OK. The plural of anecdote is not data. But, I'm adding mine anyway. The first year I didn't get my flu shot (last year) I got so, so sick with type A flu. Daughter and her kids also no shots.
Also miserably sick. My husband had his flu shot, still got sick, but about half as sick as the rest of us. I will never miss mine again.
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For people <65 y, consider Flublok, which contains more antigen and less of the eggy mess. (No, I don’t consult or work for its maker.) There’s also Flucelvax. We should “soon” know which of these vaccines is actually more effective, but my bets are on Flublok (or Fluzone HD).
2
As a health care provider, the vaccination is forced on me, otherwise I have to wear a mask. I would be unable to interact with my patients.
I have gotten the vaccination every year since the frenzy started, but last year I got the flu. Three weeks, sick in bed.
There must be some proof, somewhere, that the vaccination actually helps. I wouldn't mind seeing it.
13
I have had a flu shots for over twenty years and have never had the flu. I am a believer. Insurance (Medicare) pays for the shot which makes me think the shot must be worth the cost.
15
I still have a difficult time holding back tears when I think back on two particular weeks while I was a medical student. I was rotating with the pediatric surgery team who was caring for a young girl with the flu. She, and her family, went through the most harrowing experience I ever hope to witness as a physician or otherwise. I drew one of my most painful sighs of relief when the decision was finally made to withdraw life support. If you're not at least a little scared of the flu, you probably should be. Trust me, it is a terrible way to die.
Please get your flu shot. It is not perfect, but it IS safe.
Other commenters have posted some interesting numbers on the effectiveness of the vaccine. If you'd like actual estimates, the CDC provides easy access to those data. Effectiveness varies from year-to-year because it is impossible to predict how the virus will mutate. However, the average over the past 10 years is about 40%. Again, not perfect. But I'll take a 40% chance of protection from the flu every year for the rest of my life.
35
The two years I did not receive flu vaccine, I contracted it. The second time I am sure I picked it up while visiting the hospital after my husband's knee surgery. Fortunately, Tamiflu was available by then and the doctor gave my husband a prescription for it when he was released. However, I was so ill I could not get up from the bathroom floor and they had to send my husband home in a taxi - 35 miles one way. Then, because he did not have his wallet in the hospital and without being released to drive, he had to drive 10 miles back to our small town to fill the script. I learned my lesson the hard way, have not missed an injection in 18 years and will continue to get the high dose old lady vaccine.
13
Just what we need: there is a flu out there and six different vaccines available. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention isn't sure which is more effective, but we the American citizen that doesn't want to come down with the flu is in the best position to choose the correct vaccine. Go tell.
2
Right after I got my last flu shot I got a speeding ticket on the way back to my office. Then, as I was driving into the parking lot at work, I noticed someone was parked where I prefer to park.
And there’s more. I was served a bland egg salad sandwich at my local deli when I went out to lunch that day, and the server seemed petulant.
That night when I wanted to watch Netflix, my Wi-Fi signal was weaker than usual. We could still play reruns of “Friends,” but the picture wasn’t as good as it usually is.
Needless to say, I will never again be getting the flu shot.
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Doctors will tell you to get a high dose or adjuvanted flu shot if you're over 65 even if you have an auto-immune problem (if you're not on immune suppressants). Should I get a flu shot that can provoke an immune response that could cause a flare up of the auto-immune disease? I'm reluctant, no matter what the doctors say. General recommendations are fine statistically, but the one statistic I care about is me, and my reaction could be very different from the typical case.
6
In Canada - ontario we don’t pay for the flu shot. There is a dosage for seniors but only available at a doctors office, again no charge. All pharmacies offer the flu shot. Easy peasy
15
These additions (high dose, quadrivalent, with adjuvant) give only minimal additional protection. The only thing that can significantly increase your anti-flu antibody level is getting a booster shot about 2 months later (although higher antibody levels do not always correlate with greater protection).
9
I am 85 years old. I got the flu shot appropriate for my age. I have got flu shots for years, have never had a reaction to the shot, and have never had the flu.
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If there's a better illustration of the idiocy that is American health care than the closing four grafs of this article, I don't know what it would be. Madness. Sheer madness. Capitalism has no place in this equation.
15
I fear that this article, rather than helping, will confuse the issue for many who have hesitated to get a shot. Now, you make it sound like a complex decision.
16
If you want to encourage people to get flu shots, stop showing them grimacing!
65
I’m fortunate to live in an area where they offer free flu clinics at the hospital, at churches, and at community centers. I am not sure which vaccine they offered, but most of us are not in a position to choose. Healthcare costs continue to be unreasonable for many of us.
