Did you get a flu shot?

[Jason Roehl]

Not to "yell" at you, Mark, but in all frankness: is there a reason you think your judgement on this is better informed than the medical community's (which strongly advocates that you get a flu shot)? Are you aware that even less effective flu vaccines are likely to make the flu less severe, should you get it? And do you feel no need to contribute to herd immunity, for the benefit of others?

Sure, doctors recommend getting the flu shot, but they don't do comprehensive double-blind studies on its effectiveness. They do, however, get paid to administer shots. Also, there's a lot of job rotation between personnel from the companies that produce the vaccines and the CDC, both ways. No thanks, I'll keep on trying to stay healthy, since I'm on about a 20-year streak of no flu without the shot.

Not to mention, there is little said about the full ingredient list of the vaccine. Read it sometime.

[Frederick Skelly]

and in the for-what-it's-worth department:
from the CDC:

• Percent of children aged 6 months to 17 years who received an influenza vaccination during the past 12 months: 49.9%
• Percent of adults aged 18-49 who received an influenza vaccination during the past 12 months: 31.8%
• Percent of adults aged 50-64 who received an influenza vaccination during the past 12 months: 45.2%
• Percent of adults aged 65 and over who received an influenza vaccination during the past 12 months: 67.2%

a couple of past years stats-
2009-2010: 39% (adults)
2014-2015: 47%

I'm done.

Well said Kev.

Wow. Been some pretty strongly worded opinions here from 2-3 of you folks who are "true believers", lecturing or scolding those of us who haven't taken it. Go easy guys. We're all friends here. Whether you agree or not, it's each person's choice. Their bodies. Their risk.

Here's the bottom line for me: every time I've taken it - every time - I've gotten sick and missed several days of work. The years when I didn't take it, I missed zero (0) days of work. So I don't get this shot. In this particular case, I think my actual experience living in my own body trumps the opinion of the experts. I'm glad your experience was/is better.

Fred

[Jerome Stanek]

The study I saw was a blind study of 200,000 people. They said that 100,000 were given the shingles vaccination and 100,000 where given a placebo each group had roughly 50% of the people get shingles. So that shows me that the vaccine isn't all that effective

[Mark Blatter]

Not to "yell" at you, Mark, but in all frankness: is there a reason you think your judgement on this is better informed than the medical community's (which strongly advocates that you get a flu shot)? Are you aware that even less effective flu vaccines are likely to make the flu less severe, should you get it? And do you feel no need to contribute to herd immunity, for the benefit of others?

If the flu vaccine helps reduce the severity of the illness, is on me. Making it less severe does not help 'herd immunity'. I will take my chances on getting the flu. I have read so many times of people getting sick after the shot. In fact I just did more reading about it on various sites, like the CDC's own web page, and it talks about people getting sick after getting the shot. True there is no live virus in the shot, but the body still reacts in many people and takes you down for a couple of days with flu like symptons. No thanks to that each year.

On the herd immunity side of the equation, I don't work in an office any more. I work from home or when I am out, I am not around many people, and those I am around are the same ones. My kids are all grown, so none are bringing home every bacteria / virus that is going around. I wash my hands many times during the day to stop the spread of virus / bacteria. Frankly I am not much of a 'herd' animal. My preference is to stay away from the herd so I don't get their various illnesses. Also, if I were to get sick, since I don't work in or around people, I wouldn't be spreading it to others. Finally, I know my own body reasonably well, having lived in it for most of my life. Others can be dropping around me from whatever is going around, and I don't catch it, or it is much less severe for me. My immune system has a proven ability to fight off viruses better than most. There may come a time in years to come when it makes more sense to me to get the shot, and I will. Today I don't see the need. My doctor has agreed with me on it too.

In short, I don't like the 'herd' mentality saying to go get a shot when the 'herd' doctors don't know me or my medical history. They don't know my work schedule, my life in general or any details about me. As mentioned by others, I also tend to be skeptical about the motives behind all the recommendations. I don't wear a tin hat all the time while at home (just every other day), but I also put passwords on my Wi-Fi to keep out the hackers as much as possible.

[Al Launier]

Absolutely every year despite it being less than fully effective. Better to be protected against 10% of the flu viruses than none at all. At 75 I get the "senior" shot.

[Malcolm McLeod]

... contribute to herd immunity, ...

...In short, I don't like the 'herd' mentality ...

Mark, I know you used both 'herd immunity' and 'herd mentality', but please do so judiciously. They are VERY different things (and easy to search).

We can all imagine we are immuno-bullet-proof, or we live our lives in splendid isolation, un-tempered by the reality of being part of society. How many people do we directly touch, indirectly touch (shared objects), or breathe the same air in a given day? How many times do you touch your face? Rub your eye?

Four generations back in my family, there were 7 siblings (2 male, 5 female). I am descended from the male line, because one sister got sick and another came to care for her. Rinse and repeat. ...All five sisters died of TB. I never met any of them, but I'll bet dollars-to-donuts each thought they wouldn't catch 'it'.