Flu shots...You Getting One?

• believer

  

  Lots of debate on whether a flu shot is necessary and/or if it's dangerous.
  
  So is it good preventive medicine or do the risks (thimerosal, Guillian-Barre syndrome, etc.) outweigh the benefits?
  
  I got one last year for the first time and lived through it. Our company pays for it so I figured why not?
  
  The OC is always an excellent place to get great advice. So what say you? Do it or leave it alone?
• GOONx19

  

  There's no evidence that thimerosal causes harm, so that part can be left out. Before people come on here and start spewing ignorance, a flu shot CANNOT give someone the flu. Yes, there is a chance you could still get the flu later this year even if you're immunized, but if so, you would've got it anyway. There is a chance, however, that your symptoms will be reduced in severity. By getting the flu shot you are immune to 4 strains of influenza that were most common in the Southern Hemisphere's season. Anyone with a chronic condition like diabetes or COPD should get the flu shot every year. Everyone else should get it for the sake of children and immunocompromised people around them. There is a reason why healthcare workers are required to be immunized. Get your damn flu shots.
• GoChiefs

  

  GOONx19;1665436 wrote: Get your damn flu shots.

  No.
• fish82

  

  I've become a fan of the flu shot in recent years.
• SportsAndLady

  

  I've never gotten one before and probably won't this year.
• Sonofanump

  No.
• HitsRus

  

  always.
  
  I don't believe that there is any proven scientific evidence of any harm associated with the modern vaccines for the flu except for allergy to one of its components. Nothing is 100% safe, but a true case of the flu is a devastating, debilitating disease. There is plenty of junk science that claims differently. But as a healthcare professional, I am trained to understand the difference.
• justincredible

  

  I couldn't tell you the last time I got a flu shot, if ever. I'm not against them, I just haven't cared enough to get one and I've yet to get the flu. Now that I'm working in a much larger office going in to flu season (from 4 to 70+), and since our company provides them for free on a specific day, I might actually get one this year.
• justincredible

  

  Oops, never mind. Just checked my email and the clinic was yesterday.
• queencitybuckeye

  Done.
  
  /in b4 1st idiotic "The flu shot gave me the flu" post.
• Fab4Runner

  

  I have never gotten one, but I may in the future.
• ernest_t_bass

  

  Probably not.
• Iliketurtles

  

  I got one last year for the first time and decided to get one again this year. It's free through work so I figured why not.
• McFly1955

  

  Never used to, but since having kids (3 kids ages 4 and under) I've gotten one every year.
• Belly35

  

  Never had a flu shot and they are free to my wife and I
  I'm in the best of health now, feeling great (have a few injuries that I caused)
  I'm thinking this year we will get that flu shot ..going to be lots of snow, extreme cold winter this year....
  I know that this is the wrong way of thinking but ... I what to be prepared for the worst
• cat_lover

  I get one every year. I am Diabetic.
• thavoice

  My part time job requires it and I will be getting it next month for free.
  Dont know if it is a coincidence or not, but the last 4 years I have gotten sick about 14-17 days after getting the shot. Usually knocks me out for 24-36 hours.
• TedSheckler

  

  No. I'm not a puss.
• Ytowngirlinfla

  

  Mandatory for me. Getting it tomorrow. Going for the spray this year.
• Heretic

  

  justincredible;1665459 wrote:I couldn't tell you the last time I got a flu shot, if ever. I'm not against them, I just haven't cared enough to get one and I've yet to get the flu.

  This part is my world. I've not gotten one (at least since I was a child and my parents had me get all the shots for various shit) and I haven't gotten the flu either. For the past few years, I've had a brief cold in the Sept/Oct period when the weather changes and nothing after that other than sniffles from time to time. So far (knocking on wood) I haven't even gotten that cold this year.
• iclfan2

  

  My wife is a pharmacist and takes joy in being able to stab me with a syringe, so I humor her. I never really get sick and if not for her probably wouldn't get one. (FYI it's basically free for everyone, whether work has a clinic or not. almost all insurances cover it)
• salto

  

  GoChiefs;1665438 wrote:No.

  This.
• WebFire

  justincredible;1665459 wrote:I couldn't tell you the last time I got a flu shot, if ever. I'm not against them, I just haven't cared enough to get one and I've yet to get the flu. Now that I'm working in a much larger office going in to flu season (from 4 to 70+), and since our company provides them for free on a specific day, I might actually get one this year.

  If it helps, my office is about 70 people and I have not had the flu.
• Old Rider

  

  Never had the flu shot and never have had the flu.
• Enforcer

  

  I've gotten mine already on the advice from My Diabetic Dr