quote:

ORIGINAL: DesFIP

I saw it being offered this year as early as August, I was afraid it wouldn't make it till March. I had mine two weeks ago when I was at the doctor's. This year it's a dead vaccine, and I'm wondering if it will be as effective as the live ones.

I had the flu six years ago and spent two weeks flat on my back. Never again. I'm faithfully getting them every year. And I get tetanus and pneumonia every ten, when I hit a decade. That way I remember when I'm due.

quote:

ORIGINAL: hausboy

quote:

ORIGINAL: searching4mysir

I never get a flu shot. My mother always gets one. She always gets sick after getting one. I almost never get the flu (haven't had it for 15-20 years).

IF the vaccine works, then even if I get the flu, my mother should be immune and not get sick. My lack of being vaccinated shouldn't impact her immunity.

Sorry....but this is a common misconception. The flu vaccine is not a live vaccine--you cannot get sick from the flu shot. It's often the case that people tend to get their shot during flu season, and are exposed to sick folks during the period before and after, while their body is building antibodies.

In addition, you also have to consider that the vaccine has 3 strains of flu--the strains are selected before any epidemiological data is available--based on preliminary data from the Southern Hemisphere, who sees flu long before we do in the states. So there is a bit of guesswork. Some years, they get it right--some years, they miss....and we see a LOT more flu.

Flu viruses are also highly tricky--they mutate significantly. You cannot build immunity to the influenza virus currently--which is why we have to get a flu shot each year. Researchers are working on a vaccine that will protect us just once--like chickenpox--but it's quite a few years away at this point.

I highly encourage everyone to get a flu shot---esp. those over 65, for whom getting influenza can be fatal. Flu can kill those with weakened immune systems, elderly and those with existing medical conditions.