Flu Shot? Do you get it?

[Southern Ivy]

I know vaccines are/can be a point of contention, so let's play nice. :)

I'm honestly just curious to know if I'm the odd man out this year in NOT getting the flu shot or if others go without as well. 

I've had the flu only once - on a year I got the shot. All other years, it's hit and miss whether I get the flu shot or not. My husband has never had the shot and has never had the flu. This year, though, with the N3H2 strain not even being covered and with the other strains just being an prediction/guess, it makes me wonder if it's even worth it. 

What does the Hive do?
 

[KarenC]

I have gotten the flu shot in the past, but did not this year.

[Dory]

Nope. Never have gotten it. Nobody in this house has ever gotten it. My bil down the road and his entire family get it every year.

[Pawz4me]

Yes.

 

We all get a flu shot every year.  All of us are in good health and rarely get sick.  But we don't take that for granted --  we believe in being proactive to keep it that way.  About ten or eleven years ago we all had the flu.  I forget who started it, but we then "fell" one after the other.  It was truly awful for me, because of course mom feels like she has to take care of everybody else.  And when mom can't do that . . . it was really bad.  Youngest DS developed some complications that required several doctor visits.  We decided as a family that we'd do whatever we could to prevent that from happening again.  And knock on wood, so far the flu shot (and maybe some good luck) has kept us from getting it since then.

[Word Nerd]

I did this year but don't get one every year.

[flyingiguana]

I get it.  Yeah, it's not 100 percent effective.  But no vaccine is.  (It would be more effective if more people got it)  And they might miss the right strain in a given year. 

 

But I've seen otherwise healthy family members die of the flu.  And on top of that, my kids and husband have asthma and one kid has a heart condition. 

 

It's always a gamble as to whether a given year's vaccine is going to work, but given the low risk of complications from the vaccine and the relatively high risk of complications from the flu, it seems wise to go ahead and get it.  (I say that now because I can get it at work -- in the past, I would have to go to a dr's office to get it and I had a tendency to come down with things that were very much like the flu from just being in the waiting room)

 

I wish more people in the general population would get it so there'd be more herd immunity.  But then, I also wish the general population would stop smoking.

[PinkTulip]

Some years we get it, some not. This year we got it because my oldest son was scheduled for a major surgery on December 23 and we could NOT get sick. So, of course, my oldest was diagnosed with Influenza type A the Saturday before his Tuesday surgery. He started on Tamiflu right away and fortunately was well enough to go through with the surgery. We were told that this year's flu shot isn't particularly effective.

[ScoutTN]

Dh gets it for free because he works for a healthcare company.

 

Every time the kids have had the vax, they got the flu. Most likely from exposure at the Dr.'s office or clinic.

 

We have no complicating health issues and are rarely sick, so we go without the vax.

[Tap]

Yes we all get the shot here. I work in healthcare, dh flies for work almost weekly, my kids,are in 3 different schools so they are exposed to lots of illnesses and ds tutors and volunteers with children.

I am the only one of us who has has the flu and it was a year before I started getting the flu shot.

[TechWife]

I don't get it now, but when I start volunteering at a hospital, I'll get it then because they require it. 

 

I have gotten it in the past, as has my son. Those years were the years we were the sickest during the winter. Since we haven't had great results with it, I don't bother. 

[AndyJoy]

I always think about getting it but forget.

 

The only year I actually got it was when I was pregnant with DS. That was also the only year I've ever contracted the flu. Wow that was miserable.

[scootiepie]

I got it every year when I worked at a hospital and when I was pregnant.   But not since.   No reason for it - just lazy.    And I don't remember getting the flu either way.

We are somewhat hibernating because it's rampant around here.    I am a little bit worried about one of us getting it. 

[Firefly]

No, never have.  We are all healthy and very rarely get sick.  But if one of us was immunocompromised, I would probably do it.

[catz]

We got it because we are traveling over the holidays and are visiting with aging parents. We are hit and miss with it. Some years yes and some years no. We have had the flu 3x here and never when we have had the shot. That said, I know all bets are off this year. I will be happy to get through our trip reasonably healthy. We return January 9. We all have minor colds right now.

[Ellie]

No.

 

The last time I had the flu was almost 20 years ago, when the Princess of Wales was killed. I only mention that to explain why I was so devastated when she died, because surely I cried the ugly cry for days was that I had the Martian Death Flu and was not in control of my emotions..

 

Anyway, I had a flu shot once, about nine years ago. I don't plan on getting it again.

[Lady Florida.]

Yes.

