The Flu and Yu

[merithyn]

I've never gotten the vaccine, and never gotten the flu.

This.

[Tonitrus]

Mandated by Uncle Sammy.

[Jacob]

Meant to get it this year, but didn't.

[derspiess]

Have gotten the shot every year since we had the first kid.  Wife has been lazy about it most of the time.

[Berkut]

I am going next week to some research place where they will pay me $150 to get a flu shot.

My wife set it up.

[katmai]

And did she just take out new life insurance policy on you?

[derspiess]

If they're having to pay you $150 I don't want to know where they're injecting it.

[Bluebook]

Never got one, probably never will.

What I dont get about the US fixation with flu vaccine is why so many non-sick non-elderly get it. From an individual perspective it is far better to have the flu (and then being immune to that strain ever after) than to take a flu shot that may or may not protect you from the flu.

I have not seen any research, but I strongly suspect that all these years of flu shots have really led to a lower basic immunity/immune system  in the population over there.

[Barrister]

Never got one, probably never will.

What I dont get about the US fixation with flu vaccine is why so many non-sick non-elderly get it. From an individual perspective it is far better to have the flu (and then being immune to that strain ever after) than to take a flu shot that may or may not protect you from the flu.

I have not seen any research, but I strongly suspect that all these years of flu shots have really led to a lower basic immunity/immune system  in the population over there.

Being immune to an individual flu strain is fairly meaningless given how frequently it mutates.

The idea is that you want to stop the spread of the flu virus so that the sick and elderly aren't exposed to it at all.  That's why I started getting them - I had a pregnant wife / young children running around and the flu could be potentially dangerous to them.

[Admiral Yi]

From an individual perspective it is far better to have the flu (and then being immune to that strain ever after) than to take a flu shot that may or may not protect you from the flu.

Granted, flu is not the most painful disease known to man, but how exactly is it better to get the flu than get the shot?

[DGuller]

Never got one, probably never will.

What I dont get about the US fixation with flu vaccine is why so many non-sick non-elderly get it. From an individual perspective it is far better to have the flu (and then being immune to that strain ever after) than to take a flu shot that may or may not protect you from the flu.

I have not seen any research, but I strongly suspect that all these years of flu shots have really led to a lower basic immunity/immune system  in the population over there.

I can see a couple of reasons.  One is that flu is pretty nasty even for healthy adults.  No need to get knocked out of commission for at the very least several days, if you can avoid it painlessly.  And lastly, healthy adults may be able to weather the flu well, but them being sick doesn't just affect them, it also affects people around them.  Herd immunity and all that.

[garbon]

I try and stay away from children and the elderly.

[Malthus]

Never got one, probably never will.

What I dont get about the US fixation with flu vaccine is why so many non-sick non-elderly get it. From an individual perspective it is far better to have the flu (and then being immune to that strain ever after) than to take a flu shot that may or may not protect you from the flu.

I have not seen any research, but I strongly suspect that all these years of flu shots have really led to a lower basic immunity/immune system  in the population over there.

I don't get it. How is it better to get the flu than not? Being immune to a particular strain isn't a very valuable commodity, given you can only get a particular strain once, and the flu virus mutates quickly.

Also, you guys are seriously understating how miserable a bad case of the flu can be even for a healthy young person. Also dangerous, because even healthy young people on occasion die from the secondary complications - mainly pneumonia.

[merithyn]

Never got one, probably never will.

What I dont get about the US fixation with flu vaccine is why so many non-sick non-elderly get it. From an individual perspective it is far better to have the flu (and then being immune to that strain ever after) than to take a flu shot that may or may not protect you from the flu.

I have not seen any research, but I strongly suspect that all these years of flu shots have really led to a lower basic immunity/immune system  in the population over there.

Being immune to an individual flu strain is fairly meaningless given how frequently it mutates.

The idea is that you want to stop the spread of the flu virus so that the sick and elderly aren't exposed to it at all.  That's why I started getting them - I had a pregnant wife / young children running around and the flu could be potentially dangerous to them.

I read somewhere (and of course, now I can't find it) that the difference between the flu shot's immunity and a body's natural immunity is that the body will actually develop immunities to the various mutations from a particular strain. The flu shot does not do that.

[mongers]

Not had one, not sure I've ever had flu; also when I'm on those rare occasions ill, I'll stay away from other people for a few days after, as far as possible.