is frightening. I don't think that flu shots are a government conspiracy, but there is an awful lot of money changing hands here. The "market" for flu shots used to just be people who were immuno-compromised, the elderly, and young children of a certain age (I think over 6 months but under age 2). Now it's everyone. What a nice marketing scheme and money maker for the manufacturers, eh?

I know one person who has Guillen-Barre syndrome from a flu vaccination. He is partially paralyzed and has been for years. I learned yesterday that one of my friends is friends with a woman who also has GBS from a flu shot and it has taken her years to recover. So while adverse effects are rare, they certainly do happen. To me, it's not worth the risk for something that my kids and I are perfectly capable of fighting with our own immune systems. And the herd immunity argument doesn't apply to flu shots, so getting them or not getting them isn't a referendum on how much you contribute to the overall health of society.

I do not get it. I do not get it for my children. I am an RN. My decision to NOT to get it is based on sound research and an intelligent understanding of the pros and cons.
Last year, the flu shot was about 30-40% effective. Side effects can be severe and life-threatening. The vast majority of people who get the flu (and chicken pox, and measles, and mumps) recover with NO complications and no long term effects. I choose not to subject my kids or myself to the potential side effects, and instead focus on good hygiene and good nutrition.
Herd immunity is good in theory. But when it comes right down to it, you do what you do to protect the people you love FIRST. I will not (and dare I say, nor would ANY of you) subject my kids to potential harm to potentially NOT harm someone else. Sorry. But actually, I'm not. I won't apologize for putting my family first.

ETA: Christy Lee: Funny how few reactions you have seen in all your years as a medic. Last year alone (I coordinate a flu shot program for a major hospital system in my state) we gave 10,000 flu shots. I personally receive all the reports of adverse reactions. We had to use Epi 4 times to revive someone in anaphylactic shock with no major risk factors. We received 54 reports of severe tenderness and pain at the injection site, and sometimes radiating up and down the arm, and 2 reports of "neurological fogginess" that couldn't be explained other than the administration of the vaccine. With the Quad, research show there will be an average of 25% increase in reactions in the general public. These may not seem like big numbers to you, but to anyone that suffered through the reactions, I'm sure it was major. This doesn't even count the vast numbers of people who line up for the shot every year at our clinics, and ancedotely tell us "Last year I didn't feel right for a whole week after my shot!", or some other variation. Its a shame that in order to get a paycheck, I have to coordinate and administer something I am so against.

We absolutely get the shot here.

Nothing is 100% safe. What is risky is reading lots of garbage and propaganda on the Internet and letting it make your decisions for you. If you are healthy, chances are that you will not get the flu or you will get a mild case. But even a mild flu will keep you in bed for a week+. Who wants that? Protect yourself and your family. Don't stop now.

And talk to your doctor about it if you have concerns.

Yes. Flu shot yes.

I have to get one, it's required by my volunteer EMS squad. My husband has multiple health problems, and he can't risk getting the flu. With my son, we just include it in his well visit every year. Easy peasy, done.

I have to say, I find it troubling that all these people are saying, "Well *I* never get the flu, so I don't need it." Well, you lucky people have strong immune systems. That means you can be a carrier of the flu without being symptomatic yourself. And THAT means you'll be directly TRANSMITTING the flu to people who are immunocompromised. Like, people undergoing chemotherapy, to pick one of many examples.

I mean, would you go up to a kid with cancer and say: "Here, I'm going to give you an illness that could be very, very severe under your medical condition"? No, you wouldn't do that, right? But you ARE doing that when you go out in public as an asymptomatic carrier.

Please think of other people too when you make health decisions. Please?

ETA: Sorry. Grumpy. Not my usual try-to-be-tactful self today. But I do think my post says something important.

We all got ours already!
We get them every year.
I've had flu before (like 30 years ago).
Fever, chills, aches, feeling exhausted and weak and even when you are over it you still feel weak and tired for a long time.
I would not wish it on my worst enemy.

I don't really care if the shots are safe or not (although I think they are).
I know the flu isn't safe and just because I might survive it doesn't mean the next person who gets it will.
If anything can lessen the chance that I will get it or help me not have it as bad as I otherwise would have, then I'm for it.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Yep- we all get it. I only had the flu once in my life, and that was enough. Flu is no joke. I laid in bed for 7 days, not to mention the 6 weeks of misery afterwards when a secondary infection from the flu set in. And unfortunately, it just had to run its course. That's probably the sickest I have ever been and that's no exaggeration.
I couldn't imagine having my my little ones go through that. Sure they could still get it, but it would be much milder than no shot.

