Flu shot

[phillygirl]

I got the (regular) flu shot today. I now know 3 people that have gotten the flu and by all accounts it's awful. That is 2 more people than I've ever known (Michele is the only person I know that has had the actual flu). I heard from the tech that there have been a pretty good number that have now been hospitalized bc of it. Just a PSA. This is only the second or third year that I've gotten the shot.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

I got the (regular) flu shot today. I now know 3 people that have gotten the flu and by all accounts it's awful. That is 2 more people than I've ever known (Michele is the only person I know that has had the actual flu). I heard from the tech that there have been a pretty good number that have now been hospitalized bc of it. Just a PSA. This is only the second or third year that I've gotten the shot.

I get it every year. The only year since my first one that I didn't was when I was pregnant with HRH. And sure enough, soon after she was born, I got the flu. Misery! And having to care for a tiny baby through it all. Fortunately, she didn't get it.

[Gramps]

Va visit last month. Got shingles and flu shots. Flu in right arm... nothing. Shingles in left arm... 3 days of arm aching... good sized scab.

[Michele]

Va visit last month. Got shingles and flu shots. Flu in right arm... nothing. Shingles in left arm... 3 days of arm aching... good sized scab.

A couple of months ago I got my second pneumonia shot and my second shingles. Only the second shingle shot hurt but boy did it ache.

[phillygirl]

Va visit last month. Got shingles and flu shots. Flu in right arm... nothing. Shingles in left arm... 3 days of arm aching... good sized scab.

I got shingles shot 2 years ago. Still the worst shot I’ve ever gotten. When everyone was complaining about a sore arm from Covid shot I told them they obviously never had a shingles shot. They wouldn’t give me the shingles shot when I got the flu shot bc I was also getting the tetanus series and they didn’t want me to have too many in one day

[Gramps]

My bad.. it was pneumonia not flu
I don't think the flu shots do any good. At best they are a guess as to the type that will prevail in any given season.

[phillygirl]

My bad.. it was pneumonia not flu
I don't think the flu shots do any good. At best they are a guess as to the type that will prevail in any given season.

I’m not eligible for pneumonia shot yet. I don’t know much about the flu shots but figured I’d do my best to not bring it home to my sister.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

My bad.. it was pneumonia not flu
I don't think the flu shots do any good. At best they are a guess as to the type that will prevail in any given season.

Over a period of 15 years, the effectiveness was between a low of 10% (1 year), to 60% (also 1 year), with the average effectiveness in the upper 40s to upper 50s. I'll take those odds over no prevention, especially given my own experience. Might not be worth it for someone who is relatively isolated or interacts only with a limited number of people in a relatively fixed social grouping, but for someone like me, who is thrown together with strangers, recent immigrants, and highly mobile populations, some immunity boost is worth a few hours' discomfort.

I agree that the pneumonia vaccine was way more uncomfortable, but it's also more reliably effective, and the risks are substantial.

PG, if you live with an at-risk person, you can usually get the pneumonia vaccine early. I did, after my mom almost died off pneumonia when I was only 46.

[phillygirl]

Over a period of 15 years, the effectiveness was between a low of 10% (1 year), to 60% (also 1 year), with the average effectiveness in the upper 40s to upper 50s. I'll take those odds over no prevention, especially given my own experience. Might not be worth it for someone who is relatively isolated or interacts only with a limited number of people in a relatively fixed social grouping, but for someone like me, who is thrown together with strangers, recent immigrants, and highly mobile populations, some immunity boost is worth a few hours' discomfort.

I agree that the pneumonia vaccine was way more uncomfortable, but it's also more reliably effective, and the risks are substantial.

PG, if you live with an at-risk person, you can usually get the pneumonia vaccine early. I did, after my mom almost died off pneumonia when I was only 46.

