Flu Vaccine: Did You Get One? Does it Work?
Epidemic level of influenza cases in U.S. to start 2013.
Just about everywhere you turn, someone is talking about the flu, flu vaccine, or how to prevent contracting the virus.
It's for good reason, too, as the total number of cases reported in early January reached epidemic levels, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
A shortage of vaccines has impacted the area, as Patch reported earlier this week, with pharmacies having to wait for vaccine to come in on a daily basis.
We enjoy using ideas from readers, one of which was the impotes for this post and poll. 'Not Domino' commented on a previous story that we should formally ask readers about their flu vaccine status, whether or not they received the shot, and if so, did it work?
According to the CDC, the vaccination is 50- to 70-percent effective.
So, what's your flu status? Vote in our poll and leave a comment below.
Joseph Keyes
4:02 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
I do not subscribe to any protocol that weakens the body's natural defenses, e.g. the immune system, nor will I be scared into ingesting drugs to fix every ailment without regard to the side affects. Full disclosure: I'm married to knowledgable herbalist and do take her supplements and tonics which have been very effective.
FourScore
6:22 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
A flu vaccine does NOT weaken the body's immune system... quite the opposite, it causes your body to build up the antibodies to help ward off an actual case of influenza. It works the same as all other vaccines that have virtually eliminated many diseases in the U.S., and have helped lower the infant mortality rate from around 14 % to less than 1 %.
The reason that the flu vaccine is not 100 % effective is that each year new strains are discovered that are not covered in the current batch. This year's vaccine is estimated to be about 65 % effective, which is a lot better than 0 %. Contrary to popular myth, you CANNOT catch the flu from the vaccine, that is an impossibility.
Not Domino
9:28 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
My in-laws got the vaccine in October - husband, wife, and their son and daughter-in-law. Within one week, all four of them got the flu, and they were all miserable for 2 weeks.
Joseph Keyes
12:08 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013
The unheralded after affects of vaccines is exactly what you described in the new strains of influenza appearing… adaptation through mutation. Continually injecting new vaccines into the body certainly DOES compromise the natural immune system. Vaccines are not insular. Continually introducing new ones into the system carries after affects that may even not be know for several years.
Liberty
6:07 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Agreed. The flu will weaken your immune system, which can make you susceptible to bacterial infections, which are what cause the fatalities.
Moses Lonn
8:04 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Got my shot earlier this week. But it takes 2 weeks for the thing to work. I have been dosing Airborne to ward off all the other nasties out there.
PD73
8:55 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Had the flu ONCE twenty years ago. Was so sick - high fever, the works. Took three weeks for me to feel 100% and I am no whining baby. Never going there again if I can help it so I get the vaccine every year.
Denobin
10:10 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Vaccine for last four years, no flu for last fours. Luck or efficacy? I don't know, but it has worked for me.
BTW J Keys: Your scientifically unsubstantiated claims put everyone at risk. What is substantiated is the drastic reduction and eradication of disease dir to vaccination.
Joseph Keyes
6:23 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Denobin, I realize this is one of those issues that, no matter what is said by who, cited, or linked, will change few minds. I believe that accepting a medical protocol without understanding inherent risks or the true efficacy is all too common and puts us at wrist. My sources of information come from both allopathic and naturopathic practitioners.
Some of further opinions can be found in this link:
http://www.anh-usa.org/flu-epidemic-the-numbers-just-do-not-add-up/
Not Domino
11:18 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Never in my entire life have I had the vaccine. (Never will either.) Never in my entire life have I had the flu. Luck or efficacy? I don't know, but it has worked for me.
Liberty
5:56 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
A rep for the CDC says, "Each year millions become ill with influenza; more than 200,000 may be hospitalized; and between 3,000 and 49,000 will die."
The rep adds, "The first and most important step in protecting against the flu is to get a flu vaccine each season."
It's Centers (pl) for Disease Control and Prevention. And I always take their advice and get the shot.
Alice Jameson
6:30 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
While I suffered a mild bout of the flu last year, it wasn’t the first time I’ve had it and I doubt it’ll be the last. Flu is a part of life. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and all that.
So, I’ve never had a flu shot and I never will. I don’t trust this sort of vaccine and its potential effects on the immune system. Antibodies have the ability to create disease as well as fight it, and I’ll not live or die according to media generated hysteria and hype.
FourScore
7:39 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
The 1918 flu epidemic killed between 20-40 million people, which is more than all the people killed in every war of the 20th century. That's not media hype.
Alice Jameson
7:58 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
With a myriad of antibiotics and antivirals at hand, medicine has made just a wee bit of progress since the dark and deadly days of 1918.
FourScore
6:46 am on Friday, January 18, 2013
....yes, and I think vaccinations have a little to do with us not having a repeat of that degree of devastation.