Aches and pains
By adamg - 12/8/08 - 9:13 am
If you have 'em, this might come too late for you, but eat a piece of cake today anyway to help celebrate Massachusetts Influenza Awareness Week. And remember: Kids should get the shots, too.
Comments
Lest anyone think the shot CAUSES the flu
...it doesn't. Get the shot, get protected.
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who and the what now?
meh
I got the shot once...never again. I got the flu worse that year than I ever had.
Unfortunately, it happens
The vaccine is based on predictions by scientists a year earlier on what strains they think will circulate the next year. Last year, or the year before, they guessed wrong and so some people did get sick from a strain that wasn't included.
On the whole, the potential benefits still outweigh the risks, both for you and the people around you, but, no, it's not perfect.
On the other hand ...
My husband and I got vaccinated last year, but were not able to get shots for the kids due to run around, being lied to, etc.
Despite the screw-ups by the CDC on picking the bugs:
I got a 1-day illness when the strain related to one in the shot ("partial protection") came around
I didn't get the second strain that came through, which matched the shot.
I did get the Type B bug that appeared mid-year and was unrelated to anything seen in thirty years.
My unvaccinated son got brutally sick for over a week at a time each time a virus went through.
My other unvaccinated son had had one of the bugs the previous year, but was laid out by the other two.
So, even in a year with a very bad match and a new virus springing up mid-year, I went through hell once rather than three times (when I know damn well the virus was around because of kids getting sick). Still worth it in my book.
(I'll avoid terms like "irresponsible" and avoid making statements like "should know better and plan ahead" and "should not get to use paid sick days for the flu if you don't get vaccinated" ...)
Same here
The one year I didn't get a flu shot, we all got sick. My two year old got it first, and twelve hours later it was my turn. My husband took us to the doctor and was able to keep it together until we went to the store for pedialyte and gatorade. By the time we got home, he had succumbed as well. Luckily, we had just done laundry and had drawers full of sheets and pajamas because it was pretty dicey. The worst part was when my daughter recovered first and wanted to get up and play but we felt too weak to really take care of her. Luckily we rallied, but it was one of the scariest things that ever happened to me as a parent.
I now get the shot every year without fail.
Wha?
You determined which strains of the flu you had?
I got the shot once 4 years ago, got really sick. Haven't had it since, haven't been sick since. That's all I know. If it works for y'all more power to ya...
Lucky You
There are people out there who just don't seem to get the flu, or get only certain strains of it. You may be one of them. My old boss was one too - either that, or he had done so much time on respiratory wards at mid-century that his system had seen them all.
I actually track these things for work, as I am overseeing two health studies that need to control for flu activity. I used to do asthma research projects with similar needs, so I tend to know what was in the shots and what strains are being reported. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/
I also know because they took samples when my son was ill last year because he met reporting criteria (the CDC was very interested in the role of children in community epidemics), and I asked for the results.
What
should not get to use paid sick days for the flu if you don't get vaccinated
Isn't that a slippery slope? Should someone get to use sick days if they're sick because they don't exercise, they eat crap, they live a stressful life, they don't wash their hands enough, they're exposed to pollutants, etc.? Who decides when someone's illness is "their own fault"?
In terms of chronic conditions, it's an ADA violation for an employer to decide not to provide reasonable accommodation because the employer believes the person caused their own illness/injury and/or isn't taking all possible steps to care for it. Employers aren't allowed to request that kind of specific medical information or ask the employee those kinds of specifics; they're only allowed to ask for documentation that verifies that the person needs the accommodation they're asking for.
Employers also can't generally require employees to be vaccinated if it goes against the employee's beliefs.
http://1smootshort.blogspot.com
And what if your a Christian Scientist
That would be religious discrimination.
It doesn't even have to be organized religion
There's plenty of case law saying that "religion" for legal purposes refers to anything that you consistently believe, that you believe for a reason, and that's believed by a decent amount of people who cite similar reasoning. Vegetarianism, for instance, has been pretty consistently upheld as a religious belief that a person has a right to practice. Same with the right to abstain from all or some medical interventions. Fortunately, the courts have more recently decided that a parent can't choose for a child to forgo emergency life-saving treatment, but a family or an individual can certainly choose not to have routine procedures such as vaccinations.
