December 18th, 2019 at 2:26 PM ^
Oh boy... I remember how the last flu shot/vaccination discussion went. This may not go well.
December 18th, 2019 at 2:34 PM ^
I must of missed that one. I didn't realize the anti-vaxx community was that prevalent on mgoblog.
December 18th, 2019 at 2:47 PM ^
Not so much "prevalent" as just "disproportionately noisy."
December 18th, 2019 at 2:48 PM ^
A lot of people are afraid of needles.
December 18th, 2019 at 3:39 PM ^
I get flushed and pass out if I feel a needle pierce my skin. Hard pass. I'll risk getting the flu and quarantine if necessary.
December 18th, 2019 at 3:48 PM ^
Let's see...pass out and wake at some point or risk being killed by influenza (there have been deaths recently). I'll take the needle.
December 18th, 2019 at 5:18 PM ^
Virtue signaling on this topic was inevitable.
December 18th, 2019 at 8:28 PM ^
Yes...everyone who gets the flu dies.
December 18th, 2019 at 8:54 PM ^
Do you not understand the concept of risk vs reward?
December 18th, 2019 at 11:14 PM ^
Do you?
December 19th, 2019 at 9:44 AM ^
Yes. Let me spell it out for you: the risk associated with getting the vaccine is LOWER than the risk associated with not getting the vaccine.
December 19th, 2019 at 12:17 PM ^
I am 100% sure I didn't claim that, mgoblue98, but try again.
December 18th, 2019 at 4:07 PM ^
I had the flu this year for the first time ever(mid-October so I caught the leading edge of flu season) It was fucking awful, my suggestion is to put a pillow wherever your head is going to land and get the damn shot as risking that just isn't worth it.
December 18th, 2019 at 4:47 PM ^
How the eff did you survive all the required shots in the military, including anthrax and the lovely smallpox?
December 18th, 2019 at 5:33 PM ^
The anxiety for me kicked in in my early thirties after I passed out after donating some blood. Probably fed into the anxiety for the next needle and got worse.
December 18th, 2019 at 8:36 PM ^
Seek help. Herd immunity is real if those of us that can physically handle immunization actually take it.
December 19th, 2019 at 9:00 AM ^
There is a nasal spray option.
December 18th, 2019 at 3:41 PM ^
Nobody likes needles. Using that as the reason not to get a flu shot is juvenile.
December 18th, 2019 at 3:49 PM ^
Plus, the needles used today are so small and thin. I think a bee sting hurts more than a shot from a needle.
December 18th, 2019 at 4:12 PM ^
Depends on the shot and what's in it. For example the Anthrax shots burn like a son of a bitch and there are some other shots that are legit painful, it doesn't excuse my son from flipping his shit every time he has to have a shot so badly that I have to hold him down, but there are definitely some painful ones out there.
December 18th, 2019 at 4:38 PM ^
Yeah... the gamma globulin shot in the ass service members take before deployment is a you know what. It leaves a golf ball sized welt in your cheek when the pain goes away.
But this isn't that. Get the flu shot people. Even if you don't get sick, it will help your fellow humankind out.
December 18th, 2019 at 5:19 PM ^
Smallpox takes the prize for biggest pain in the ass (or arm, in this case). The most actually painful though? Either anthrax or typhoid. The peanut butter-thick shot of penicillin they give you in basic training there’s no fun either.
December 18th, 2019 at 4:03 PM ^
Last time I was at the doctor with my kid, there was a dad there with his toddler. They were discussing with the nurse whether to get the flu shot or the mist. The dad folded and got the mist. I almost butted in and said, "Do the shot. Kid will learn that the idea of the shot is almost always worse than the shot itself." By caving and giving him the nasal mist, he's reinforcing the scariness of the shot. Mothers know about this shit.
December 18th, 2019 at 7:20 PM ^
Toddlers have already had lots of shots. How do you know that kid doesn't have a problem stemming from an earlier bad experience?
December 18th, 2019 at 7:32 PM ^
I didn't butt in. I'm not going to parent other people's kids. But the conversation led me to believe that the dad felt that emotion of not wanting his kid to ever suffer. I know that emotion. But since I'm in the final laps of parenting (my youngest is almost 17), I now know that pushing through painful things, whether physical or emotional, is better than avoiding them.
December 18th, 2019 at 3:09 PM ^
I read the other day that they no longer want to be called "Anti-Vaxxers," as they find that offensive. They would prefer to be called the "vaccine risk aware." That made me LOL...
December 18th, 2019 at 3:13 PM ^
I am willing to have a conversation about the effectiveness of the flu vaccine as there have been some interesting studies on that, but nothing that has moved the needle to change the current recommendations. But the "risk" of taking the flu vaccine--that has not been supported to date.
December 18th, 2019 at 3:25 PM ^
Moved the needle, eye sea what ewe did their
December 18th, 2019 at 4:03 PM ^
As I recall, it started as a vaccination discussion that got nasty and evolved into a larger discussion about anyone who doesn’t get a flu shot is an anti-vaxxer. It was all very confusing and scary to my feable mind.
