Shamrock

Looks like the bride and I came down with the the flue,we are in NJ.Funny thing is we both had the flue shot.

Lanceoldstrong

I am sorry you and your bride came down with the bug.

A little humor can be good medicine, so in that spirit:

It is too bad you both did not get the right shot.
Virologists try very hard to match the shot to the active strains, but are not always 100% successful.
Next year ask for the flu shot... not the flue shot.
Flu vs. flue - Grammarist

John E

Flu vaccination is indeed far less than 100% effective. The worst case of flu I ever got hit me three weeks after my first-ever flu shot. I decided against flu shots for the next 25 years, since I so rarely get sick, but I did get one this year. We'll see how it goes.

CrankyFranky

Most viruses mutate at a high rate - so the vaccine manufacturers have to make educated guesses as to which combinations of the two major flu antigens (hemaglutinin [H] and neuramidase [N]) will predominate in the human population in the upcoming flu season. They have only about 6 months to make their prediction and produce a couple of hundred million doses of the top three or four predicted flu strains. Sometimes the major flu is not one they predicted. So it's a bit like weather reports before doppler radar was implemented nationwide, a bit hit-or-miss. Still, there is a strong reason to get a shot, even with the knowledge that it might not protect you - the chances are very good that it will protect you at least somewhat, and the risks for our age group coming down with the flu far outweigh the risks associated with flu shots, which are truly minimal.

JohnDThompson 

Which is exactly what appears to be the case this year. Still, vaccination reduces your risk of influenza, particularly if you are in one of the high-risk groups or are likely to come in contact with infected people (e.g. health care workers).

No, the CDC did not just ?admit? that this year?s flu vaccine doesn?t work « Science-Based Medicine

Bikey Mikey

Vaccination does not guarantee that one will not get the flu, but often, if one gets the flu, it's not as severe. I'm in a high-risk group, Diabetic, so I get a shot every year. So far, knock on wood, I have not gotten the bug that so many have come down with, but the Doc feels I did have it during the second bout of a cold--if I did get the flu, it was an extremely mild case.

JanMM

Sorry to hear the bride and groom were stricken.
I'm an RN working in hospitals - no longer working with patients but still in contact with lots of folks, some of whom are care providers - so I have not missed a flu shot for a long, long time.
Even an imperfect vaccine is likely to provide some direct protection for me and, because of herd immunity, if most of the people I come into contact with have been vaccinated, I will have fewer opportunities to be exposed to the virus.
And remember, kids, you cannot get the flu from a flu shot!

BlazingPedals

I haven't gotten a flu shot in years, but I may start next year. I've had two major bouts so far this year. Not unexpected, since my wife is an elementary teacher and my job involves going to peoples' offices to fix computers. It's like we're both in the hot zones all winter long.

What I'm really interested in though is the pneumonia vaccine - it seems like every time I get sick it goes into my lungs and threatens to turn into pneumonia.

JanMM

Flu is a common cause of pneumonia. I'll be hedging my bets by getting a pneumonia vaccination this Winter, after I become eligible for it in January. (BD #65 !)

gif4445

You roll the dice and the flu shot, with all its shortcomings, gives you the best odds. Viruses are the devil. At least a very formidable foe. I just lost my Dad this Christmas morning to the flu. A strain that wasn't included in the flu shot this year. I'm deeply saddened, but hold no grudges against the people who have to make these tough, tough vaccine decisions.

qcpmsame 

Been a pretty large outbreak here in NW Florida, according to some RN friends. The hospitals are admitting several cases each day. Supposed to be a strain of the flu virus not expected to be a threat this year, and wasn't in the mix for the year's injections. None in my family, so far, but a friend lost a close relative to this strain last week. I really hope Monica and my shot is effective against which ever bug comes near our place, no welcome mat is out for any of the buggers.

Prayers for everyone here not to get infected to this crap, no good comes from having the flu.

Bill

avidone1

Sorry to hear you caught the influenza bug...I had the flu once and it was a genuine misery. I was only 23 years old but it remains the sickest I have ever felt.
I have been getting flu shots faithfully for years. It is known however that there are strains out there that the shots don't protect against. It's a crapshoot.
feel better soon.

10 Wheels

Took a FREE Shot in the early 70's...Yes it put me in bed for Sick three days....Hey but it was Free.

Bikey Mikey

It takes about 2 weeks to gain resistance from the inoculation. You may have already contracted the flu close to the time of the shot. You did not get the flu from the shot.

Flu Vaccine: Facts About Side Effects and Effectiveness

https://www.flu.gov/prevention-vaccination/vaccine-

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/812621

rck

I got a military grade flu shot in 1969. I haven't had the flu since!

DiabloScott

Nature is trying to kill us. Vaccines are a TRIUMPH of science over nature. I think I've only missed one flu shot in 25 years... the year they didn't have enough and people were going to Canada to get one.

CbadRider

My workplace provides free flu shots for employees every year so I always get one. I also got the shingles vaccine and a DPT booster a few months ago; two of my friends came down with whooping cough last year and it took a good 6-8 weeks for them to recover.

JohnDThompson 

So does mine. We're not required to get it, but if we don't we need to sign a waiver and wear a mask for any patient contact from October through March.

BigAura

Vaccines are not drugs, they are training tools. They train our body's immune system to fight. It's not unlike they way we train our cycling muscles to work for us. I try and regularly get my flu shot to keep my body tuned

JanMM

Good analogy.

1loosemoose

I was in the USAF in the early to mid 1980's and we had to get a flu shot every year. Every year without fail I had the worst sore throat within a few days. I felt horrible!
I have not had a flu shot since I got out in 1985 and I never will get another flu shot.

I had the flu one time since 1985.........I'll take my chances. Don't tell me you can't get sick from a flu shot because I felt horrible EVERY TIME I was forced to get one!

JanMM

OK. I won't tell you.

Reading a couple of books about the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918 cemented my respect for the terrible potential of influenza. Flu vaccination is not perfect but beats the absence of immunization.

Bikey Mikey

You didn't contract the flu from the vaccine. You may, however be sensitive to a component in the vaccine. If it was the flu you had, it wasn't from the vaccine. Millions get the vaccine every year and most(not going to quote a percentage, but I know it's very high) do not suffer any side effects from the vaccine. My father was in the USAF for 26 years and had no issues with the inoculation. I've had the inoculation for the last 10 or more years and not had any issue.

1loosemoose

My original response here was crappy and full of bad additude.
OP I'm sorry you got sick.

Regardless of experts, numbers in study's or whatever other reason I'm wrong in my reasoning. I for one will never get a flu shot.
For the record my wife is an elementary school teacher and she gets a flu shot every year.
Neither of us blows the other crap for making a bad decision. We both know what works for the other and it's all good.

Rick@OCRR

Hi JanMM,

Hopefully you will tell me the answer to this: I heard that the flu vaccine was delivered in an egg-white carrier and since I'm allergic to egg whites I've never gotten the shots. Is my fear valid?

Rick / OCRR