Flu shot time again

Maybe they need a time-release flu shot?
I'm going earlier; maybe later, too. At my age, why not?
I remember when flu shots were scarce, like Cabbage patch kids.
Restricted supply = huge profits!

I can get my FLU shot for FREE at Walgreens, RiteAid, or other big drug stores. Medicare covers 100%. So why not get it?

Side issue: West Nile Virus epidemic in the deep south. Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. Huge increase in number of verified cases. This is a very nasty virus. It affects your neurologic system. Our local rehab hospital currently has 10 patients that had a very bad case and are now having to learn to walk again. No vaccine for it but just avoid mosquitoes. The trucks go by at sundown twice a month and spray (just when everyone is getting out for a walk with heat of the day passed). I spray both me and my dog with OFF before we go out walking.

[quote="Sloop"Sorry -- but I always wait until around mid-November because the Flu never hits here in Virginia until January/February time frame. And the shots are only good for 3-4 months.[/quote]

Don't know where you heard this but it's not true. Check the internet... Mayo Clinic or Web MD. Lasts a full year from the time you get the injection.

Had mine this morning. Had no idea when she put the needle in... felt nothing. Now, several hours later, my arm feels a little sore. No big deal but I'll prob take some Advil or something.

I had the flu when I was 8 and REALLY don't ever want to experience that again.

My brother-in-law died from the flu after heroic attempts of saving his life through amputation of all limbs failed. He was 39 years old.

I'm in and out of nursing homes and hospitals constantly in my profession, and work around frail elderly in my moonlighting position.

I'll be getting my vaccine next week.

I don't take it unless the health dept is giving it out free. I have no health insurance...I can't even remember the last time I got the flu. I took the flu mist about 2 years ago when they had the free flu round up by the health department. The health dept did not give out free flu vaccine last years...so I didn't take it.

So glad to see so many of you are deciding to protect yourself from the flu. Last year I remember there was a new flu shot for those 65 and older, but haven't heard about it this year. It was suppose to be more potient to help those who may have weaker immune systems.
Well I went to minute clinic and they wouldn't take my insurance, and wouldn't let me pay out of pocket either. Ugh.
So I was able to get it right at the pharmacy, and free to boot!

Mike

msradar65 wrote:I don't take it unless the health dept is giving it out free. I have no health insurance...I can't even remember the last time I got the flu. I took the flu mist about 2 years ago when they had the free flu round up by the health department. The health dept did not give out free flu vaccine last years...so I didn't take it.

In some places the pharmacy will do it. I think it costs $7 here.

For those who are concerned about the risks of the vaccine, consider some numbers.

Known deaths per year in the US from Flu: 40,000.

I presume for every death there are several people with severe illness, long term health and financial effects.

There may be some serious side effects from the flu vaccine, but they aren't common enough to show up in the statistics.

3-6% of the population of the entire world died in the 1918 flu pandemic. We don't really have a lot better treatment for the flu now than we did then. The 1918 and other "swine" strains tend to kill the young and healthy as well as the old and sick.

Flu bugs mix and match genes all the time, and some of the current ones are somewhat like the 1918 version in some ways.

One warning: The nose spray shots have a live but weakened virus. You might get a mild version of the flu or give it to your loved ones if they're weak. You should get this warning before they give you a shot. You should actually read the warnings they give you.

While you're at it, get a pneumonia shot. They're relatively cheap and safe. You won't need another one for many years. Unfortunately, "pneumonia" is a symptom, not a particular type of germ. There are dozens of bacteria and viruses that can cause pneumonia, but the shot gives you some protection against many of the strains. You'll be safer, but not immune.

The flu shot here is around $30. I don't know about the pneumonia shot. I would have to check. Many of the big name pharmacies offer it (ie CVS, Walgreens, Rite-aid and Target) I was surprised to get the flu mist as I have rheumatoid arthritis. The nurse check with the medical director for the health dept and it was ok.

Getting the flu mist for me and my family. We just don't know all the risks of injecting ourselves with aluminum and adjuvants every year for decades and my kids and I are not going to be the guinea pig.

No fear of inoculations here.
I was one of the first children to get the Salk vaccine for polio.

opticalpopsicle wrote:Getting the flu mist for me and my family. We just don't know all the risks of injecting ourselves with aluminum and adjuvants every year for decades and my kids and I are not going to be the guinea pig.

The flu mist is a real live, but weakened virus. Be sure to read the warnings and stay away from kids, elderly, and sick people.

As for aluminum and adjuvants vs. no vaccine, you can bet your bottom dollar that the risk of the vaccine is not 1/10 of 1% of the risk having some full strength wild virus run through your body, injecting its DNA into the nucleus of your cells, mixing its DNA with yours, and attempting to take over the reproductive and biological machinery of your cells.

chunkyfrog wrote:No fear of inoculations here.
I was one of the first children to get the Salk vaccine for polio.

I had the Sabin polio vaccine in the early 1960s. It was a live virus given on a sugar cube. As a kid, I wished all vaccines were given that way. When my family traveled to Europe in the mid-60s, we all had to have a series of injections. The one for protection against typhoid was the worst. It left my arm paralyzed in pain for a few days.

However, the vaccine that I hated getting the most was the smallpox vaccine. It was the one where the nurse would prick your upper shoulder multiple times with that barbaric double needle.

I'm diabetic and give myself usually four shot per day; however, the needles are so fine these days that I can hardly feel them. Prinking a finger to test glucose levels is much more uncomfortable. Technology has come a long way!

brucifer wrote:
However, the vaccine that I hated getting the most was the smallpox vaccine. It was the one where the nurse would prick your upper shoulder multiple times with that barbaric double needle.

Yes, and it was done in school where I was, with everyone watching you in line. I still have the scars on my upper arms.

My smallpox vaccine was given by an Army doctor at Fort Robinson, NE at a very young age.
(I weighed only 5# at birth, and adults were generally enamored of such a little tyke-- )
He made special pains to leave as tiny a scar as possible--and on the inside of my upper arm.
I can't even find it any more.