Unreasonable fear of getting my flu shot this year

I think the Shingles virus stays in your system forever & it's possible to get it again if your immune system is weak. I had shingles 37 years ago & it never came back.
So, a person may have continued flare-ups or breakouts. We had a young Trooper who was maybe 22-24 y/o and he came to work one morning as I was already done with my shift and in the locker room changing out of my uniform when the young man asked me if I would have any idea what the rash was on his chest and stomach. I asked him if he gets poison and he said that he didn’t.

A few days later, I saw him again and it looked terrible. It appeared to be getting like small boils on it. I called another older Trooper over and told him to check this out. He said right away to the young Trooper that he better either get to his doctor’s office or the E-room. He told him that he had the Shingles and he did. It really got nasty looking. He was probably off work for about 2 weeks and even when he returned, he still had pain.
 

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So, a person may have continued flare-ups or breakouts. We had a young Trooper who was maybe 22-24 y/o and he cane to work on morning as I was already done with my shift and in the locker room changing out of my uniform when the young man asked me if I would gave any idea what the rash was in his chest and stomach. I asked him if he gets poison and he said that he didn’t.

A few days later, I saw him again and it looked terrible. It appeared to be getting like small boils on it. I called another older Trooper over and told him to check this out. He said right away to the young Trooper that he better either get to his doctor’s office or the E-room. He told him that he had the Shingles and he did. It really got nasty looking. He was probably off work for about 2 weeks and even when he returned, he still had pain.
Yes, shingles is painful because it attacks nerve endings. There is no cure for it. After the shingles vaccine was available for a few years, we started seeing that common commercial: "If you got shingles after getting the shingles shot, call this attorney."
 
On Friday night's show, Bill Maher was discussing vaccines in general, and mentioned how ineffective flu shots are. He said their effectiveness varies very much from year to year, as the virus keeps mutating. One year recently, it was only about 10% effective! I think last year it was 49%, which is better than nothing, but not anything to cheer about either. Not sure whether I want to bother getting one this year or not.
 

On Friday night's show, Bill Maher was discussing vaccines in general, and mentioned how ineffective flu shots are. He said their effectiveness varies very much from year to year, as the virus keeps mutating. One year recently, it was only about 10% effective! I think last year it was 49%, which is better than nothing, but not anything to cheer about either. Not sure whether I want to bother getting one this year or not.
They can say the flu shot is 10% or 49% effective. There is no way to arrive at those numbers with any accuracy. How would they know who has the flu; knock on doors? Most people who do actually have the flu don't need to see a doctor. And how would they keep track of everyone who had a flu shot & then got (or didn't get) the flu?
 
They can say the flu shot is 10% or 49% effective. There is no way to arrive at those numbers with any accuracy. How would they know who has the flu; knock on doors? Most people who do actually have the flu don't need to see a doctor. And how would they keep track of everyone who had a flu shot & then got (or didn't get) the flu?

Exactly! Anyway, the day I make medical decisions based on what I read from posters on a forum on the internet, is the day I turn myself in to getting my judgment and brain examined.
 
Another update: He was sent home today. His doctor said "likely pneumonia." Well, people usually get pneumonia when they're already sick with something else. Besides the flu shot, he also had a pneumonia shot a week ago.

The pneumonia shot is only good against bacterial pneumonia. There are, as I understand it, several strains of viral pneumonia, for which there are no vaccines.
 
They can say the flu shot is 10% or 49% effective. There is no way to arrive at those numbers with any accuracy. How would they know who has the flu; knock on doors? Most people who do actually have the flu don't need to see a doctor. And how would they keep track of everyone who had a flu shot & then got (or didn't get) the flu?

They are talking about actual influenza, NOT the crud that goes around that everybody calls the flu, which is not really influenza at all.
 
Got my senior shot today. Since I have late effects CVA I need all the protection I can get. PCP agrees that the shot may not be for every body but is right for me. Neuro doctor and kidney doctor agree also. So I had a regular visit today and asked for the shot. He had a laugh when I asked for the senior one. He said I would get one anyway.
 
How would they know who has the flu; knock on doors? Most people who do actually have the flu don't need to see a doctor. And how would they keep track of everyone who had a flu shot & then got (or didn't get) the flu?

Not sure how they arrive at medical statistics, win, but I'm pretty sure it's not by knocking on doors. They probably have a formula where they do a survey of people who said they got the flu shot and got the flu anyway, and figure out what the percentage is. Or maybe the doctors submit reports on the number of patients who got the flu anyway.

So if the number of people in that town who got the flu that year was, say, 1000 people, and of those, 500 of them received the flu shot, the shot would be 50% effective (in that town). Then, they probably do a combined study of millions of people all over the country, to get an approximate figure for effectiveness.

Of course, this would involve giving the flu shot credit for those people who didn't get the flu. Maybe they didn't get it for other reasons having nothing to do with the shot: good immune system, lots of hand washing, not mingling with too many other people, etc. It's a very inexact science.
 


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