Flu shot poll

[Frances]

We've always gotten them because both my husband and son have asthma. And now my husband is required to do so for his hospital job. I rarely get sick and don't think I've ever had the flu, except maybe as a child. I can't even remember the last time I had a cold. But I don't want to risk them getting sick or my parents when I travel to visit them. Both my husband and I can get them for free at work without appointments, so no hassle there.

 

One of my coworkers changed her mind about flu shots after her and her husband both got the flu last year and were very sick for a long time. Like me, she rarely ever gets sick. She's decided that lowering her risk is definitely worth it and regrets not doing it last year when the shots turned out to be well targeted for the common strains.

[creekland]

Numbers have changed some, so I thought I'd update.  Our current results as of 292 members voting goes as this:

 

18-49 age range:

 

46.4% Yes or soon will

53.6% No

 

50-64 age range:

 

52.5% Yes or soon will

47.5% No

 

 

Kids 6months to 17 years:

 

43.7% Yes or soon will

56.2% No

 

Not enough data to even think about 65+ range, nor am I able to do adult kids somewhat respectably.

 

*Note that I had to assume with our kids that families average out in size since we aren't adding individuals and that the "some did/didn't" parts also divided out equally.  

 

*Note 2 that since there are three options for voting no without age ranges, I used the same percentages as with ranges dividing those out over the three groups.

 

This is NOT scientific by any stretch of the imagination.  It's just a fun look at some rough estimates.

 

Here's the comparison to the CDC's stats from the link I provided on the first page:

 

• Percent of children 6 months to 17 years who received an influenza vaccination during the past 12 months: 49.6% (Hive 43.7%)
  
• Percent of adults 18-49 years who received an influenza vaccination during the past 12 months: 31.7% (Hive 46.4%)
  
• Percent of adults 50-64 years who received an influenza vaccination during the past 12 months: 48.1% (Hive 52.5%)
  
• Percent of adults 65 years and over who received an influenza vaccination during the past 12 months: 69.1% (Hive Not enough data)
  

All "got or will get" stats went down a little bit from the last tally.  It makes me wonder if those not interested in shots took longer to read the thread (since as humans we tend to be drawn to read things we like), but there could be other reasons too, of course - just hypothesizing. 

 

Kids (6 months to 17 years) are still below average for us compared to adults (in both ranges) who are higher than national average.  Interesting.

 

[maize]

I also wonder if women are more likely to get the shot than men (which would skew the adult hive data)

[J-rap]

A couple of my girls used to get quite severe asthma when they became sick, so they were the first ones to start getting the flu shot.  Then one year after I became severely sick with the flu, I thought to myself, "Why aren't I getting this too?"

 

So ever since then I have mostly gotten it.  I haven't had the flu since, though I don't have young children around anymore spreading germs, so who knows.  

 

I have become a lot more cognizant of protecting the general public though.  I mean, maybe a flu shot works, maybe it doesn't.  But if I can help keep someone healthy (by not spreading flu germs) who is not able to have a flu shot (due to medical reasons), then I might as well get the flu shot.  I am around elderly people a lot and in hospital/clinic settings.

 

My kids are all in their 20's, and some of them get the flu shot yearly and some don't. 

Edited October 22, 2016 by J-rap

[creekland]

I also wonder if women are more likely to get the shot than men (which would skew the adult hive data)

 

Good point - one I hadn't thought of.  And those with kids in ps might be more likely to want them to have the shot to give them better odds at missing the flu/school.

[Carrie12345]

I've never had a flu shot. Only my oldest child has had one.

 

I do think that protecting *others is a valid argument for getting vaccinated, but it hasn't (yet) swayed me toward getting shots for something with a low efficacy rate that my family has come down with once in 16 years. (Once in 39 years, for me.)

 

That said, we RARELY (read: do everything in our power to avoid) get together with other people, especially those at high risk, when we even suspect an illness, just in case.  My boys have been home for about 2 weeks, though they seem to be just about over a minor cold or virus.

[Garga]

The boys and I got ours yesterday.  Dh is supposed to be scheduling his soon. I'll remind him.

 

I never had the flu in my life until 5 years ago. It was really bad!  I never knew how hard it could hit.  I thought it was a fluke.  But the following year I got it again, and it was worse.  Oh, the misery.

 

We've been getting them for the past 3 years now.  