Mommy:

I'm not a flu shot person. I believe in vaccinations - but I do not believe in flu shots. They only cover several strains. I don't like that I get sick because of the shot either.

When I went to the doctor this week - he asked about the shot - I told him my position. He said "okay - IF you get sick and come crawling in here on your hands and knees - I can say "I told you so?" I said YES...you can...now look back in my chart and see how many winters I've come in with the Flu...darn...he said...none!
We love our doctor!!

So no. Our family does NOT do flu shots. If you have a sickly family - kids with asthma - then maybe - but overall healthy? Nope. Wouldn't do it!

Good luck!

If people have pre-existing conditions to something that is a documented problem with flu shots, they shouldn't get it. The doctors know what those problems are. People do NOT get the flu from a flu shot. The shot doesn't have a live virus in it. The reason people get sick after the shots is because it's cold and flu season when they get it, and they catch a virus of some kind or another that doesn't cause the flu. Even if they did not get the flu shot, they would have gotten sick anyway.

Flu is a lot worse than a cold virus or some other upper respiratory bug. High fevers, chills, sore throat and a powerful punch that knocks people off their feet. It's highly communicable. When enough people get the flu shot, it lowers the chances of it spreading through families and communities.

If you have never had influenza A or B, you don't know how sick you can be. Imagine just how bad your little ones would feel if they caught it is what you should do when you're trying to decide whether or not to get the shot.

Stop reading garbage on the internet and limit your research to peer-reviewed scientific studies published in high-impact journals. Your decision will get a lot easier. There is not a "disconnect with the facts," there are facts and a lot of other stuff posing as facts, or that people try to portray as facts. Telling the difference is most of the battle.

I get a shot. My husband gets a shot. Our kids get the flu mist. There is research that suggests it is more effective in kids (under 12) and its easier than a needle stick.

i don't. my husband got one this year, but he agrees it's a crapshoot. now we're watching to see who gets hammered this winter<G>.
i'm pro-vaccine when it has both a high safety and a high efficacy rate. the flu vaccine has far too many question marks for me to comfortable putting it in my or my kids' bodies. (my kids are adults and decide for themselves, but in theory.)
khairete
S.

I think it's safer than getting the actual flu. A couple years ago, I got the flu despite having had the vaccine. I was terribly ill, but realize how much sicker I would have been without the protection of the shot.

My kids and I have asthma, so our insurance company wants us to get the shot and pays for it.

I am dealing with a weakened immune system due to a serious illness. I have asked friends and family to get a flu shot to help protect me. I was shocked at how many people skip this basic preventative measure out of fear.

Here's another reason for some folks:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/22/flu-vaccine-show...

Here is my philosophy: The best way to protect yourself from the flu is to get the flu.

I can't cite the study or its source, but I read somewhere that people who have had the actual flu are better able to battle newer strains of the flu than people who were given the flu shot.

Influenza is constantly mutating. The flu shots are not able to keep up with those mutations. The best defense is a healthy immune system. I got the flu about every other year when I was a kid. Yes, I was laid up for a day or two, but I bounced right back every time. When I traveled to Asia in my teens and twenties, I picked up some superbly horrible viruses. But I recovered quickly from those too. I truly think that early exposure to all of those viruses is the reason why I almost never get sick any more, while everyone else in my household does.

I understand the concept of group immunity, and protecting the vulnerable population from exposure. But in today's society where we have people from all over the world traveling in and out of our country, how does that factor in with herd immunity? How do I know that the can of soup that I just bought from Walmart wasn't just touched by someone who has SARS?

No one can agree on the issue because it is a very complex issue. In our family, we get all of the required vaccinations, but do not get the flu shot. I am comfortable with this decision, but I can understand why people would disagree with me.

My family gets the flu shot every year. None of us has ever gotten the flu when we have had the shot. (Our kids have never had the flu, because they have always had the shot. My husband and I have both had the flu back before we started getting the shot and it was not pleasant.) My husband is the main breadwinner in our household, so he cannot afford to miss a week or more of work with the flu. The kids are very busy with school and various activities and commitments that they would not want to miss out on. I work with infants and toddlers and would not take the chance of passing the flu to one of them. None of us has ever had an adverse reaction to the shot. In Canada the shot is free, and the flu shot clinics are convenient.

