Flu shot - an easy way to prevent training interruption?
 

Nothing ruins a good build period like an illness. Did you, or will you, get a flu shot?

Got mine.

I love them.

I prefer the flu. I have it now. Or maybe it's a bad cold. Can anyone really tell the difference?

No.

Ya know Pcad, people your age die from the flu frequently. Immunizations are good. I get all I can.

Got mine on Tuesday. As a state employee I get it for free.

Hope you feel better soon, Pcad.

I will outlive all of you. If this cold doesn't kill me I mean.

By the way, thanks Gromit.

My professional opinion as a molecular biologist is that they are unnecessary except for young children and elderly persons. In adults, especially physically active ones, regular consumption of vitamin C in a natural form (eg. orange juice) as part of a balanced diet (ie. not fast food) and getting a consistent 8-9 hours sleep per night are just as effective, if not more so, than flu vaccination.

Flu almost killed me the one year I skipped vaccination. I'd suffocate when I nodded off because breathing required so much effort it couldn't be done while sleeping. Took a week in the hospital and another month before I could climb a flight of stairs without stopping to catch my breath.

I don't get them in part because, World Health Officials select three strains they figure will be most virulent for the next season, culture in chicken embryo and then put 25 micrograms of Thermarisol in it. Sounds yummy but, I'll take my chances. Here the timeline. http://www.influenza.com/Index.cfm?FA=Science_History_6

elgalad, do you know how accurate the strain selection is?

Hell no. The flu affects you for one or maybe two days unless you are old, feeble, or pregnant.

On the other hand, the mercury and formaldehyde in the flu vaccination affect you for your entire life. And, as elgalad inferred, even if you get the flu vaccination, you still have a fair chance of contracting the flu.

I was trying to read between the lines in his post, and I didn't catch that.

I'm a college kid, so I got mine. I've had pneumonia 3 times (2 being in college) many of those times starting from flu. When I get pneumonia, I feel weak as hell for about a month, and takes for ever to get back to the shape you were in before the illness. If getting my flu shot can cut my chances slightly, I'm taking the edge.

ive never gotten the flu so i see no need to get a shot to prevent it

:rolleyes:

Do you by any chance ride a triple?

I've never been terribly impressed with Chuck Norris.

Apparently you have never contracted influenza. Should that ever occur, you'll be clearing your calendar for a week. Actually, somebody else will have to do that for you, you'll be flat on your back in bed. I got the flu half a dozen times as a kid, and maybe 3x since age 20 (50 now). I don't sense that what I have now is flu, but for a cold, it's a whopper. So perhaps it's a less virulent flu strain. Again, what's the difference? Only your microbiologist can tell you. I don't have one.

To understand the true cluelessness of sestevers' post one need only study the influenza pandemic of 1918 that killed millions globally, including tens of thousands in the US. Most of them young, strong, healthy army recruits living in training camps here in the USA. There's a monument in Cresskill, NJ that we pass on the Nyack Ride each Sunday. A 50' tall obelisk. It was erected in commemoration of all the young soldiers who died in that influenza outbreak. They weren't old, feeble or pregnant when they died.

I watched "Walker, Texas Ranger" for two years before figuring out that it is not actually a comedy.

Please tell us: where did you get your medical degree?

^^^You'll develop antibodies to the three strains that are injected into your body. If the flu isn't one of those three strains then it's worthless and you've just injected your body full of things that are usually not consumed by humans. That's all.

Go here for a list of what's in the flu Vaccine: http://www.909shot.com/excipients.htm and click on Vaccine Excipient and Media Summary. It's a PDF.

Conspiracy theorists are like the inverse of snake oil salesmen: every bit as bad for the opposite reason.

People born into modern western society and given at least a standard education (surprisingly often they've more than that) have also been convinced that:

amalgam fillings are slowly poisoning you
antiperspirant gives you Alzheimer's
sugar gives you diabetes
_________ [insert artificial sweetener] causes cancer of the _________[random organ goes here; brain is a popular choice]
mucous in the intestinal tract is bad
drilling holes in their skulls is therapeutic
man hasn't landed on the moon
someone invented a 100mpg carburetor but the oil companies bought the patent and killed it

Some of these people eventually find Snopes and get wise to reality. The rest are hopelessly lost, and wander around their lives spouting off nonsense to anyone, never realising people know they're full of crap because it's much easier to smile and nod than argue.

Here on the internet, very few feel compelled to smile and nod when presented with such ridiculous asshattery. Anyone who tells you that vaccines are bad is a gudgeon or a wilful idiot.

Ridiculous Asshattery RULES.

My understanding is that the selection is usually quite good, given that strains that are gong to be appearing in the US winter have generally already been observed in the southern hemisphere's winter. However, there are no guarantees that you won't come into contact with another strain.

Also, it's important to note that many people who get the shot get flu-like symptoms in the weeks following the jab, which may interfere with your training.

I'm not trying to say that the vaccination is worthless, but the current obsession with bacteria and viral infections that pervades the western mentality is causing more harm than good. Case in point: thanks to the use of antibacterial agents in cleaning products, something on the order of 75% of Australian hospitals now contain one or more antibiotic-resistant strains of staphylococcus.

In my opinion, children, the elderly, and other high-risk groups are the only ones that should obtain regular flu vaccinations.

Agreed. However, obsessing over non-lethal viral infections is equally absurd.

With all due respect, molecular biology and infectious disease are pretty distinct from one another. This is a little like getting advice on cars from a motorcycle expert.

Most GPs agree that flu shots are a good idea for adults with asthma (including sub-clinical asthma) and on medication regimens that conflict with over the counter cold medications.

BTW, there is literally NO downside to the flu shot. Stories of contamination and foul play are exaggerated.

No offense to GP's, but their understanding of infectious diseases stretches about as far as knowing which pills go with which symptoms. My job everyday is to work on the fundamental mechanics of these processes, so I think I'm pretty highly qualified to comment :rolleyes:

Adults with asthma would fall into one of the high-risk groups I was talking about earlier. However, for adults without asthma or other complicating illnesses, the flu shot is unnecessary.

There IS a downside to the flu shot, as I mentioned earlier, in that a significant fraction of those who get it develop flu-like symptoms in the weeks following vaccination. I believe that for healthy adults it is not worth the trouble.

As an 59 year person with asthma I think getting a flu shot every year makes sense. I do agree however that far too many doctors prescribe antibiotics and it has caused a big problem.

Every year I've gotten a flu shot, I get the most insanely virulent flu that ****s me up beyond any flu I've gotten when I *didn't* get a flu shot. Honestly, I have no idea if getting a flu shot is correlated with getting an insanely bad bout of flu, so I decided to test it out. No flu shot this year. :o