 

The first year I did have a mild reaction where I got a fever after having the shot.  That one day of feeling pretty run down was worth it not to get the week of absolute misery.  The reaction hasn't happened the past two times we got the shot.

[hornblower]

I don't think the mild flu-like symptoms I normally get 12-24 hours after the vaccine are from the actual flu. I think the headache and low-grade fever are from some sort of immune reaction to the shot. This year I didn't get them so that's why I'm dubious about whether this particular formulation will provide any protection to me.

 

 

it could just be that your immune system still remembers enough of the old vaccines that you didn't react as strongly. FWIW, I had the quadrivalent this year, which had the additional 4th strain & I had absolutely no effects after.  The h1n1 is the last one I remember actually giving me a sore arm. None of the others ever have & no other symptoms. I don't know that there's any evidence that lack of reaction correlates with lack of immunity. 

[heartlikealion]

Ds' fever broke. Now we're dealing with the cough. Then the school emails us that lice has been spotted in school. Great. lol I don't know when to send him back.

[creekland]

Ds' fever broke. Now we're dealing with the cough. Then the school emails us that lice has been spotted in school. Great. lol I don't know when to send him back.

 

Did he miss the lice by being home with the flu?  If so, that could have actually been a nice side effect.

 

Otherwise, both lice and flu are in schools often.  Flu spreads more easily to more kids.  With lice kids mainly have to be careful what they share or how closely they sit together.  Flu is airborne.

[heartlikealion]

Did he miss the lice by being home with the flu?  If so, that could have actually been a nice side effect.

 

Otherwise, both lice and flu are in schools often.  Flu spreads more easily to more kids.  With lice kids mainly have to be careful what they share or how closely they sit together.  Flu is airborne.

 

I think only one child has been reported to have it so far (and not necessarily from his class), so I don't know if it's going to be spreading soon or what. I know that flu is airborne so I'm trying to get the cough under control before allowing him back. The dr's note excused him only one day of next week but all of this past week. I guess they figured by then it wouldn't be contagious, but I read it can be contagious longer for children than adults. We noticed he was feeling under the weather last weekend and didn't send him to school at all this week. So I am estimating he came down with flu around Saturday, making him returning to school on Tuesday not totally unreasonable. But really, I need to see how the coughing is by then.

 

[creekland]

I think only one child has been reported to have it so far (and not necessarily from his class), so I don't know if it's going to be spreading soon or what. I know that flu is airborne so I'm trying to get the cough under control before allowing him back. The dr's note excused him only one day of next week but all of this past week. I guess they figured by then it wouldn't be contagious, but I read it can be contagious longer for children than adults. We noticed he was feeling under the weather last weekend and didn't send him to school at all this week. So I am estimating he came down with flu around Saturday, making him returning to school on Tuesday not totally unreasonable. But really, I need to see how the coughing is by then.

 

 

Someone else will have to reply as to what the medical community thinks about returning to school (when one is no longer contagious).  Our school tells parents a kid needs to go 24 hours without a fever, then they are welcome back.  This goes for any illness, not just flu.  A cough can linger for weeks with some folks.

[hornblower]

Someone else will have to reply as to what the medical community thinks about returning to school (when one is no longer contagious).  Our school tells parents a kid needs to go 24 hours without a fever, then they are welcome back.  This goes for any illness, not just flu.  A cough can linger for weeks with some folks.

 

That's the CDC guidance regarding the flu in schools - "stay home until at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever or signs of a fever without the use of fever-reducing medicine."

 

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/school/guidance.htm

[Momofeat]

I selected "Undecided." 

 

We always wait to see how well the shot seems to be matched with the current flu strains before actually getting the shot.

 

Ds, dd1, and I all got the flu in 2008, and we had all been vaccinated. A nurse friend told me that we could have gotten the vaccine too early--we got it in October & got sick in February.

 

This year, we're getting a little antsy because the grandmother of a child I tutor was diagnosed with it last week, so we know it's in the area & among our friends.

[lauraw4321]

I've had the flu without the vaccine and the flu with the vaccine (twice). I will always get it because those two times were soooo mild compared to the one time I got it without the vaccine.

[heartlikealion]

Someone else will have to reply as to what the medical community thinks about returning to school (when one is no longer contagious).  Our school tells parents a kid needs to go 24 hours without a fever, then they are welcome back.  This goes for any illness, not just flu.  A cough can linger for weeks with some folks.

