Flu Shot? or not?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Oct 25 2007, 04:06 PM) [snapback]530481[/snapback]</div>

I would worry about mobilizing all that mercury. When I had all my mercury fillings removed, my dentist would only do one quadrant at a time, with several months until the next quadrant. He wanted to allow some time for the mobilized mercury to dissipate. He used a rubber dam to isolate the tooth being worked on, flooded the area with water, and put an air supply nose mask on me. Apparently working on the fillings vaporizes and/or turns them to dust, and exposes the rest of your body to the released mercury. Flooding the area with water helps contain the debris, but it's still a problem.

My take on all this is that a pregnant woman should delay any optional mercury work until after the child is born and done breast feeding. Then maybe spread out the work over several years. It's probably better to remove the mercury, but the act of removing it actually releases a significant quantity of it into the rest of the body.

 

I work at the healthcare industry.

Since SARS hit my country in 2003, my country's ministry of health recommend that all healthcare professionals get their flu shots.

So i have been getting my yearly flu shots. No harm really.

 

After getting our flu shots this year, my wife had no ill effects. I, on the other hand, ran a fever, ached all over and was mildly sick to my stomach for about for three days.

 

My workplace offers free flu shots to employees and their spouses.

I hear all sorts of excuses from my co-workers about why they don't get the shot. The sad part, they are health care workers! There is so much misinformation floating out there. One person is allergic to eggs and that's about the only valid excuse I've heard.

I agree this should be voluntary and a choice. For myself, I just got my annual check for all my unused sick days.

 

I really hate needles, I was a blood donor but I can't bring myself to do it now because I was hurt badly last time, ouch!
The flu needle is like a bit thicker than a hair and feels no worse than a mosquito bite. If you ask nice the nurse will apply a topical anesthetic but you really don't need that, just look away.

I'd rather have a little prick than a big sick.

 

Never had one. I'm not afraid of needles or mercury, either. I just don't agree with the flu shots for otherwise healthy individuals.
If you do all the germ fighting for your body, you're immune system never gets the workout in needs to "stay in shape". I'm not sold on the evidence that the shots help either. Our bodies have evolved to fight these germs, I say let them do their job.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Oct 26 2007, 08:36 AM) [snapback]530670[/snapback]</div>

You must be female, a guy would never say that.

 

Its interesting that so many people get the Flu shot in the US. In the UK very few people will get the shot, it is only for the old or people that have a current health issue. What happens in the rest of the word?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gazz @ Oct 26 2007, 09:32 AM) [snapback]530688[/snapback]</div>

D'oh! The Light of Obviousness finally shines on me. Health Care bigwigs in the U.S. don't give a wank about your health, so why should they suddenly be all worried you don't get the flu? Answer: They don't care if you get the flu. They just want to make sure their buddies at Big Pharmaceutical Company make the big bucks selling as much vaccine most people don't really need as they can.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tleonhar @ Oct 25 2007, 06:39 PM) [snapback]530529[/snapback]</div>

I forgot to mention the worst of all: For a few days before and after my heart operation I had to give myself Lovenox injections twice a day. I had never injected myself before, and it was not possible to look away. But it's a very small needle and you just push it all the way in. Really, really, creepy. But it was that or not get the operation I needed, and my quality of life had declined to the point that I could not bear it any longer. I never really got used to it, and I was very relieved when it was all over, but I did it, and towards the end it was not as bad as at the beginning.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Darwood @ Oct 26 2007, 06:55 AM) [snapback]530673[/snapback]</div>

Yep. That's how evolution works: Your body is continuously assaulted by germs and other hazards. If you manage to fight them off, you survive and your descendants inherit the genes that gave you resistance. Otherwise you die, resulting in a population that is stronger for your having been weeded out. Natural selection is nasty that way. I appreciate the checks medical science has put on it. We've screwed up natural selection and over-populated the planet, which is bad for the human race; but it's great for me because I'd have been dead 25 years ago had those doctors and drug companies not kept me alive when I developed hyperthyroidism.

The drug companies want only one thing: To make money. But the unintended side-effect of that is that I and many others who would be dead today are alive.

There's also the "me vs us" factor: If everyone else gets the vaccination and you don't, you are protected by the general high level of immunity. But if nobody gets vaccinated, the disease is more likely to become an epidemic. Some strains of flu have killed vast numbers of people. Getting yourself vaccinated may only protect you from an unpleasant couple of weeks if you are healthy. But it may prevent you from passing that disease on to a vulnerable person who would die from it. Your grandmother or your best friend's baby.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gazz @ Oct 26 2007, 07:32 AM) [snapback]530688[/snapback]</div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stev0 @ Oct 26 2007, 07:40 AM) [snapback]530691[/snapback]</div>

D'oh! The Light of Obliviousness is glaring . . .
What don't you understand about, "it is only for the old or people that have a current health issue"??? :huh:

Sounds to me more like an indictment against a socialized heathcare system which either is not big on prevention, doesn't have the money to vaccinate a vast majority of its ward, or both.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Darwood @ Oct 26 2007, 09:55 AM) [snapback]530673[/snapback]</div>

Just like evolution protected all those people in 1918?