I did not know that. I’ll talk with my doctor. Do you get the pneumonia shot more than once? I know my sister has gotten the vaccine before. She also got pneumonia last year,

[Frostbit]

Va visit last month. Got shingles and flu shots. Flu in right arm... nothing. Shingles in left arm... 3 days of arm aching... good sized scab.

The two shot shingles series was my most painful vax ever.

[Frostbit]

Getting the flu vaccine is a no-brainer in a risk vs. benefit profile. We get it every year.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

I did not know that. I’ll talk with my doctor. Do you get the pneumonia shot more than once? I know my sister has gotten the vaccine before. She also got pneumonia last year,

My understanding is that once may be enough for people with normally functioning immune systems, but people who are medically fragile and/or immune-suppressed need one every 5 years or so. You may have to push a little to get yours now, but after 60, they practically chase you and hold you down for it. I had mine in Florida, and Kaiser tries to give me one every time they see me, because it's not in my records. I'm turning 70 in January, and I'm going to let'em give me everything again, just to be sure.

[Michele]

I started getting vaccines around 65-66. I got my first flu shot after talking to Jim & Joyce one time. I think we were having a chat about my seasonal allergies and it morphed into flu shots. My husband was always trying to convince me to get a flu shot but I didn't see the purpose in it because I never get the flu. Then Joyce said, you should get one for him...alrighty then, I've gotten one ever since.

I had the 2-shot pneumonia vaccine the last year and a half. I was told that if you're over 65 then you should have the 2-shot one and then it's finished...you don't have it again.

The 2-shot shingles vaccine was the only vaccine I actively pursued. My oldest sister has nerve damage on the right side of her face from a second round of shingles. She was in so much pain and suffering that I knew I never wanted to go through that misery. My shoulder hurt like heck though and the pain lasted a while but it was worth it to me.

[Adam]

I’m not eligible for pneumonia shot yet. I don’t know much about the flu shots but figured I’d do my best to not bring it home to my sister.

Why not? I got it years ago. It sucked (I had a bad reaction to it), but I don't know of any specific qualifiers that would prevent you. Frosty may know something that I don't there.

I've gotten the flu shot exactly twice in my life, and both times I've contracted the flu almost immediately (within a week or two). I consider the flu shot to be a scientific farce. OTOH, until the hole in my thorax finally heals up (hopefully soon, cross fingers), I can't get the shingles vax, which I have desperately wanted for years, but was told I wasn't a candidate because I wasn't yet 50 years old (at the time). Shingles scares the hell out of me, because I've seen a couple of scorching cases of it, and I don't want it in any way. So that's the first trip to the doc as soon as I'm cleared to go get stuff injected into me.

[Newman]

Over a period of 15 years, the effectiveness was between a low of 10% (1 year), to 60% (also 1 year), with the average effectiveness in the upper 40s to upper 50s. I'll take those odds over no prevention, especially given my own experience. Might not be worth it for someone who is relatively isolated or interacts only with a limited number of people in a relatively fixed social grouping, but for someone like me, who is thrown together with strangers, recent immigrants, and highly mobile populations, some immunity boost is worth a few hours' discomfort.

I agree that the pneumonia vaccine was way more uncomfortable, but it's also more reliably effective, and the risks are substantial.

PG, if you live with an at-risk person, you can usually get the pneumonia vaccine early. I did, after my mom almost died off pneumonia when I was only 46.

Like Gramps I've had the shingles shots (no problem, contrary to the experience of many here) and pneumonia ones. I don't get the flu shot. (And I understand the effectiveness of the shingles shots is pretty low, too.)

Anyway, Celeste, I'm trying to sell advice that was given to me when I was working with a high-turnover immigrant population of children, who are certified germ machines, and from whom I believe I used to catch cold after cold for years. In those settings, and work environments like yours, learn not to touch your face before you wash your hands. It's a habit that takes some intentional work to establish, but it sticks.

I don't have any numbers to back me up, but I'll happily bet any amount of money I don't have either that the effectiveness rate is way higher than the vaccines.