[Komskies]

Originally Posted by Komskies

No flu shot: You have the possibility of contracting the flu.

Flu shot: You have a smaller possibility of contracting the flu, but you pay for it by being slightly sick all year.

I'm going to try to clear this up because people are jumping all over me for no good reason. The quote above was a bit from a Seinfeld routine that I was unable to locate a transcript of, and evidently failed to properly replicate. It seems that some of you think I was trying to state a fact or my opinion there, neither of which I was doing. Believe it or not, I don't take medical advice from Jerry.

The part about me only getting sick in years when I didn't get a flu shot is just a personal observation. I wasn't attempting to draw a parallel between not getting a flu shot and not getting sick. Personally, I haven't had a flu shot since I was in high school, so about 7 years now. I haven't had the flu since.. you know, just saying.

Anyways I found a good link to the CDC website http://www.cdc.gov/FLU/protect/keyfacts.htm, and they have a list of people that should get a seasonal vaccine:

1. Children aged 6 months up to their 19th birthday
2. Pregnant women
3. People 50 years of age and older
4. People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions
5. People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities
6. People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu, including:
   1. Health care workers
   2. Household contacts of persons at high risk for complications from the flu
   3. Household contacts and out of home caregivers of children less than 6 months of age (these children are too young to be vaccinated)

I don't fall into any of the above categories, and consider myself to be a healthy individual with no chronic health problems. I choose to not get a flu shot because I don't feel I need one, not because I think it will make me sick or kill me.

Also, the link above is for Seasonal Influenza, and does not pertain to the 2009 H1N1.