Every year the doctors always try to push the flu shot and get upset if I say NO. Then i get the lecture on how necessary it is. No, I don't get it for my kids or anyone else in the family. I am strongly against it. When I was a kid we got the flu, we were sick and we got over it. In today's world getting the flu is looked as a inconvenience. Who wants to be home with a sick child or adult with the flu. We live in a generation that doesn't want to be bothered.
But you have to decide what is good for your family.

Of course you should get a flu shot. Look at the sources of the information you're reading. If it's not a peer-reviewed study, then it's just someone's opinion. Don't make medical decisions based on someone's uninformed opinion, even if they say things like, "I've done a lot of research" - usually that means they googled it and read the first couple of things that came up that supported the opinion they already had.

For unbiased information, go to the CDC website and read through their information. At the end of each article, they will cite peer-reviewed studies. Read those. If a scientific study can't show that vaccines are dangerous, then the fact of the matter is, they're not dangerous.

You have always had the flu shot in the past and have not had any bad results, so your family doesn't have any allergies (such as egg) that would cause a bad reaction. Go get your flu shot.

We always get it. If you have ever had the REAL FLU, not bad cold, cough,slight temp, you would be first in line for that shot.

I'm with 2kidmama, peer review science supports flu shots.

We all got ours three weeks ago. With a baby in the house, hubby even went and got one, and he never has "time" for such things.

For some reason I was not initially able to reply so I sent a private message but thought I would share now that I can get the response box open.

The reason everyone can't agree is the same reason(s) that not everyone can agree on any other vaccine. People believe and think differently regardless of facts because of how they were raised, taught, and/or experienced. What really makes it hard is when professionals disagree.

As for the flu vaccine...I have NEVER had the flu. I am 42 years old and only had the flu vaccine one time back in 2007/2008 (that winter season). I can not say that the flu vaccine prevented me from getting the flu because there have been 41 other years that I also didn't get the flu. My son (now 22) and my hubby (40) have also NEVER had the flu. My daughter has had the flu vaccine (with her pediatrician's recommendation a few years ago) but I always decline the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine so now that they are combined, we decline the whole thing. She has not gotten the flu either with or without the vaccine. My daughter and I have allegies and asthma so we are what you would consider higher risk. Her allergist said that he didn't give the H1N1 vaccine to his own children when they were separate because they weren't safe but says now, because they are made the same way as other vaccines and combined with the regular flu vaccine it is safe....I still decline. I have seen, not first hand, and heard of some pretty extreme reactions to the H1N1 vaccine (some were friends of a friend so I know it happened) so that is why we stay clear.

When people say that they don't get the flu BECAUSE they got the flu vaccine, they are mistaken....they may not have gotten the flu because they weren't exposed to it or their bodies may have restisted it anyway or the vaccine may have protected them...you just can't be sure and neither can they.

The flu vaccine will not necessarily mean you won't get the flu. It should protect you against whatever strain the vaccine is formulated for (which is just the CDC's best guess as to what will be the biggest threat when flu season actually arrives). You could still get the flu but not as bad or you could get a different stain. You can also get just as sick with other things...pnemonia, bronchitis, whooping cough, croop, etc. My mom does every year, with or without the flu vaccine.

Just as with the Chicken Pox vaccine, it doesn't prevent it 100% but it does lessen your chances and/or makes the symptoms less severe...or should. If the school didn't require the chicken pox vaccine, my daughter would not have gotten it. Some kids who have had the vaccine have gotten chicken pox (mildly) more than once. My son had a bad case when he was 8 months so he didn't need the vaccine. I had a mild case when I was young and got them again in 4th grade (thank you little sisters). My point is, if given the choice, I would also decline the CP vaccine (just like the flu vaccine).

In the end you have to do what you believe is right for your child.

**for those that say "you're putting others at risk", that may be true but they are already at risk for the strains that are not included in the vaccine. Quite honestly, I don't know of one person that has truly ever had the flu (and I have many people in my family with severe health concerns...including cancer).

**otherwise, I am all for vaccinations...

I'm sure you are not even reading these posts by answer 49. LOL. But, I'll chime in.

My kids ABSOLUTELY get the flu shot/flu mist. So does my husband and so do I. The flu vaccine is not just about YOU. You CAN be a carrier and transfer the virus to immuno-compromised people. Some of you mention the elderly population and other people who are "at-risk." When you get the flu shot, you are helping to protect them too.

