Had the Flu yet?

DieselDave

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I got it the day before Thanksgiving. It's day 14 and I still can't shake the cough but Ok other than that.

My son got it first, then me, then my wife and my daughter got it yesterday. Many at work have/had it and lots of our friends here in town have it.

I am thinking this is typical all over the country. This is one of the first times I didn't get a flu shot, taught me plenty.

Have you caught it yet?

Do you know of anyone that took the Flu shot getting sick?
 

Silviron

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Haven't had a flu shot since 71. (Darn near got court-martialed for refusing, but they couldn't afford to make me that mad) Prior to that, had the flu 2-3 times a year, and ALWAYS right after the vaccine. Since then, I think I only caught the flu once.

Probably helps that I try to live the life of a hermit. Most people make me "sick" anyway, whether they are carrying a virus or not, so I avoid them and illness. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 

The_LED_Museum

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I received the influenza vaccine a bit more than a month ago, and I haven't caught the flu yet. From what I know, the strain of flu going around is one the vaccination does not protect you from.
 

Charles Bradshaw

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I have Diabetes, and should get the injected version, BUT, I won't. I rarely go out of the house (other than taking trash out), so I am not worried. If my body gets sick and dies, so what? I would be very happy to be rid of this junky body I got stuck with this time.
 

RichardMT

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Yep, I got it....4 days after I got the shot.

As I understand it though, the shot takes about 2 weeks to build up your immunity and supposedly if you do get the flu it will shorten the time. I did shake it in about 3 days although the cough is a problem after a couple of weeks.
 

oldgrandpajack

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Got my flu shot when it first became available. My doctor insists that I get it, every year. I don't think the flu has hit here yet (Central New York). Wish my grandchildren had gotten the flu shot.
oldgrandpajack
 

tiktok 22

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I think I'm getting a touch of it. Sore throat, but not much more. They gave out flu shots at work. So far, the only real victims of the flu are the ones who took the shot!
They seem worst of all. I'm not so sure the vaccination really helps that much.
 

Quickbeam

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[ QUOTE ]
From what I know, the strain of flu going around is one the vaccination does not protect you from.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's correct. And as soon as that news broke, along with the fact that as a result of the vaccination not protecting against this year's flu that it could be one of the worst flu seasons ever, guess what happened.

Everyone ran out to get the useless flu vaccination.

Apparently there's some sort of disconnect that happened in most people's brains between "vaccine doesn't protect this year" and "get vaccinated to prevent the flu" once they heard "worst flu season in a long time".

Now most states have run out of the useless vaccinations and drug manufacturers are scrambling to make more of the useless vaccinations to sell to people who seem to have missed the point. What a joke. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

Last year I was vaccinated and got the flu anyway. Worst 48 hours of my life. I was vaccinated this year before they knew the vaccines were essentially useless. Waste of money.
 

Badbeams3

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I get the flu about every other year...when I do I just take over the counter stuff...my wife makes me take Thera-Flu liquid form...not to bad tasting and seems to work great. I always breeze right through it...not much problem.

Ken
 

James S

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Quickbeam, the flu shot is not useless, they just guessed wrong about which would be the most common strain running around, it will still protect you against the others. But as was already mentioned only after about 2 weeks or so.

When they make the stuff up they have to do it before the flu season starts, so they don't know yet what kind of flu is going to be most common.

So unless you're one of the special people that get sick from the shot, there is nothing to loose by getting it and you might have been destined for one of the kinds that is covered by it.

My wife gets the shot early every year since she works at the hospital and has never gotten sick or had any bad reaction to it. She has also never gotten the flu since she started getting the shot each year /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

The flu vaccine as given to adults still has thimerisol as the preservative, so if you're getting it for young children you might want to ask for the low thimerisol version which is available in lesser amounts. (there is still nothing but intellectual posturing that suggests this might be bad for children, but if there is a low level version available to you, what the heck) There is also the "Flu Mist" that children and adults between 5 and 49 can use which wont even give you a sore arm. Also children under 6 months shouldn't get the shot at all (But their parents should)

The vaccine is made from "inactivated" viruses. This is not a live virus culture like the small pox shot. Each batch is tested to be sure about this, and if something did slip by it would make everyone getting those thousands of doses sick with multiple flu strains at once and they would know about it. It would be big news. You can have reactions to it, your immune system can react badly to it, you can get the flu anyway but you won't get the flu from the shot.

Also, anybody who is allergic to eggs shouldn't get it as it's actually grown in egg protein.

The flu puts over 100,000 people in the hospital each year just in America alone. It kills between 20,000 and 30,000 each year, in America alone. Unless you know you react badly to it, go get the shot, or try the inhaler version this year. Thats 30,000 people, in America. Not some third world country where people live in the jungle in huts, we're talking about modern city dwellers. Yes, the younger and healthier are not the main make up of that number, but it is a very serious and debilitating problem in anybody!

EDIT: Actually, after posting that I decided to look up some info and make sure I was remembering things properly /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif It takes 8 months to make the vaccine, and while the specific strain that is most common is not in there they say that a closely related strain is in there and that it will offer "some immunity" but nobody qualifies how much because they don't know and it will be different for different people.
 

Tree

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I had a small case of the flu about 6 weeks ago. Then a month ago I got the flu shot. A few days later I got this terrible congestion and cough that has plagued me ever since. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif That's all it is though, cough with tons of phlegm. No other symptoms. I went to the doctor a week ago who gave me a penicillin shot and put me on antibiotics but it hasn't changed anything.

The doctor also prescribed Allegra. I didn't get it filled because it was $50. Anyone have good or bad experience with Allegra?
 

torment

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i've got the sore throat...just woke up and my throat was brighter red than some of my flashlights....hope it goes away soon
 

B@rt

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We are facing an flu "invasion" here right now. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif Only problem is that it is a different strand than the one people are protected from by a shot...
 

darkwater

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Got vaccinated and got the flu. Still a bit of a cough about 2+ weeks into it, still no where near as bad as the rest of my school. (but we got 2 days off /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif ).
 

StevieRay

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A lot of people don't really know the difference between the flu and a bad cold or other viral infection. So many thing they ahve the flu and really don't.
 

Double_A

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StevieRay-

Don't just drop it there, tell us the difference!


GregR
 

James S

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One difference that is often quoted is that if you have a cold you might be miserable, but you can shake it off most days and still get to work and still function. If you have to flu you can't get out of bed. I've had bad colds, but I've also had the flu and believe me, you'll know when you get it!

flu and cold are both upper respiratory infections, but a flu can go into pneumonia if you're older or already sick or have asthma or something. In adults you're more likely to run a very high fever with the flu than with a cold, but children can have a high fever for either. Also you'll generally get over a cold faster, within a week, the flu will take you 2 weeks or more.

Milder infections like you might still get after a flu shot are much more similar to a cold and you'll recover more quickly. Otherwise the symptoms are similar, just much more pronounced in the flu. Right now I have a cold, mild muscle aches, sore throat, general malaise /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif runny nose, starting a cough, but I'm out of bed, I'm mostly functional just a little ornery. If I had the flu I would be shivering in bed and you wouldn't be reading this /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

StevieRay

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[ QUOTE ]
Double_A said:
StevieRay-

Don't just drop it there, tell us the difference!


GregR

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks, James
My thoughts exactly. You said it alot better than I could.
Last time I had the flu Iwas miserable for 2-3 days with high fever and unbelievable body and muscle and headaches.
Took about a week to get over and another couple of weeks to gain all of my strength back. I took my shot a couple of wweks ago and hope that it protects me or least makes it a lot milder if I do happen to get it
 
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