 

We all get a flu shot every year.  All of us are in good health and rarely get sick.  But we don't take that for granted --  we believe in being proactive to keep it that way.  About ten or eleven years ago we all had the flu.  I forget who started it, but we then "fell" one after the other.  

 

This describes us. Our last (though not our first) flu experience was about 12 years ago. Ds fell first, which also meant he got better first. Having the flu while your 5 year old with raging ADHD is well, is not fun. 

 

 

We often put it off and get it late in the season, but this year we got ours early. That turned out to be a good thing, since several families with whom we have regular contact have had the flu the past few months (confirmed - Influenza B).

[BigMamaBird]

We did get the shot this year.  We were blasted with a stomach bug right before we got it but haven't been sick since.  That could be because I've kept us pretty isolated, everyone around us seems to be ill so we've been sticking close to home.  We've never had a bad reaction to either the shot or the nasal mist.

[Tanaqui]

CVS gives it out free, so yes, we get it religiously. The flu can be a real hazard for older people or asthmatics, and our household includes 1 grandmother and 1 asthmatic child, so I don't think it's an option for us.

[Reefgazer]

I never get the flu shot. I rarely get sick, but this year I came down with a heckuva case of flu. Eh, I'm recovering.

[I talk to the trees]

Yes. I have asthma. I know they don't always hit the mark with the strains each year (yes, I have done a LOT of grumbling about that this year,) but if it keeps me from even one round of steroids, antibiotics, more steroids...then it's worth it, IMO.

[Lady Florida.]

CVS gives it out free, so yes, we get it religiously.

 

Dh and I got ours free at Walgreen's. I think many pharmacies give it for free. When I took ds to the doctor* for his, I realized it's the last year I have to do that. They aren't allowed to give it to anyone under 18 at a pharmacy (state law in Florida, I think) because a pharmacist isn't a medical provider. Walmart used to have an outside company come in and that company sent nurses, so he was able to get it there. Even they use the pharmacist now. Ds will be 18 before next flu season, so he'll be able to get the shot at any pharmacy. 

 

*It's free at the doctor's office, but much less convenient than walking into a drug store and asking for a flu shot.

[applethyme]

Ds has severe lung disease so everyone in the house gets the flu shot as soon as they are available. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

All of my family gets the flu shot.  I do not because of a past bad reaction.  

[Mrs Mungo]

I have a immune compromised child who can be put in the hospital by a lot less than the flu. So, we all get a flu shot (shot, not the mist). We get it early.

[Ottakee]

We all do here.  Between diabetes, seizures, and asthma, our family is considered high risk.  

[JFSinIL]

I always get it, so at least I might not get as sick as if I didn't get one.  I have had pneumonia  several times, once hospitalized five days, and can not risk getting that ill again. 

 

Apparently I have scarring now in lower right lung, probably from seatbelt squishing things back in late may. Lovely.  I wheeze a lot, and have to use a steroid inhaler. So my getting flu would be not a good thing.

[KrissiK]

We all do in our family. I used to not, but then I got the flu and was absolutely miserable for a week. I was sicker than I had ever been in my life. I couldn't even take care of my kids, my mom had to get them while dh was at work. And when that finally quit, I ended up with bronchitis and a sinus infection. So, I get the flu shot.

[regentrude]

I have been getting the flu shot for the last 10 years because I work daily with students most of whom live in dorms... germ factories.

The one year the vaccine was in short supply and I could not get a shot, I got the flu and was very sick. I was flat on my back for a week and it took me two more weeks to feel back to normal. Not fun.

[gardenmom5]

I've had a flu shot exactly 2x in my life.  both times I had a very compromised immune system.  (the first time, I still got the flu - 2x that season.  I'm convinced I would have ended up in the hospital the first time if I hadn't had it.  the 2nd shot was more precaution given my medical history.  and it was  year my dr couldn't even get any doses.  if he'd had one - I was the patient he would have given it to.)

 

 

I hardly ever get the flu even without a shot.

[Splash]

We all get it here. Two with asthma and one dd with disease that requires a treatment that shuts down part of her immune system. Influenza A and B are in our area. A is not covered by shot B is part of shot. We also use Tamiflu when needed.

[athomeontheprairie]

I didn't. Normally my husband who works at a school and our children get the shot. This year the local health department, Our pediatricians office and the health department in the nearby city (75 miles away) were UNABLE to acquire any of the vaccine. So no one here was able to get it.

[Hunter's Moon]

My mother made me get it every year until I was 17. I have asthma so my doctor really pushed for it, but as I get older, my asthma doesn't bother me as much.

 

After that, I only got it one more time—I was a hospital volunteer and it was required.

 

I don't get it anymore. I've never gotten the flu before, but I'm also healthy enough to handle it if I do get it.