Let's face it. We don't REALLY know what it's like to live in a society FULL of illness. We absolutely have vaccinations to thank for that.

Many reports you read are not peer reviewed studies...so take things you read with a grain of salt. People take their opinion or their experience with a small amount of people they know and make grand generalized statements. Those things have not been proven. Anyway, by looking at peer reviewed studies I believe it is a good thing to get flu shots each year. We always get flu shots (or nose mist) in our family and have never had a problem.

I have never gotten the flu shot and had the flu twice.

I have three kids now, but when the oldest two were 2.5 and 9 months, we got them the shot. the 2.5 year old had two seizures related to the fever she developed from the shot. The 9 month old ended up with pneumonia.

I know the arguments for and against it, but to each their own. We do NOT get the shot in our house.

I don't get it and neither do my children. I don't believe we need them.

My husband is required to get it for his employment and last year he got the shot, got the flu and brought the flu home for all of us to share. Every single one of us got the nasty flu. His wasn't nearly as bad as ours was, but we all survived to tell about it. As horrible as getting the flu was last year, I'm willing to risk getting it again, rather then shooting a bunch of nasty chemicals into our muscles to be absorbed into our blood stream, that may or may not protect us from getting the flu, NO THANK YOU!

Nope, we never get it. I believe in building up the immune system with vitamins, supplements and good food. Honestly, my kids don't get sick that often. The youngest has allergies, but that's during pollen season.
I rarely if ever get sick and again no flu shots.

I think the media pumps us with fear- Get your flu shot! It's so important. Yeah, right. Go buy a bottle of Vitamin D and it will protect you from the flu. Big Pharm wants you to get the flu shot or they lose money. So they use scare tactics.

We are up to date on vaccines on all of three of our kiddos...2 boys, one girl. We are all healthy and rarely get sick. We do not fit the "at risk" population for the flu..and the HPV is just not on my radar at such a young age.

But, we will not get the flu shot each year nor are we authorizing the HPV for them. Our doctor respects our wishes but she is responsible to teach us about them and then let us choose for ourselves. We choose to opt out.

I get the Flu shot every year.
The one without the Thimerosal in it.
I get it because I have Asthma.
I have been very sick before, even with a common cold, because I have Asthma. I also got the Pneumonia shot last year.
I have had the Flu, once. When I was younger.

My family also gets the Flu shot.
My kids get the nasal spray type.
They have never had any side effects from it nor have they gotten sick from the vaccine. I have not either. My Husband has not either.
My Mom, who is old, gets the Flu Shot too. She has Asthma.

Aside from that, I work at my kids' school and am around kids.
Thus, that is another "reason" that my getting the Flu Shot, is for me, a good decision.
Parents do send their kids to school, even when they are sick.
I see it everyday.

After all the statistics came out last year about how poorly the flu shots perform, and how ineffective they are...I really don't know why anyone but extreme high risk people even get them. I've not met many people who got the flu shot, and didn't end up getting sick anyway. (That includes the swine flu.)

No one in my family has ever had a flu shot, and no one has had the flu. People can throw out facts about vaccines, that's fine. What I focus on, are facts about the actual flu. The fact is, healthy people don't really die of the flu. It's very rare. I'm healthy, so I think the risk outweighs the reward.

I am concerned about MY family first. If I worried about every person I came in contact with, I would never leave my house, or never make an educated decision for my own child. I want to do what is best for MY child first, and what is best for him, might not be best for the lady's kid I walk by in Target. Unfortunately, I am not responsible for what is best for that kid. I can only do so much, and my child is my first priority. Period.

I am pretty diligent about getting my son a flu mist vax and myself a flu shot. I can't be down for two weeks and neither of us have ever been sick from the shot.

Perhaps I'm a mindless follower, however, the CDC has good information and this season's vax covers several strains of the 'flu. The way I see it, we pay for insurance, the insurance covers it... it will NOT cover the child care we would need if I got horribly ill and couldn't get Kiddo to and from school. (My husbands hours do not allow this for a long stretch.)

Ultimately, check the credibility of the source. There are plenty of online quacks and outraged parents with blogs. We all have to do what each of us feels is best for our kids.

We decline the flu shot every year. This, and the HPV vaccine are the only ones that I'm not doing.