36
No thanks. Everyone I know who gets the flu shot ends up with the flu. I have never had a flu shot and get the flu once every 10 years. I am ok with that.
Keep in mind, before receiving any vaccine, that you are allowing pathogens and heavy metals to be injected into your body, and your body may not be equipped to handle them. Doctors push these vaccines because, let's face it, many doctors have become little more than pharmaceutical company representatives. Before getting a vaccine you, or your child, should be tested for egg and peanut allergies, sensitivity to mercury, and sensitivity to cancer cells, because those are among the ingredients. Notice too that all vaccine packaging says that it has risks, and before you receive a vaccine you are asked to sign a waiver in case the vaccine injures you. That certainly does not inspire confidence.
I believe in science but I also believe in corporate corruption, and I do not trust the pharmaceutical companies to be looking out for us, they are looking out for their profits.
32
@Baruch, Virtually nothing you say makes any sense. For example, cancer cells are not among the ingredients, as you claim. And there is no way to test for sensitivity to cancer cells. Ditto for your other fake claims.
101
@Baruch ... Peanut and egg allergies in regard to flu vaccines are a thing of the past. Not sure where your info is from but it's obsolete. The one time in 10 years you get the flu could be the last time. Granted, drug companies are not one of my favorite corporations but the flu vaccines are not one of their money makers. It's one of their life savers.
24
@Baruch Plus if everyone who gets a flu shot gets the flu, please let me introduce myself. I have had flu shots for more than 30 years; I have never had the flu. However I also know that if I do get the flu, I am more likely to get a milder case, with fewer complications, which include death. That's worth it.
36
The nurse at my GP recommended it, but I hadn't had one in 25 years. I had a reaction to that one, but relented and got the shot. Six weeks later I got the flu, did some research and found that flu vaccines are only 17% effective in preventing flu. I was really sick for 2 weeks, and now have had a further three weeks of coughing up dead lung tissue. Ugh.
10
@William
It's not only that the vaccines may prevent the disease, but they are likely to lessen the severity of the disease. However sick you were, you may have been sicker or even a lot sicker if you had not gotten the vaccine. The one thing you neglect to consider is that the vaccine, however effective it was, did not hurt you. (People with allergies must take that into consideration.)
13
After discussions with my doctor, I opted for pneumonia shots instead. Flu is dangerous because it can develop into pneumonia. And, unlike the flu shots, the pneumonia shots are reliable and protect you for several years.
3
Pneumonia shots protect you from pneumococcal pneumonia. Although this kind of pneumonia sometimes develops as a complication of influenza, others with influenza develop influenza pneumonia, caused directly from the influenza virus. The pneumonia vaccine will not decrease your chances of getting influenza pneumonia. Get a pneumonia shot if you haven’t had one, AND a flu shot each year.
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@MS
Unless it was an issue of cost, I don't see why you wouldn't get both the pneumonia vaccines and the flu shot.
5
@MS
You die not from the flu but from the body trying to defend itself - the body kills itself by trying to heal itself.
So - no the two shots are not interchangeable.
And if your Dr. really said they were you might want to do a bit of window shopping.
9
"Some people worry about whether flu shots contain thimerosal, an additive containing ethylmercury that is no longer used in any children’s vaccines."
This is not accurate. While infants and toddlers always receive the single dose shots, older children (even my 5 year old) may have to have their shots from the multi dose vials. My child's pediatrician only has the multi dose containing thimerosal for children over 4. This upsets me.
12
The author did not clarify this issue well. 1). OTHER routinely given pediatric vaccines do not contain thimerosal but 2). Flu vaccines administered from multi-dose vials DO contain thimerosal. While there are many many studies putting the thimerosal issue to rest, if an individual person still has a fear of thimerosal, ask the nurse or doctor administering it if they pulled the vaccine up from a vial or out of an individual box. There’s your answer.
As for the speculation about vaccine efficacy: yes it varies from year to year but it is still the better part of good to limit the spread through reasonable means: handwashing, staying home with febrile illnesses, covering your cough, and getting a flu shot.
7
I get the flu shot almost every year - and early. This year on 9/1, quad/ single dose (no preservatives). The flu can be very severe and last a long time so any protection, even if low, seems worth it to me as a ounce of prevention vs a pound of cure. As is washing your hands regularly and getting good rest!
33
I got the flu shot with adjuvant last Friday and my arm was beet red, bruised, with a large swollen hard lump and painful (not sore) for 5 days. It doesn't seem like a reasonable reaction. Does it mean my immune system doesn't need an adjuvant boost? How would you know?
