Flu Shot

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by schteve_d

I've never had a flu shot and I'm not sure I want to change anything as I haven't had the flu in years. I seem to get colds more frequently than most people I know and they tend to be less severe than other's colds but last longer. I consider that lucky I guess.

I get the shot more to protect others around me than myself - if I get the flu it is pretty miserable and I'd probably lose a week of work, but if I passed the virus on to my grandmother for example it could kill her (and the vaccine doesn't work as well on the people who are most susceptible to it). If you don't have young kids and don't spend time around the elderly or people with compromised immune system, it's probably less critical in my opinion (but the risk-benefit analysis is still very strongly in favour of getting it).

I got it at Avenida today - absolutely no line up.

[OffsideSpecialist]

I always get the flu shot, my parents started giving it to me after I used to get sick every winter and I haven't been sick since, so it seems to work for me. It probably depends on the person though. I plan on getting mine in a couple of weeks.

[Short Shift]

Originally Posted by The Goon

Go get it at Safeway - they'll give you a coupon for 20 Air Miles if you spend $20 in the store.

Sweet! There are at least 30 Safeways in the city and surrounding area. I can hit up 2 or 3 different ones every day and be on the beach in no time.

except I'll need the Hep shots for that

[Rhettzky]

Saw this on the news last night, doesn't seem like a big deal but one of the vaccines was pulled.

Alberta Health Service is taking the advice of Health Canada and will immediately suspend the use of one of three flu vaccines it has in stock, however it’s not anticipated this will have any impact on Alberta's flu vaccination clinics.
Dr. Martin Lavoie, Alberta’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Health says “there have been no reports of any adverse affects in Alberta”.

http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/health-can...#ixzz2AbOSveKW

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

Saw this on the news last night, doesn't seem like a big deal but one of the vaccines was pulled.



http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/health-can...#ixzz2AbOSveKW

Non story really. Some particulate matter found in a few syringes, so they're cautiously suspending 2 brands until they get to the cause. Huge abundance of caution IMO. No other brands affected vaxigrip (most common) still being given.



Edit: NOT pulled, temporarily suspended

[schteve_d]

Originally Posted by Ashartus

I get the shot more to protect others around me than myself - if I get the flu it is pretty miserable and I'd probably lose a week of work, but if I passed the virus on to my grandmother for example it could kill her (and the vaccine doesn't work as well on the people who are most susceptible to it). If you don't have young kids and don't spend time around the elderly or people with compromised immune system, it's probably less critical in my opinion (but the risk-benefit analysis is still very strongly in favour of getting it.

Admittedly I hadn't thought of it from that perspective.

[Fluffy Bunnies]

Dont want the flu? Dont be such a pig. Wash your hands. Thats the single biggest preventative measure against sickness. Also, eat lots of veggies and excercise regularly. All 3 of these will do way more than a flu shot ever will.

Why would a perfectly healthy person get a flu shot?

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by Fluffy Bunnies

Dont want the flu? Dont be such a pig. Wash your hands. Thats the single biggest preventative measure against sickness. Also, eat lots of veggies and excercise regularly. All 3 of these will do way more than a flu shot ever will.

Why would a perfectly healthy person get a flu shot?

Does washing your hands, eating vegetables and exercising also render other vaccines useless or are we talking just the flu? Inquiring minds want to know because I need to tell other medical professionals that they might be wasting their time.

[Fluffy Bunnies]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

Does washing your hands, eating vegetables and exercising also render other vaccines useless or are we talking just the flu? Inquiring minds want to know because I need to tell other medical professionals that they might be wasting their time.

Eating right and excercising keeps your body healthy and your immune system strong. Any medical professional will tell you all this. Plus washing your hands is the number 1 way disease is transmitted. Of course you already knew that right?

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Fluffy Bunnies

Dont want the flu? Dont be such a pig. Wash your hands. Thats the single biggest preventative measure against sickness. Also, eat lots of veggies and excercise regularly. All 3 of these will do way more than a flu shot ever will.

Why would a perfectly healthy person get a flu shot?

That is demonstrably false

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by Canuck-Hater

Its really not even necessary if you utilize a proper diet.

statements like this always make me laugh... was once told by someone that if I change my diet I could walk again lol

[Red Potato Standing By]

Originally Posted by Fluffy Bunnies

Dont want the flu? Dont be such a pig. Wash your hands. Thats the single biggest preventative measure against sickness. Also, eat lots of veggies and excercise regularly. All 3 of these will do way more than a flu shot ever will.

Why would a perfectly healthy person get a flu shot?

Do you have kids per chance? Cause i know with mine no matter how much you stay on them they are not always the best at remembering to wash there hands every single time they touch something. and 95 percent of the time that for us is where the flu comes into our house.

[J epworth]

Originally Posted by Fluffy Bunnies

Why would a perfectly healthy person get a flu shot?

So other people you come in contact with don't get the flu. Ever heard of altruism?

[photon]

Originally Posted by Fluffy Bunnies

Why would a perfectly healthy person get a flu shot?

Because your immune system is like car (and not like a muscle).. if you eat healthy, exercise, etc to keep healthy, your immune system can be fully operational and tuned (and unlike a muscle you can't improve it over its "peak" level) but it will still be susceptible to the flu because it doesn't have any antibodies for the flu. It will be able to fight it off better, manufacture those antibodies faster, and have a lower overall impact than someone who isn't sleeping enough or eating the right foods to provide the system what it needs, but it won't be immune until it actually encounters the flu strain.

Not to mention your body kicking the immune system into high gear to fight a flu has its own set of risks (usually for those more impacted by the flu in the first place).

So why not get those antibodies with a flu vaccine. Easy, takes a few minutes, and it's another angle of defense.

Plus you are better protected for those times when you have to work late or can't eat well enough or do whatever happens in life that can weaken your immune system.

[goaliegirl]

My whole family got the flu shot this year. My Father in Law has cancer and just finished his radiation/chemo treatment for it, it is for his safety we got it this year. I am sure there are many people like him out there every year, so for their safety we will be getting it every year from now on.

[ernie]

Originally Posted by schteve_d

I've never had a flu shot and I'm not sure I want to change anything as I haven't had the flu in years. I seem to get colds more frequently than most people I know and they tend to be less severe than other's colds but last longer. I consider that lucky I guess.

Good chance that many of those "colds" you got were actually the "flu".

In general if you've had an accompanying fever, chills/sweats, aches/pains, fatigue, or headache it was the flu not a cold.

I now get the flu shot every year because I have asthma. It certainly cuts down on the number of times I get sick during the year but unfortunately with kids it doesn't prevent things 100% of the time.

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by Fluffy Bunnies

Plus washing your hands is the number 1 way disease is transmitted. Of course you already knew that right?

So, we are to never wash our hands?

[Machiavelli]

I just got an advisory from Health Canada that they are suspending distribution and use of the Agriflu and Fluad influenza vaccines.

Vaxigrip and Fluviral are okay.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Machiavelli

I just got an advisory from Health Canada that they are suspending distribution and use of the Agriflu and Fluad influenza vaccines.

Vaxigrip and Fluviral are okay.

Did they say why?

I think I am going to get one this year. It's been a couple of years now since I last got one.

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Did they say why?

I think I am going to get one this year. It's been a couple of years now since I last got one.

It was mentioned a page or so ago, but basically some protein clumps were identified in a few European batches so it is being temporarily withheld for further investigation. No indication of an actual problem, purely precautionary (but good to see them acting proactively), and it doesn't affect the most common brands used in Canada.