When I was in the Army the flu shot was mandatory and every year I got sick. I got out, stopped getting the flu shot and haven't been sick since. My husband is the same way. My kids are insanely healthy too. They miss maybe 3 days of school due to illness, in a bad year.

We don't get it, not because it is not safe per say, but because it is usually pointless. I understand it in the elderly and those with weakened immune systems, but even then it is only a guess as to which of the many many flu strains may show up that year. The mist always gives any of us who have had it the sniffles. Why inject something into my kids that really does not do anything? We do vaccinate, my kids have gotten almost every recommended shot, but this is one of the couple we have decided, after research, to decline.

Funny side note, I have had the flu shot 3 times in my life, and the one and only time anyone in my family has ever gotten the real flu it was me, in one of the only years I actually got the shot. lol

I have never gotten it and I never would.

Updated

I have never gotten it and I never would.

none of our family of 6 has ever had the flu shot. jus a personal preference.

All of our kids got the flu shots since maybe 6 months or older? Every year they got it and nobody had a problem. Last year my then 6 1/2 year old got the shot and 3 weeks later came down with the flu. Not as bad though. This year they will get it. We have a almost 2 month old and not taking a chance.

Ughhhhhh! I feel the same way - you're darned if you do and darned if you don't. 14 yr old DD gets one as she has asthma. I trust her allergist's opinion more than the pediatrician because, quite frankly, we see the allergist much more often and she knows her. Anything that could potentially affect lungs is a problem with asthmatics obviously.

DH also gets a shot most years. I'm a SAHM and I did get one last year after not having had one since 1998. I was working last year and thought it would be a good idea. The stupid shot always makes me feel run down for about 2-3 weeks afterward and I hate that. I don't think I'm getting one this year, but I always second guess myself on this. I have a lot of reactions to food additives, preservatives and colors. If there's a 1 in 1000 chance of a reaction from a prescription drug, I'm the lucky 1. Do I think they're a good idea for some people, yes. Do I think that everyone should get one - no.

I stopped takingit twelve years ago, and will never take it again. My daughter is 23 and has never had one in her life.

I have psoriasis, the rarest form that is impossible to treat, and almost impossible to manage, and my doctor wouldn't give it to me last year. She offered it to me, but when I asked if it would "activate" my immune system she said yes it would and said nevermind. She said it wasn't worth the risk of what it would do to me and my immune system. The pediatrician has never asked us to get one either. So, I don't know how your family's immune system is, but my family doesn't get them. Good luck making a decision.

Oh, and if it helps, my aunt gets one every year, and she get sick every year within a few weeks of getting it, it seems like the shot gives it to her. And my sister gets it every year and gets sick many times a year so it doesn't really work for her. But, her job requires it so she gets it.

We don't.
My son got O. until he was 3.
He's gone more years without it that he's had it.
I've never had O..
My husband has never had O..
None of us have high risk factors for flu.
I've had the flu once (about 20 years ago) and my husband has had the flu once (about 15 years ago). My son had never had the flu.

We definitely get the flu shot. Dr. Oz just did a show all about it, very helpful. But I've done the research and asked lots of docs about it (because I don't just do everything Dr. Oz says!), and always feel it's better safe than sorry.

I got it two days ago, because I was at my gyn. appointment and there was a clinic two feet away from me, so I said, why not. I almost never get sick, but I got the flu two years ago and it was a week of hell. I am not at all worried about dying from the flu, personally, but I don't want to go through a week like that again.

It's not about truth vs. lies (although Andrew Wakefield lied), it's about ignorance and misinformation. Ditto Bridgett's response.

we do not get the flu shot. We have never had the shot ever, and have only had the flu once right after moving across country (new place, new germs, stress of moving, makes for a lower immune system). We do a lot of hand washing and vitamins. No need to put nasty chemicals like that into our bodies

If we were elderly, had compromised immune systems or chronic conditions, I might consider it. But no, we have never had the flu shot. It's not right for our family. Good luck with your decision! Go with your strongest instinct, and try to ignore all the "reports." You'll just make yourself crazy.

I don't get one for mine because she's never had the flu and I see no point and getting that shot I won't get it for myself it makrs me sick. If my kid had a weak immune system then I'd get it but she doesn't the way I look at it they need to get the flu some so their body builds its own immune to the flu

I don't know about the schools where you are, but where we used to live, they gave the flu shot/nasal spray free of charge with the consent of the parent. Last year, my younger daughter got it, but my oldest didn't want it and I opted not to give it to my son who wasn't in school at the time. None of them got the flu. What does that mean? Who knows! lol I don't see a problem with letting them get it, personally.