Influenza Epidemic

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Darwood @ Oct 26 2007, 06:55 AM) [snapback]530673[/snapback]</div>

YES! A rational approach!

The general assumption is that flu shots are good for you, and that anyone who rejects them needs to be cajoled into accepting the minor pain of an injection.

Sorry. The flu shots are dangerous for some people, and slightly damaging for everyone. It's not the needle that I fear; it's the material in the needle that I refuse to accept.

As a child with asthma and numerous allergies, my doctor made sure that I did NOT receive the smallpox vaccination. He didn't think my immune system could handle another assault. As a teenager, I finally got the smallpox vaccination. It was terrible. My arm was swollen for several weeks, and I had to get some sort of additional injections to calm the whole thing down.

A doctor friend of mine had two patients who turned into vegetables immediately after flu vaccinations. He blames the vaccine, although I'm sure the "authorities" would reject that analysis. He still gives vaccinations, but tells each patient that there are both benefits and risks associated with each vaccination. If someone is uncomfortable with an optional vaccination, he doesn't push it.

As for the mercury in the vaccine, if the manufacturers of the vaccines really cared about us they would have removed the mercury at the first hint that it could be a problem. Instead they have dragged their feet and fought to keep the mercury in vaccines. It improves the shelf life of the vaccine, and allows sloppier handling before it has to be discarded.

A perfectly valid reason to refuse a flu shot is that there are significant dangers associated with it. There are people who react poorly to these vaccines (like me!), and I get really pissed off that everyone keeps trying to make me sick. With the story that they're looking out for my best interest! NO!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Oct 26 2007, 09:36 AM) [snapback]530670[/snapback]</div>

Your speaking of needle size and harm or hurt therefrom reminds me of a question I've long had, but never asked anyone, until now:

Why is it that 40 something years later I still have a blotchy scar on my arm from the immunization shots I had as a kid, but I have no scars on my arm from the flu shots and other injections I've gotten as an adult? Were the needles used to immunize kids from disease similar in size to those typically used to inject horses? Or is it that young human skin is more susceptible to scarring?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Boo @ Oct 27 2007, 01:29 AM) [snapback]531063[/snapback]</div>

That was probably a smallpox vaccine that you got. It's a different delivery method than most vaccines: rather than injecting a liquid bolus with a syringe under the skin or into the muscle, the small pox vaccine was largely delivered by a series of shallow pricks of the skin, and scarring was a part of the process.

As for the original question, I work in a hospital and get the shot every year. And 4 out of the last 5 years, I've gotten sick (mostly bad colds rather than the flu) the week before the hospital starts its month-long round of immunization clinics. This year as that dreaded first/second week of November approaches, I've already stocked the freezer with frozen juice concentrate and the cupboards with soup

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gazz @ Oct 26 2007, 09:32 AM) [snapback]530688[/snapback]</div>

Despite our bravado, we're actually a country of very fearful people.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Oct 27 2007, 05:07 PM) [snapback]531100[/snapback]</div>

No joke? It's pretty obvious really.

The flu shot doesn't work alone, it actually stimulates your imune system. It's also very cheap and I doubt it's making drug companies all that rich.

I found this here: - http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle.aspx?...title=Flu+shots It is written for Australia but still tells the story.
How much does it cost?
The vaccine is provided free for people aged 65 or older, and to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged 50 or older, or 15 - 49 for those with a chronic illness.
If you’re not eligible for a concession, the vaccine costs around $20, depending on your pharmacy.
If you’re entitled to a concession, or you’ve already reached your PBS safety net limit of $1059, the vaccine costs $4.90.
Needle-free vaccine
The Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (LAIV) is a relatively new vaccine that has been introduced in some countries, including the USA and Russia. It contains living influenza virus particles that have been weakened so they won’t cause the flu, rather than the killed viruses used in other vaccines. It’s administered by a nasal spray rather than a needle. It has proven to be successful, but in the US it’s only recommended for healthy people aged between five and 49 because of limited safety data. However, this vaccine won’t be available in Australia for at least two or three years.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Oct 27 2007, 02:53 AM) [snapback]531101[/snapback]</div>

Don't mess with us, or we'll bring our version of "Democracy" to your country.
;-)