 

That's the CDC guidance regarding the flu in schools - "stay home until at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever or signs of a fever without the use of fever-reducing medicine."

 

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/school/guidance.htm

 

I had googled it earlier this week, couldn't remember where/what I saw but knew it was something like that. I didn't even let him leave the house today because of fear that it was still contagious and that fever was not the determining factor of it being contagious. He is not constantly coughing, but it is a bad sounding one.

[sassenach]

I have a son who would easily end up hospitalized, if not dead, if he caught the flu. For that reason, for many years the flu shot was not optional in our household. Now that my kids are a bit older, I give them the option. It would be easier to keep them apart from ds. Dh, ds and I always, always get it. This year, dd the eldest is choosing not to. Ds14 and dd12 both got it because they have big events that they're working towards and they didn't want to risk getting sick on those weekends.

 

The last flu we had in the house was eldest dd when she was 16. She got H1N1 and it took her OUT. She was so sick.

[umsami]

So DS2 is having a reaction to the flu shot.  We got the Fluvarix? The one w/o preservatives.  His upper arm has broken out in hives.  No breathing issues.

NP said to give him Benadryl (Friday).  Today she called to check on him, and because he still has the hives, asked me to report it to VAERS and follow up with his

pediatrician. 

[maize]

So DS2 is having a reaction to the flu shot. We got the Fluvarix? The one w/o preservatives. His upper arm has broken out in hives. No breathing issues.

NP said to give him Benadryl (Friday). Today she called to check on him, and because he still has the hives, asked me to report it to VAERS and follow up with his

pediatrician.

Oh no, poor kid!

 

Might be worth a visit to an allergist to see if you can determine what vaccine component he reacted to.

[creekland]

So DS2 is having a reaction to the flu shot.  We got the Fluvarix? The one w/o preservatives.  His upper arm has broken out in hives.  No breathing issues.

NP said to give him Benadryl (Friday).  Today she called to check on him, and because he still has the hives, asked me to report it to VAERS and follow up with his

pediatrician. 

 

I also would want to know what part he was allergic to.  It could be very important for future knowledge.  I'd also probably have him skip the vaccine in future years if that component were still part of it.

 

Best wishes to him - and you.

[Syllieann]

We all get the vaccination every year. This year we are between insurance plans since dh just changed jobs. He got one at work; the rest of us will get them when the new insurance starts in 6 weeks. I took my younger two kids to get vaccinated, planning to pay out of pocket, but we were rejected by two pharmacies. One didn't vax kids under 9, the other didn't do kids under 6. At that point I decided to just wait for the doctor's office $100 shot when the insurance starts.

 

The last time we got the flu was back when h1n1 came through. We all got it a week or two before the vaccine was released. We were a double income, daycare family at the time. We were all out for a full week. It was awful. None of us have ever had problems with the vaccines.

[slterry]

I don't think the mild flu-like symptoms I normally get 12-24 hours after the vaccine are from the actual flu. I think the headache and low-grade fever are from some sort of immune reaction to the shot. This year I didn't get them so that's why I'm dubious about whether this particular formulation will provide any protection to me.

 

 

I don't think side-effects (or lack thereof) from the vaccine is an indicative of the future efficacy of the flu vaccine you've received. As a pediatric nurse, I've received the flu vaccine every year for the last decade. Sometimes I get mild aches for a couple days afterward, but it never impacts whether or not I get the flu itself.  I am exposed many, many times a year as I do the actual flu testing in our office. The only time I've ever gotten the flu is the year before I got my first flu vaccine in nursing school, when I was 17. It was horrible and took me two full months to recover from.

 

Anyway, I am exposed to both droplets and sputum in my face every year from my tiny flu patients, and regardless of if I've had aches and pains or malaise after my flu shot (I'd say that has happened about 25-30% of the time for me), it has still protected me every year.

[slterry]

I've had the flu without the vaccine and the flu with the vaccine (twice). I will always get it because those two times were soooo mild compared to the one time I got it without the vaccine.

 

That is a very important point. Even if the specific vaccine doesn't cover the strain you get, it often does result in a much milder form of the flu virus for many. I don't understand those who say "but it doesn't cover every strain!" Of course it doesn't. But even in it's worst years (take 2014-2015 year for example), it still reduces incidence of flu (that season it was 25% in adults and 50% in children)- and has even higher rates of preventing hospitalization related to the flu because of what you discussed above. 

