They really push the flu shot here esp for the elderly. And yet, the older friends I have who have had the shots in the last couple of years have gotten really, really ill from the shots. And this is helpful because...?

Also, another question I always have when this comes up: OK, things like polio, rabies, smallpox, whatever--you know what it is you're up against and the vaccines are specific. But flu (grippe) is a VIRUS, right? How do they know what "this year's bug" is going to be, far enough in advance to come out with a vaccine? Unless of course it's a massive conspiracy, which I doubt? And yet they always say there's no cure for the common cold because viruses mutate all the time...

Personally, I'll pass. If I'm in such a weakened state that the flu can carry me off in spite of miso, bedrest and fruit juice...so be it.

It's probably safer to get it now then get it after a flu epidemic breaks out. Of course, if you're like me and you're scared to death of needles, you wouldn't get it unless you had to (har har!).

I never knew vaccines were grown in eggs? Don't vaccines just contain dead, weakened pathogens or just antigens from the pathogen? Hmmm

I don't have a choice whether I want the flu shot or not. I work in a hospital & although management doesn't come right out & say it, it is pretty much mandatory. I can refuse because of an allergy or religious reasons & there are no questions asked but if I refuse the shot & we have an outbreak, I cannot report to work until the outbreak is over & if I don't work, I don't get paid. I've gotten the flu shot for years & never been sick....never was sick before the flu shot either.
By getting the shot, I am not only protecting myself but I am protecting every single person I come into contact with, at work, at home & in the community.

Living & working during the SARS outbreak scared the ever-lovin' crap out of me & I'll take the vaccine every time.

I've never gotten it, never had the flu.

People still get the flu on the flu shot. It's not 100% effective. I always found it ironic when people go all out to protect themselves against the flu via shots, antibacterial wipes, vitamin C overdosing, etc. and STILL wind up getting it.

Personally, I think health is directly related to the food I eat, the exercise I get. If my habits are crappy, my immune system will be crappy.

So if avian flu mutates & goes pandemic, you won't get the vaccine?

where i'm from (the UK) they don't hand out the flu vaccine willy nilly- you have to be special to get it- eg: have problems with your heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys etc, a weakened immunity from something like chemo or AIDS, live in a residential home (not school), or be elderly.

i've had a flu shot twice in my 27 years (i'm eligable in the UK as an asthmatic, but i'm dubious about the diagnosis cos i can breathe perfectly fine, lol), and so far in my life, i've had the flu (real flu- as aposed to one of those heavy colds that many people seem to think is flu*) just one time- when i was about 14.

it wasn't great fun. i was flat on my back in bed for a week, and felt crap for another week. if i hadn't have lived with my family, i'd have been in a pickle, cos i couldn't get myself a drink, or walk unaided to the bathroom, etc, but i didn't get close to dying or anything, i was just incapacitated somewhat.

i think the flu vaccine is something like 70% effective, if they guess the developing strain right. i think its a good idea to have it if you have a lousy chance of bouncing back from flu, or you're in contact with a lot of at risk people (eg: if you work in a residential care home) but if you're young, fit, and healthy, odds are you'll be just fine without it.

*my doctor says the easiest way to judge if you have flu or just a very heavy cold, is the £50 note/$100 bill test. apparently, if you were lying in your sick bed, and saw a note/bill resting on your window-ledge just out of arms reach- if you'd got flu, you'd lie there and watch it blow away, you'd not even try and get up to reach for it, thats how sick you'd feel.