Some states allow people to forgo vaccination requirements simply by stating that it goes against one's personal beliefs. Massachusetts requires this to be a religious belief, but there is plenty of case law indicating that a belief of preferring minimal/natural health care for some or all things can be considered a religious belief, since it's consistent and enough people believe this.
http://1smootshort.blogspot.com
Christian Scientists aren't a religion
They're a cult- get it straight.
Christian Scientists aren't Scientologists
Get it straight.
I was (not) being obnoxious
It was a jab at people who otherwise think that people who don't "behave" according to their standards should be "punished" by paying for certain services.
Go check out that other thread where somebody who will remain nameless declared that if a pregnant woman who, in their estimation, didn't "plan" her labor properly to not happen during rush hour or not progress rapidly enough to matter should have to pay the trooper's wages had he provided a police escort to the hospital through traffic (rather than detaining them further and writing a ticket in an urgent situation). That "you should be able to control uncontrollable things or else" attitude what I was going after.
Did you say nachos?
Oh, I know *you* weren't. I was just providing the other side of the argument for those-who-will-go-unnamed who would breeze past this, see what you wrote, and think, "wow, well that's a fine idea!"
http://1smootshort.blogspot.com
lol
Apples and Oranges.
I can prove to you that with 9 months to think about it, they could have had their baby in a location that would not required travel down Route 2. You can't prove to me that the flu shot prevents the flu.
Ever been in labor?
Apples and Oranges indeed.
It is far easier to statistically predict the consequences that may befall any given person who does or does not get a flu shot than it is to predict how long a woman's labor will be, how quickly it will progress, and what pattern that progression will take.
In other words, 9 months to "plan" doesn't mean shit when the end event is inherently unpredictable in duration, progression pattern, etc.
If you really think such thins are soooo easily predicted, I know several OB/GYNs who would really like to know your formula. I'm sure it also predicts when the next big earthquake will hit, too.
On the other hand, a flu shot has a highly predictable effect on how much insurance companies shell out for services (provided the CDC doesn't screw up and pick the wrong strains, and lovely bonus viruses don't pop up out of nowhere like last winter and the famous Sidney A) as well as how much sick time is used.
In other words, it could be statistically justified that your not getting a flu shot is a vastly more irresponsible choice than a woman in labor getting caught in traffic and having that labor progress quickly enough to cause concern. If you think someone should pay for choices you disagree with surrounding a highly unpredictable and individual phenomenon that nobody really understands, then perhaps you would be willing to shoulder some pretty serious consequences for your choices surrounding a very well-defined risk just because you don't think it will happen to you.
I don't need to go into labor or finish reading your post...
To know that someone who says:
"For 10 months we had been saying, 'As long as I don't go into labor during rush hour' - which we did"
Has a higher statistical probability of having a problem on their way to the hospital in labor, than the probability of a non-flushotter getting the flu.
There is nothing highly unpredictable about Dracut to Mt. Auburn. There situation was so predictable, that they thought about it for 10 MONTHS. Do you know what that means? The thought it was a problem BEFORE she even was pregnant.
So, you will repay your sick time then?
The point: you like to make "they deserved it" judgements all up and down UHub when adverse circumstances befalls people and you "think" it is a predictable situation. Maybe you should consider how much you could apply this to your own life.
I am not seeing the correlation here
so you might as well give up.
So you're saying....
...that the vaccination CAUSED you to get the flu?
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who and the what now?
Nope
I cannot conclude that. It did however fail to prevent me from getting it shortly thereafter.
I agree with the idea of getting the flu shot every year.
The older one gets, the more important it is to have some protection against the flu, because of the increased risk of suffereing complications from the flu.
My young niece, who's asthmatic but is unable to get the flu shot because she's allergic to eggs, has to be protected by everybody, regardless of their age(s), who has even the least bit contact getting the flu shot every year.