Flu Shots

eeyore1954 said:
Are flu shots just another money making gimmick? Do they protect only against previous years strains and are not effective against yet unknown strains? Is real influenza pretty rare and when most people say the got the flu the didn't have it and it was not something that would have been stopped by the shot.
Click to expand...
All I know is this. In Jan 1998. I got the worst case of flu I had ever had in my life. I had had the vaccine about six weeks before I got sick andif it helped even a little I don't know about it.
 
Cainkane1 said:
All I know is this. In Jan 1998. I got the worst case of flu I had ever had in my life. I had had the vaccine about six weeks before I got sick andif it helped even a little I don't know about it.
Click to expand...
Could have meant the difference between surviving or not.

But most vaccines have a failure rate and flu vaccine is no exception. It's not a reason not to get the vaccine.

BTW, that was an old post you replied to. More resurrected thread ghosts. :)
 
Last edited:
Skeptic Ginger said:
Could have meant the difference between surviving or not.

But most vaccines have a failure rate and flu vaccine is no exception. It's not a reason not to get the vaccine.

BTW, that was an old post you replied to. More resurrected thread ghosts. :)
Click to expand...
The post was on the board. You may be right. If I had not had the vaccine I might have died. I've had it this year and so far no flu. I wash my hands a lot especially when I've been in a public place.
 
Got my flu shot today as it's hitting Canada early and I'm leaving for Aus in two weeks so I should be just about topped up on anti-bodies for the plane trip. Last trip home got hammered by something - kid behind me in customs was hacking and coughing and no place to hide from the particulates plus tired from a 30 hour journey. Didn't take long to come down with whatever nasty he was spreading.

Officials here in Canada say this year's vaccine is well targetted for the particular strain.

Boston has declared a public health state of emergency it's getting hit so hard.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/10/flu-boston-massachusetts-health-emergency
 
Last edited:
Skeptic Ginger said:
I've not see whole cell flu vaccine in a couple decades in the US. Do they still use it elsewhere?
Click to expand...
There are places in Europe where it is/was used:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2738456/

Skeptic Ginger said:
I'm also unsure of your other recommendations here, they don't make sense.

For people over 65 there is now a high dose vaccine, not a split low dose. If a person is immunocompromised they need more, not less. And you'd never give an immunocompromised person the live vaccine as long as the killed vaccine is available.
Click to expand...
I think we are in agreement and I wasn't making recommendations. I am immunocompromised and was given the pandemic flu as two doses (maybe it wasn't a half dose each time but I thought it was) it wasn't live either.
 
Capsid said:
There are places in Europe where it is/was used:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2738456/

I think we are in agreement and I wasn't making recommendations. I am immunocompromised and was given the pandemic flu as two doses (maybe it wasn't a half dose each time but I thought it was) it wasn't live either.
Click to expand...

Capsid, I'm surprised you don't know what you got. You know so much about viruses.

You got 2 different full dose flu formulations if this was in 2009. The 2009-2010 seasonal vaccine containing 3 strains was already in production when the new variant 2009H1N1 emerged. Instead of delaying production of the seasonal vaccine the decision was made to simply use a separate vaccine for the new strain.

If it was after 2009 and you didn't get vaccine containing protection for the 2009H1N1, for kids under age 9 it was recommended they get 2 doses of seasonal vaccine a month apart so that in essence they received 2 doses of the 2009H1N1. It's possible someone recommended that for an immunocompromised patient but I don't believe it is a standard recommendation. It wouldn't be wrong for a prescriber to make such an independent decision as long as there was a reasonable rationale for it. It's called off-label prescribing.
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
Capsid, I'm surprised you don't know what you got. You know so much about viruses.

You got 2 different full dose flu formulations if this was in 2009. The 2009-2010 seasonal vaccine containing 3 strains was already in production when the new variant 2009H1N1 emerged. Instead of delaying production of the seasonal vaccine the decision was made to simply use a separate vaccine for the new strain.

If it was after 2009 and you didn't get vaccine containing protection for the 2009H1N1, for kids under age 9 it was recommended they get 2 doses of seasonal vaccine a month apart so that in essence they received 2 doses of the 2009H1N1. It's possible someone recommended that for an immunocompromised patient but I don't believe it is a standard recommendation. It wouldn't be wrong for a prescriber to make such an independent decision as long as there was a reasonable rationale for it. It's called off-label prescribing.
Click to expand...
Yes, I should have paid more attention but I was one of many that day being immunised. Our local GP's surgery run 3 flu clinics where everyone who is recommended for the vaccine (elderly, asthmatics, immunocompromised etc) is vaccinated; I think they do several hundred in a morning since I was number 400 plus so it was a bit of a rush. I am fairly confident it was the GSK vaccine. Remember I'm in the UK, so the procedure may be different.
 
Capsid said:
...Remember I'm in the UK, so the procedure may be different.
Click to expand...
The principles of vaccinating an immunocompromised person are going to be the same, even if the procedures aren't. I can't think of any reason to give an immunocompromised person a smaller dose.

Anyway, no matter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom