OT: seasonal flu shots for those of us over 65

[Pugsy]

I believe it was a result of a flu

Well, this is the opposite of how people will take your first comment which may scare them away from the vaccine. If your friend had been getting the flu vaccine every year, he might not have contracted the flu and then might not have contracted GB.

You're making an incorrect assumption. He did get the vaccine. As you know it does not fully protect against every virus floating around.

Tis true. The flu vaccines are a best educated guess as to what might be floating around this winter based on what was floating around last year. They are good but not perfect. Nothing in medicine ever is perfect as much as we might want it to be.
And there are a few people who do have adverse reactions to vaccines or still get ill even with getting the vaccine...mild maybe but not always...like me and your friend.
People like your friend and myself...it's best that we consult our doctors about potentially unique situations and go from there.
For the bulk of the population....yeah, get the damn flu shot.

For me...a more unique situation as my PCP now happens to be a doctor I worked with back when I had the problem with the Swine Flu vaccine. He knows first had how ill I was. He's a personal friend as well as my PCP. I have known him for years obviously. He also knows me well enough to know I am pretty stubborn and bullheaded about some things. He's always been okay with my reluctance to take flu shots in the past. He understands and lets me make the final decision...probably because he realizes I am going to do that anyway. He doesn't judge me.

Anyway I am still on the fence about it this year. I still have a bit of time to decide though. No Costco anywhere near me though...
I do think my local pharmacy probably offers it though but I haven't checked. If not there is probably a pharmacy within about a 20 minute drive that does. I am leaning towards breaking with my tradition and getting the shot though. I just haven't quite fell off the fence yet with my leaning.

[khauser]

You don't seem to get the point, so I'll try to help anyone reading this thread who has some level of vaccine fear.

I have a friend that got GB some time ago (Edit by CG: probably from influenza, not a vaccine).

I understand your point, but did not understand you were worried people would become afraid of getting the vaccine. That is certainly not my intent, which was only to tell a story similar to Pugsy's.
I get the vaccine every year and encourage everyone I know to do the same ... in fact that is how I found out about my friend's problem in the first place.

[zonker]

i'm a grown-ass adult

Thanks for the news.

[ChicagoGranny]

I get the vaccine every year and encourage everyone I know to do the same

[chunkyfrog]

Adverse reactions are more likely to be caused by ancillary ingredients--like a preservative.
Doctors may have access to formulations without the offending ingredients.
If I had experienced a reaction, I would press my physician to identify the offending substance,
and obtain a less disruptive formula.
Pharmacies are usually limited to the mass market version.
I mention this because thimerosal is quite common, though a few are sensitive to it.

[ChicagoGranny]

Adverse reactions are more likely to be caused by ancillary ingredients--like a preservative.

I would like to see a citation for that statement because I don't believe it is true.

In general these adjuvants are safe and well tolerated, but there have been some rare adverse events when adjuvanted vaccines are used at a population level that may discourage the inclusion of adjuvants in influenza vaccines, for example the association of LT with Bell's Palsy.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5861793/

[chunkyfrog]

In the past, an egg allergy was cause for skipping the flu vaccine, as eggs were used in manufacture.
Eventually, eggs were not used--first in custom preparations, then widespread.
I had one eye drop that stung--then they made a non-T version--no more stinging.
And, granny, you can believe what you will--but I will always get my vaccine.
I knew kids who had polio.

[zonker]

I knew kids who had polio.

me too. not exactly in my circle of friends. but one friend had a little brother with it.

it's hard to think of something like that being common, way back in my very own lifetime.

[chunkyfrog]

Too common!
My brother in law's sister had it as a child--no braces,
but she died of a heart attack in her late 40's. (Post polio syndrome)

[zonker]

Too common!
My brother in law's sister had it as a child--no braces,
but she died of a heart attack in her late 40's. (Post polio syndrome)

dunno what happened to the little brother. they moved away and he was still alive at that point.

he had braces on both legs, yet being the little brother, he would always try to keep up!

[Janknitz]

When the anti-vaxxers get going I just roll my eyes. Mostly young, white, over-privileged people with too much time on their hands. I remember kids with polio--they are too young to remember that. And the kids who died of menningitis due to measles. And the infants that died of whooping cough (though some still do these days because our county has a low vaccination rate).

[babydinosnoreless]

When the anti-vaxxers get going I just roll my eyes. Mostly young, white, over-privileged people with too much time on their hands.

I would challenge this statement. I worked in schools for many years and especially the school I was at when my kids were young by far and away the biggest group of non vaccinated were Indian and hispanic/indian mix. Its a real issue and its not poverty because they would being in free vaccine clinics and the parents would keep their kids home that day.

[zonker]

guys, please let's not turn this into an anti-vaccer thread.

the title suggests i'm FOR vaccines, just wondering about the timing.

thank you.

[palerider]

guys, please let's not turn this into an anti-vaccer thread.

the title suggests i'm FOR vaccines, just wondering about the timing.

thank you.

Nower is better.

[ChicagoGranny]

One year, I was vaccinated (not quadrivalent) in September. We had no outbreaks that fall, but in January, it began to crank up. Thinking my immunity had dropped off since September, I got a second vaccination. One of my sons told me it doesn't work that way. I still don't believe him.