 

Last season, in many areas, it reduced incidence of flu by nearly 80%! Amazing. As a nurse, I see a huge reason to vaccinate especially for the immunocompromised patients who cannot receive the vaccine themselves, but the fact about the flu is that it can kill perfectly healthy teens and adults as well. I just don't see a drawback at all to receiving the vaccine, even if it's not a "good" year for a well-matched formulation. 

[Ausmumof3]

I voted don't see the need but would change if we had people on the family with compromised immune systems etc. I am pretty cautious about taking kids out sick to avoid spreading stuff. We did have flu a couple of years ago and it wasn't that great but it was ok.

[SeaConquest]

So DS2 is having a reaction to the flu shot. We got the Fluvarix? The one w/o preservatives. His upper arm has broken out in hives. No breathing issues.

NP said to give him Benadryl (Friday). Today she called to check on him, and because he still has the hives, asked me to report it to VAERS and follow up with his

pediatrician.

This is exactly what happened to my DS1. We reported it to VAERS. I really wish I knew the issue, and why we both seem to have problems with this vax. Edited October 24, 2016 by SeaConquest

[Liz CA]

I don't recall ever getting the flu shot. I remember having the flu once when my ds was little. Cannot remember exact year.

[Joyofsixreboot]

All of us. All free except 9 yo.

Dh-healthcare

DD- teacher

DS-healthcare/military

DS-college

PS high schoolers, my HS littles and I- no time to be sick!

None of us had any reaction past a couple with a tender spot on arm.

Edited October 24, 2016 by joyofsix

[creekland]

Thought I'd update again with 328 of our members voting:

 

18-49 age range:

 

47.6% Yes or soon will

52.4% No

 

50-64 age range:

 

49.3% Yes or soon will

50.7% No

 

 

Kids 6months to 17 years:

 

44.6% Yes or soon will

55.4% No

 

Not enough data to even think about 65+ range, nor am I able to do adult kids somewhat respectably.

 

*Note that I had to assume with our kids that families average out in size since we aren't adding individuals and that the "some did/didn't" parts also divided out equally.  

 

*Note 2 that since there are three options for voting no without age ranges, I used the same percentages as with ranges dividing those out over the three groups.

 

This is NOT scientific by any stretch of the imagination.  It's just a fun look at some rough estimates.

 

Here's the comparison to the CDC's stats from the link I provided on the first page:

 

• Percent of children 6 months to 17 years who received an influenza vaccination during the past 12 months: 49.6% (Hive 44.6%)
  
• Percent of adults 18-49 years who received an influenza vaccination during the past 12 months: 31.7% (Hive 47.6%)
  
• Percent of adults 50-64 years who received an influenza vaccination during the past 12 months: 48.1% (Hive 49.3%)
  
• Percent of adults 65 years and over who received an influenza vaccination during the past 12 months: 69.1% (Hive Not enough data)
  

All numbers shifted slightly from last time with a mix of up (kids and 18-49 ranges) and down (50-64 range).  Since all differences were rather small, I think we might be zeroing in on the "norm" for Hive voters.  Only those in the 18-49 year old range differ quite significantly from the US reported average.  I think the number of women on here helps, but I also suspect it could be due to our general economic and/or educational status compared to the overall public.  We have very few reporting they can't afford the shot (either OOP or with insurance).   Again, just thoughts - nothing definite and I'm not exactly in a position to investigate further.   :coolgleamA: 

 

It still surprises me with the amount we are above in that dominant range to see that our kids are 5 percentage points below the average and not many of those are due to health issues, but counting actual numbers of kids is impossible in this poll and again, those with kids in ps may be more interested in giving them better odds of remaining flu-free.

 

 

[heartlikealion]

Started taking GSE 1-3x a day in hopes I don't get the flu from my family. Dd is currently sick, but not sure it's flu. She has spit and coughed in my face. Dh feels under the weather. Holding on by a thread here lol.

[hornblower]

Flu activity in the US is still very low. Most who are experiencing symptoms right now just have bad colds...

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/

[creekland]

Started taking GSE 1-3x a day in hopes I don't get the flu from my family. Dd is currently sick, but not sure it's flu. She has spit and coughed in my face. Dh feels under the weather. Holding on by a thread here lol.

 

:grouphug:  I hope you can avoid it too.