Today my arm is bruised and a little pink. Kind of a week out of your life. But I have had the flu once and it is horrible. Medicine is not an exact science sometimes.
4
@shef
I received a Fluad shot this year and my reaction to it was the same as with every other flu shot I've gotten -- no significant reaction at all.
So, there is my anecdote versus your anecdote. People are individuals. You many be sensitive to MF59 (the adjuvant ingredient). Next year, get the regular high dose. I hope that works better for you.
One problem is that there have been no proper studies of the effectiveness of the regular high dose vaccine versus the adjuvant vaccine. Unfortunately, the US often has inadequate comparisons of various competing drugs.
4
I’ve never gotten the flu shot before, but after being sick for the last week and having to cancel all of my clients in what was one of the busiest weeks I’ve ever had (I work as a rehab Pilates/NKT instructor), I will never not get the shot again. In fact, even though I’ve just had it, when I go see my Dr. in two weeks, I’m asking for the flu shot right then and there. No excuses. If I am 40% less likely to get the flu and miss out on a weeks worth of work by getting the vaccine, then I’m there. It’s no longer financially realistic to not get it. Plus, I think I got it when I went to a concert in NYC last weekend. The only other time I was sick with the flu in recent memory also followed an event in the city. So, either I choose not to go out anymore, or I take some type of precaution, even if it’s not perfect.
27
Please advise people to check with Costco even if they aren't a member. Their prices on prescriptions and flu shots are much lower than all the other stores. The recognize & take all kinds of insurance.
I have found their pharmacists good, knowledgeable & kind.
Incidentally the Senior Clinic I go to recommends the quadrivalent over the ones for over 65 since they protect against more strains.
19
Respiratory problems are magnified by the poor air quality in the Bay Area, now blanketed with smoke from the Butte County fire. Very unhealthy.
Masks and air purifiers are in short supply at retail stores, and even Amazon dropped the ball in delivering a room air cleaner yesterday, as promised.
Things are not only bad for this asthmatic geezer. I got the high-dose flu shot weeks ago and I hope the isolation of being a shut-in is protecting me.
But even my dog's eyes are watering. And what about the birds and squirrels and skunks and raccoons?
Thanks, Donald.
7
No doubt some commenters here will note their own anecdotal adverse reactions to these flu shots - in an attempt to claim that scientists and medical practitioners are attempting to mislead the public. These commenters are doing a disservice to individuals and society. There are, indeed, facts and science, even in this age of "alternative facts." Protecting public health relies on provable facts, research, and testing. Flu vaccines are proven science. Don't buy into phoney conspiracy theories. Get the shot.
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@AQVDS It’s pretty obvious that the FDA is “owned” by Big Pharma, hence the skepticism. Check out their revolving door.
11
I concur. Anecdotal experiences with because this happened to me, it will happen to you doesn’t help. Human minds make the wrong connection all the time.
Everyone should hit recommend on the OP.
9
When I had my flu shot in mid-October at a large pharmacy chain, (Rite Aid) nobody told me there were options.
13
@paula
Unfortunately, the existence of several alternatives increase the likelihood of misinformation. I read about both the high dose and adjuvant vaccines, but at the Safeway pharmacy where I got the vaccine, the pharmacist was telling people that the high dose was quadrivalent, while the adjuvant was only trivalent. Apparently, the pharmacist had not read the literature carefully.
1
"These special formulations are 3 to 10 percent more effective for those 65 and older, said Dr. Paul Offit, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia."
On the effectiveness of some formulations for people over 65 you ask a pediatrician?
19
@G.S.had the same thought
4
I got the high dose Flu-zone shot-got really ill after 3 days and for the first time in my life-I had 2 seizures. Will never get another flu shot again. The seizures scared me and judging from what I went through adverse reactions are not dependably reported by the medical practitioners. By the way, I am an over 65 year old and received the shot "designed" for this age group.
30
@bigmac Also my experience. The one time I had the flu (and it was awful) was when I got the flu shot. I stay away from the shots, although at any drug store you get pestered by every single employee: “Have you had your flu shot? No cost!”
5
@bigmac
You can & could report your reaction to the FDA. D a search to see where to report side effects & reactions.
It is important you do so. You may be one of a kind or one of a number in which case warnings can go out.
26
I'm 70 and have asked for the "standard" flu shot since turning 65. This request seems to take the staff at some retail pharmacies aback, and I have to engage in a discussion of my reason for that preference. Worst case, it results in an argument. But I persist in the belief that the possible increase in effectiveness of the high-dose is not worth its magnified negative side-effect possibilities.
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