Swine Flu Concerns

I swear, I have been saying this for years now, every time I get the flu shot I get sooooooo sick. The flus I get last about 3 weeks or more and it's just awful. For that reason, I have stopped getting the flu shot for fear of getting the flu. People tell me it's all in my head, I disagree. I've talked to quite a few people that have the same problem, and they have also stopped getting the shot. Since I have stopped getting it, I don't get as sick.


By the Canadian Press

A senior official of the World Health Organization says there is a lot of international concern about puzzling Canadian data that seems to suggest seasonal flu shots raise the risk of catching swine flu. Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny says the unpublished data are the source of intense international discussions and there is keen interest in getting to the bottom of the issue. The data, from studies done in B.C., Quebec and Ontario, appear to suggest that people who got a flu shot last year were twice as likely to catch swine flu this year. The work, led by Dr. Danuta Skowronski of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and Dr. Gaston De Serres of Laval University, is currently in the hands of a scientific journal. Kieny notes that researchers in Australia, the U.S. and Britain looked for and cannot see the same effect.

I won't comment on your flu shot experience but it is interesting that there is some puzzling Canadian data.

It is important to remember that this is merely a suggested Corelation and also that the same effect was looked for and not found in the US, Australia and Britian.

I wonder if it's something as simple as the people that get the flu shot aren't as careful and therefore contract swine flu at a higher rate because they feel more protected.

It's possible. I went off of the subject a little obviously, not mentioning the swine flu itself. I was just stating what my experience is and the experience of quite a few of the people in my surroundings is with the flu shot. I don't believe in it at all. I'll have to get it when I get pregnant and older obviously to be sure, but I have zero faith in it. I can see how it works in some people, but I really don't believe that it is right for everyone. I think it also messed with your immune system.

Note that the study is linking the flu shot and catching swine flu (H1N1), not catching the flu (H3N2) that the flu shot is supposed to help against.

You will never get flu from the flu shot. Never. Getting the flu shot will only protect you against influenza for which the flu shot has given you anti-bodies for. If you catch flu and you got the flu shot, then the flu you got was not part of the flu shot anti-body payload.

I got the flu shot one year, very long time ago... don't really recall if it helped or not. But I've not gotten it since.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I won't comment on your flu shot experience but it is interesting that there is some puzzling Canadian data.

It is important to remember that this is merely a suggested Corelation and also that the same effect was looked for and not found in the US, Australia and Britian.

I wonder if it's something as simple as the people that get the flu shot aren't as careful and therefore contract swine flu at a higher rate because they feel more protected.

Heh heh. You may be on to something there.

Like people who think they can drive like it's summer in the winter when they have winter tires on.

I know that they inject the flu into you when they give you the shot, that's why some people feel a little under the weather afterwards. It's just to build the antibodies. I don't know how useful it is for anyone between 20-50 or even 60 to be honest. We should have good enough immune systems to get over a flu on our own. The deaths from Swine flu were all elderly people or kids or people with immune problems. Everyone else should be able to get over it on their own.

shabbs wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I won't comment on your flu shot experience but it is interesting that there is some puzzling Canadian data.

It is important to remember that this is merely a suggested Corelation and also that the same effect was looked for and not found in the US, Australia and Britian.

I wonder if it's something as simple as the people that get the flu shot aren't as careful and therefore contract swine flu at a higher rate because they feel more protected.

Heh heh. You may be on to something there.

Like people who think they can drive like it's summer in the winter when they have winter tires on.

So true. Wow, I am not looking forward to the beginning of winter. People are such fools.

shabbs wrote:Note that the study is linking the flu shot and catching swine flu (H1N1), not catching the flu (H3N2) that the flu shot is supposed to help against.

You will never get flu from the flu shot. Never. Getting the flu shot will only protect you against influenza for which the flu shot has given you anti-bodies for. If you catch flu and you got the flu shot, then the flu you got was not part of the flu shot anti-body payload.

I got the flu shot one year, very long time ago... don't really recall if it helped or not. But I've not gotten it since.

Although I work for a company that makes flu vaccines I don't get the shot (I don't like/am somewhat afraid of needles). I do rely on people around me to get the shot to reduce the overall rate of infection though

SensGirl11 wrote:I know that they inject the flu into you when they give you the shot, that's why some people feel a little under the weather afterwards. It's just to build the antibodies. I don't know how useful it is for anyone between 20-50 or even 60 to be honest. We should have good enough immune systems to get over a flu on our own. The deaths from Swine flu were all elderly people or kids or people with immune problems. Everyone else should be able to get over it on their own.

What they inject is a dead virus to allow your body to create the necessary anti-bodies. There are side effects from the shot such as a low-grade fever, soreness at the injection site and a decrease in energy for a couple of days.

It is not a live virus that they inject.

Of course not, that's how vaccines work. They are something that looks like the bug but is empty.

Just drink a lot of orange juice, guys .

No seriously, that's what I do and the last time I got the flu was like 6 years ago...

TheAvatar wrote:Of course not, that's how vaccines work. They are something that looks like the bug but is empty.

Vaccines that are administered via nasal spray are live... but weakened.

I work in a hospital and I have to get the flu shot. I missed last year's and was sick more often and for longer periods. Really, I think it comes down to the individual.

something to remember as well that even you get a flu shot it does not guarantee you wont get the flu due to the varying strains that are out there.

Phoenix30 wrote:something to remember as well that even you get a flu shot it does not guarantee you wont get the flu due to the varying strains that are out there.

Exactly. The flu shot only contains three strains as determined by the CDC.