As with anything, you can find a hundred studies for and against. I think it's a personal preference.

My kids are 19 and 16 and have never had a flu shot. For much of their lives it was not recommended except for high risk groups. The recommendations have changed in the last 4-5 years (?) but we still do not do them.

My husband and I don't get them either.

ETA: AMEN J.B.!

All I know is how I felt last year when I got guilt tripped into it for the first time. After the first few days of nausea, fever and feeling awful (the flu), it took over a month until I felt like normal. I felt like I was hit by a truck for that month, aches, pains, exhaustion. All happening within 24 hours of the shot. And NO, I don't believe I got the flu somewhere else. Timing was spot on from the shot. And none of the other 5 in my family got sick in the least. If it was the true flu...someone should have gotten sick.

I will never ever get the shot again, or will my kids. That is just my opinion. I am not sticking something with poisons in my body for the 'chance' to combat whatever flu strain is out there.

I will, however, make sure I eat well and wash my hands. I will teach my kids to 'try' not to touch their faces with their hands. We will take vitamins.

The flu shot is SO hard of a decision, because, well, you really don't know if the shot prevented anything. People that have gotten the shot can and cannot still get the flu. People who don't get the shot can still not get the flu. It is not a guarantee!

Since there is no guarantee that I will not get the flu, I will not be injecting myself with the flu strains and everything else that is in the flu shot.

My husband and I have never had the flu shot and my daughters (15 and 10) have not either. My nieces and nephews get it every year however.

We're getting ours today....I have gotten the flu even with the shot...but my dh is asthmatic...so off we go.

I get one every year, as do my kids. My husband used to blow it off until he actually got the flue a couple years ago. Now he gets it too.

Just took my two boys for their flu shot this week. Last year I put it off and then it was December, and then the flu got to its highest peak in our city and I was so worried because I didn't take the time to vaccinate them(Like I had the years before). They were fine last year, but I would have kicked myself if they had gotten the flu and I had done nothing to prevent it. Now, I have done what I can do besides reminding them of basic hand washing.
My husband had the flu three years ago and my youngest was an infant. Hubby was in bed for a week, it was miserable. He walked around with a mask and I slept in the baby's room w the baby. Neither me or my boys got the flu, but it was a tough week with Daddy down, and me taking care of him, a three week old and a 7 year old.

Last year my kids didn't get it, this year they did.
I don't have a conviction one way or the other. We were just at the doctors for my son's 8 year checkup and they said they could give them all shots at that time. Ok.
I AM a stickler for the regular vaccines (polio, mmr, ect), but this one just happens if it's convenient.
L. (mom to 3...ages 11, 8, and 2)

Honestly you just have to do what you feel is right. I have never gotten the flu shot and probably never will unless its forced upon me.

We usually have them get the flu shot at their well check exam just like any other immunization they need. So two of my kids bdays are August and already had their flu shot, two will be in November, one in December, and one in January. My husband and I do not get flu shots, except the winter that our daughter was an infant.

I can't really say why I do it, other than the same reason you do, for fear of not getting it for them.

I don't make a special trip to get it for the kids, but I do get it if I'm in the doctor's office and they offer. I believe my husband gets it through his work (he travels a lot and so the flu would be pretty awful for him). I think the one year he got the flu (added bonus - it happened while he was traveling for work) he hadn't received the flu shot that year. He's been healthy since. I do not get the flu shot. I'm fairly confident that it's a mental thing and no scientific correlation - but every year I have received a flu shot (2-3 times), I have come down with the flu (not immediately after but sometime during the flu season). It was always a mild case, but it would still put me out of commission for 4 days. So, I just don't bother with it anymore and hope I don't get it.

Most years we get the flu shot... my husband gets one at work, and when my kids were infants, it was recommended we get one since they were too young. I figure if you can protect them from a couple of bad strains of the flu, why not? Nobody in my family or network of friends has ever had a bad reaction to the shot, but who have not had the shot have gotten the flu... and I wouldn't wish that upon anyone. Of course every year there are many other virus' out there that anyone can catch, but even lowering the risk of getting sick is good enough for me. Though I don't fret if for some reason I can't get the shot. Now, if they would ever come up with a vaccine for the Norovirus (stomach bug) I would be all over it like a fly on poop. That is the illness I fear every year... I am paranoid of it!