December 18th, 2019 at 4:50 PM ^
Ant-vaxxers = I believe Jenny McCarthy, not scientists.
Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the guy who has lead anti-vaxxers, had his license to practice medicine revoked. Only idiots would follow anything he said.
December 18th, 2019 at 5:11 PM ^
Anti flu vax has some merit.
December 18th, 2019 at 5:24 PM ^
As a medical professional...
No.
December 18th, 2019 at 5:35 PM ^
Sorry doc (I assume), but as a human who has only had 3 serious bouts of the flu, coincidentally in the only 3 seasons that I've attempted a flu shot...
Yes.
Never had full blown influenza (knock on wood) any other time in my adult life.
Post script... I'm otherwise very pro-vaccination. I just can't see purposely making myself sick, as I had the times I'd gotten the flu vaccine.
December 18th, 2019 at 8:20 PM ^
There is literally not one single argument that a person who is averse to vaccines can make wherein the risk of the shot is greater (by any measure) than the consequences of the disease that the shot is meant to protect against. Flu, for instance, kills many hundreds of thousands of people globally, every year. In the U.S. alone, in the 2017-2018 flu season, more than 80,000 people in the U.S. died from complications from the disease (source: CDC). Mortality rates for influenza (and related pneumonia) are peaked at about 10% of reported infected patients.
The number of reported deaths associated with vaccines of *all* types? 122.
December 18th, 2019 at 9:34 PM ^
I take my flu shot because it'd be embarrassing to be the one who gives it to my 80-year-old mother-in-law and accidentally kills her.
Yeah, it's more hit or miss than other vaccines. You're still better off with the damn flu shot.
December 26th, 2019 at 1:56 PM ^
And then .. if you get the flu shot and you still get the flu because it's the wrong strain in the shot you received and your mother-in-law still got it you would still be like ..... damn flu shot!
That is why I do not like THIS vaccine. it is a total guess and over the past 3 years less than 40% effective and this past year it was less than 30% effective.
December 19th, 2019 at 12:48 PM ^
Those people that pass away, typically, already have a weak immune systems and develop pneumonia or other complications along with having the flu.They typically don't bother to report that and just blame it on the flu only. Also, many develop the flu even after having the shot. The shot does not mean you won't get the flu as they miss the strain often. It's less than (on average) 50% effective in the first place.
I believe in vaccines as a whole just not so much in the flu vaccine. I see both sides of the fence and have friends who have gotten the shot and gotten the flu and friends who have not gotten the shot and have not had the flu ever. Or they got the shot years ago and got the flu after and stopped getting the shot and have not gotten the flu since. There are lots of reason why someone might not want to get this particular vaccine.
I personally see both sides of the argument on this one.
December 18th, 2019 at 9:20 PM ^
The flu shot isn't meant to be a cure-all and is unfortunately not 100% effective. But 40% - 50% effective is better than 0%, especially among populations who are immunocompromised.
December 18th, 2019 at 6:17 PM ^
I too am a medical professional, and anti flu vax is not crazy.
As others have pointed out ts a guess at the viral phenotype and is not 100% effective. Furthermore while the risk of adverse event is low, it’s not zero, and no I do not mean acquiring an active flu virus infection from the vaccine. I have no dog in this fight as I’m mandated to have it annually and really don’t care all that much mornhave a problem with it. However, to pretend that people who are anti flu vax are the same as those that are against proven, effective, safe vaccines is ignorant, with no science to back you up.
December 18th, 2019 at 7:08 PM ^
Even if they get the strain wrong (which they often do) having the immunities to the wrong strain of the flu will still help you against whatever flu strain becomes prevalent. I can’t fathom how a “medical professional“ would leave out that info. Getting the flu vaccine makes sense even if you get a little sick for a day after. Bunch of pussies. We’ve seen several kids die from the flu already this year and none of them were vaccinated.
December 19th, 2019 at 8:25 PM ^
The flu shot gave me hepatitis. And herpes duplex.
December 18th, 2019 at 2:27 PM ^
I wish Brian good luck with his adult-onset autism!
December 18th, 2019 at 2:30 PM ^
That actually explains some stuff.
December 20th, 2019 at 12:27 PM ^
I think it's called "becoming a parent".
December 18th, 2019 at 2:30 PM ^
I don't even think Brian has the flu, does he?
December 18th, 2019 at 4:57 PM ^
Think he said Bronchitis the other day in the front page post
December 18th, 2019 at 5:06 PM ^
"The same viruses that cause colds and the flu often cause acute bronchitis."
https://medlineplus.gov/acutebronchitis.html
December 18th, 2019 at 2:31 PM ^
Or just wash your hands. And stop picking your nose.
December 18th, 2019 at 2:44 PM ^
Or wash your hands before you pick you nose if not picking your nose is not an option
December 18th, 2019 at 2:55 PM ^
I'd rather get a shot.