[Tsuga]

Supposedly, statistically, what I am about to say is a total anomaly and makes no sense.

 

But among my close circle, the flu vaccine is strongly associated with getting the worst flu ever. Confirmation bias? Maybe. I have gotten the shot once. I got the flu. I haven't gotten it, or the flu, since.

 

We get all the other shots with no issue so it's not sensitivity to vaccines or adjuvants in our case.

[Crimson Wife]

Yes, in the years that I am not pregnant or nursing.

[happypamama]

We do not, and partly that's because we live in a rural area, and DH works in a very small office and has the ability to work at home if need be. We absolutely can close ourselves off from the general population without a problem, so we are at lower risk of catching things. If DH felt that he were at high risk for the flu, I would be okay with him getting a flu shot. In the twenty-plus years I've known DH, I got the flu shot a few times (I was a nanny for a couple of doctors, and they wanted me to have it, which was probably warranted, given their professions), and I had what was likely a form of the flu once, 2003. I had not gotten a shot that year, and I was sick and feverish for a couple of days, but DH and DD, almost two at the time, did not get sick at all. So the following year, I was pregnant with DS1, and I have asthma, so I had two big risk factors, and I still wasn't considered to be high risk enough to be given one of the shots (there was a shortage that year). So that kind of lost any faith I had in the vaccine, and none of us have gotten one since, and we've never had the flu. And this year, I've seen reports saying that they didn't match the biggest strains to the vaccine very well, so I see even less reason to get it this year.

 

But it is different for every family, and you have to weigh your risk factors. I would leave it up to my adult children to decide for themselves (or even older teens).

[73349]

Yes, I get the shot every year, and DS and DH are vaccinated also (DS gets the mist).

 

I have never, AFAIK, gotten the flu--but DH and DS have. (They got it in early September one year, before the vaccine was available). The were miserable. Imagine the bounciest, most sleep-averse toddler you've ever met refusing to get out of bed for an entire day. I get the shot every year in hopes of keeping them from getting the flu again.

[Farrar]

I usually don't, but the kids usually do. Not every year though. But one of the couple of years that we skipped for some reason we got the worst flu ever. It was horrible.

[Susan in TN]

We don't get it in general. I don't know if we have had the flu or not. I remember one year I was feeling fine in the morning and by 10am felt like I had been hit by a truck - fever, body aches, lost the will to live. I assume that was the flu. I hydrogen peroxided my ears every 2 hours and was feeling pretty good by night time. That's what we do when we are coming down with fever/respiratory issues - hydrogen peroxide and Cold-Eeze zinc lozenges, and it seems to at least reduce the worst of the illness down to a day or less.

 

We do not have any severe asthmatics or immune system issues.

[EmseB]

DH gets it every year because of his job (the nasal mist), so I had been getting it most years when I thought about it.  But I started being hyper-vigilant about it a few years ago when I had a newborn + a kindergartener in a b&m school.  I was terrified of the newborn picking up a respiratory disease/infection/flu from the k'er, so we all got the shot that year and have every year since.

 

This baby is due in two months and I'm praying we all can avoid the flu this year.  It's hard with the kids wanting to go to Sunday School and stuff, and I'd rather just hibernate in a hole for the next 8 weeks.

 

 

[sbgrace]

The one year we skipped everyone except me got the flu. I have kids in high risk categories, so all of us do the flu shot routinely. I don't think they're terribly effective, but most years something is better than nothing.

 

Everyone except me got it this year. By the time I had a chance to get it the news was already reporting the ineffectiveness. So I skipped the junk in the shot this year, but that is an anomaly for me. 

[Ali in OR]

Yes, in the years that I am not pregnant or nursing.

 

Actually women who are pregnant are very much SUPPOSED to get the shot. Your immune system is compromised while you are growing a foreign body and getting the flu while pregnant is not good. I know early delivery is one complication. H1N1 was particularly hard on pregnant patients--they were far more likely to end up in ICU and/or die than other H1N1 patients. Our OB office routinely vaccinates their pregnant patients who are in 2nd or 3rd trimester during flu season.

[Mergath]

Supposedly, statistically, what I am about to say is a total anomaly and makes no sense.

 

But among my close circle, the flu vaccine is strongly associated with getting the worst flu ever. Confirmation bias? Maybe. I have gotten the shot once. I got the flu. I haven't gotten it, or the flu, since.

 

We get all the other shots with no issue so it's not sensitivity to vaccines or adjuvants in our case.

 

I always wonder when I see people say this if it's because people who tend not to get the flu shot every year only go in to get it if the experts are predicting a massive, horrible, epidemic flu season, which means people are more likely to get the flu even if they've had the flu shot.  Then they don't get the shot when there's a milder flu season, and so they associate the flu shot with getting the flu when they should be associating getting the flu with really horrible flu seasons.

 

My dh has COPD and asthma, so we all get the flu shot every year.

[Mommy22alyns]

I got the shot while pregnant with Rebecca, every year until Sylvia was 2.  The girls got it when they were old enough.  I never had a reaction to the shot itself.

 

When Sylvia was 2, they offered us the FluMist.  I went with it because Rebecca was deathly (did I say deathly?) afraid of needles.  Against my better judgement, we got the mist.

 

We all got rip-roaringly sick from it, and my poor Sylvia  got the worst.  I will never get the mist again, and I will always recommend against it.

Since then, we haven't gotten the flu shot, and we haven't gotten sick either.

[Gentlemommy]

We do not. Last year myself and one of our kiddos (5 at the time) had the flu and it was awful. Six days of fever, three days that I don't remember because I literally slept 24 hours. Luckily, it fell on the week we went on vacation (which didn't feel very lucky at the time) because my dh was home and the other two kids were so busy doing fun vacation things they didn't come into the 'sick room' and get ill themselves lol.

However, we are typically healthy people, and aside from the common cold/tummy virus, don't have issues with immunity. So, for *us* it doesn't make sense to take the risk of having a vaccine that may or may not be effective and all the side effects from said vaccine. That's not to say I'm against it for everyone, obviously as mentioned on this thread, there are many instances where being safe and getting the shot far outweighs the risk of getting the flu...but for us, it's not worth the risk of the vaccine.

[maize]

Got the shot.

 

Got the flu.

 

I will keep getting the shot.

 

This is the first time I have ever had the flu and known it was the flu, I assume we got a strain not covered by this year's vaccine.

 

MIL actually got a serious infection in her arm as a result of the flu shot this year, very, very odd. I did notice that the shot this year made my arm itch, several other people commented about the same thing. I wonder if there was something different about this year's vaccine?

[Tsuga]

I always wonder when I see people say this if it's because people who tend not to get the flu shot every year only go in to get it if the experts are predicting a massive, horrible, epidemic flu season, which means people are more likely to get the flu even if they've had the flu shot.  Then they don't get the shot when there's a milder flu season, and so they associate the flu shot with getting the flu when they should be associating getting the flu with really horrible flu seasons.

 

My dh has COPD and asthma, so we all get the flu shot every year.

 

I wondered about that too, but in my case, I did it when I had a newborn because they said so. It wasn't a bad year.

 

I got it to protect my baby but I ended up out of commission and miserable and I almost never get sick!

 

My sister gets the shot because she's a nurse. She never got the flu until they started requiring the shot.

 

But... I will say, that I never get sick. It's like I have a really crappy immune system, so I probably have the virus and my body doesn't do anything about it. Everyone in my house gets a stomach flu, I will just get slight diarrhea. I don't react. I have had major illnesses--appendicitis, giardia--but I don't get the "little" viruses. I think my body is very tolerant of viruses and doesn't work hard to fight them. (Incidentally--I don't get fevers, either. I have to be practically dying, appendicitis, severe bladder infection, to get a fever. My second daughter is the same.)

 

Whereas if I get the shot, my immune system is all trained, and then when the virus comes, I react.

 

That is my out-of-my-butt theory. Clearly I did not get polio or the measles after those shots, but then, I wasn't exposed.

[HS Mom in NC]

No.  Never have.  Not categorically opposed, but I'm old enough to remember when the annual flu wasn't a newsworthy event.

[alisoncooks]

I have never gotten the shot before this year (same for my kids). We did this year because DH has a compromised immune system and the doctors recommended it.

 

Oldest DD and I had the flu when she was smallish, maybe 5 years ago.

[kewb]

Both dh and I have gotten it in the past. When we worked in the city and took public transportation.

Now neither of us is in a high risk work environment so we don't bother with it.

My kids have never gotten it.

[Southern Ivy]

We don't get it in general. I don't know if we have had the flu or not. I remember one year I was feeling fine in the morning and by 10am felt like I had been hit by a truck - fever, body aches, lost the will to live. I assume that was the flu. I hydrogen peroxided my ears every 2 hours and was feeling pretty good by night time. That's what we do when we are coming down with fever/respiratory issues - hydrogen peroxide and Cold-Eeze zinc lozenges, and it seems to at least reduce the worst of the illness down to a day or less.

 

We do not have any severe asthmatics or immune system issues.

Peroxide in ears? To combate respiratory illness? I have never heard of that! Interesting.