So you think flu vaccinations don't work . . . .

Nurses COVID

Published

Ask the parents of the dozens of children who died from flu this year if they are sorry they didn't get their child vaccinated.

105 US kids died of flu; most didn't get vaccine

March 23, 2013

By MIKE STOBBE

AP Medical Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- The flu season is winding down, and it has killed 105 children so far -- about the average toll. . . . . Roughly 100 children die in an average flu season. One exception was the swine flu pandemic of 2009-2010, when 348 children died.

. . . All but four of the children who died were old enough to be vaccinated, but 90 percent of them did not get vaccinated, CDC officials said. . . .

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/03/22/health/kids-died-of-flu-most-didnt-get-vaccine

again, the vaccine may have served a purpose, maybe not. THERE is no way of knowing if these, very few, children, had underlying health/genetic issues that would have made the vaccine either inappropriate or ineffective. your implying that theses parents all willfully allowed/caused their children to die is insulting.

The parents, the providers, the government. It really doesn't matter, the ethical concern that providers are faced with remains. A decision needs to be made in proxy.

I would like to think/hope most parents do want what is best for their kid. Whether all parents actually know and/or do what is best for them is ultimately the concern. Unfortunately, that line of thinking led to 90+ children dying from a virus that could have been (partially) prevented, in this case.

The waters are further muddied by the principles if herd immunity.

Specializes in Critical Care.

The presence of pre-existing conditions that put someone at higher risk from the flu does not make the vaccine less important, in fact it's far more important that those individuals (and everyone else) get vaccinated. What's the argument with idea that many of the kids might have had another condition that put them at higher risk?

Specializes in critical care.
I would agree that parents have the right to make informed decisions regarding their child's health. "Informed" being the key word. I'm not sure that every decision a parent makes to refuse vaccines could be described as "informed", which makes many of them a bit reckless and therefore deserving of criticism.

Holy judgment, Batman.

The parents, the providers, the government. It really doesn't matter, the ethical concern that providers are faced with remains. A decision needs to be made in proxy.

I would like to think/hope most parents do want what is best for their kid. Whether all parents actually know and/or do what is best for them is ultimately the concern. Unfortunately, that line of thinking led to 90+ children dying from a virus that could have been (partially) prevented, in this case.

The waters are further muddied by the principles if herd immunity.

This line of thought always cracks me up....."I would like to think/hope most parents do want what is best for their kid" which basically means "I hope parents do what is best for their child" which is only what I think is best for your child.

Don't forget that every decade or so we look back at what parents used to do for their kids and think "what the heck were they thinking?" And people in the future will look back at how we raised our kids and think the same thing. Parents aren't perfect, we do the best we can and that's all that we can hope for.

Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.
This line of thought always cracks me up....."I would like to think/hope most parents do want what is best for their kid" which basically means "I hope parents do what is best for their child" which is only what I think is best for your child.

I am glad it made you laugh.

It's not unusual that my impression and plan differs from what the patient or patient's proxy wants. I see at least 5 people a day that want either opioids or antibiotics and don't get them. Why? Because I know it's not best for them, despite what they "want". I have the education and experience to make that judgement.

Yet when it comes to vaccines, parents/patients so clearly know better. Parents/patients are free to make their own choice, but it doesn't mean I agree with it.

I've had the flu twice in my life, both times after I had the flu vaccine. Each time, I was deathly ill. I've never had it (the flu or the vaccine) in any other year. It's tough to know what to believe.

I've had the flu twice in my life, both times after I had the flu vaccine. Each time, I was deathly ill. I've never had it (the flu or the vaccine) in any other year. It's tough to know what to believe.

In my youth, I never wore a seat belt, and was never in a car accident. After seat belts were mandated, I was in accident wearing my seat belt. Did the seat belt cause my accident? It's tough to know what to believe.

Do you know about serious complication of flu shot? 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated develops GB. There are 55 millions of school age children in US. If you vaccinate all of them you will have 50 + paralyzed children as a result of GB. Plus some of the vaccinated still die of flu. What is the benefit? And do not forget to add preschoolers to those 55 millions... So my conclusion is: risk outweighs benefits. But it is money for Big Pharma.

Less than 1 in 1 million recipients of the flu vaccine experience the side effect GBS; your statistic is extremely inaccurate.

Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.
I've had the flu twice in my life both times after I had the flu vaccine. Each time, I was deathly ill. I've never had it (the flu or the vaccine) in any other year. It's tough to know what to believe.[/quote']

You are aware that there is no possible way to get the flu from the flu shot right?

Specializes in Med-Surg.
You are aware that there is no possible way to get the flu from the flu shot right?

If there is no way to get the flu from the flu shot, why do we hear about so many people who get sicker after getting it than they did years they refused the flu shot? And that, consistently.

I HAD to get the flu shot in nursing school. Was given no choice. Every year I got extremely sick, not needing hospitalization, but weeks of antibiotics. Before that, or since then, I think I might have needed treatment MAYBE once or twice.

Sure, it wasn't the flu. But I did get much sicker than I usually do. So did the shot affect my immune response and make me more susceptible to other pathogens?

And before you make a claim about lifestyle then vs now, I am just as tired now than I was then, don't eat as well now, exercise a LOT less. I am also exposed to more sick people in hospital than I was during school.

Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.

If there is no way to get the flu from the flu shot, why do we hear about so many people who get sicker after getting it than they did years they refused the flu shot? And that, consistently.

I HAD to get the flu shot in nursing school. Was given no choice. Every year I got extremely sick, not needing hospitalization, but weeks of antibiotics. Before that, or since then, I think I might have needed treatment MAYBE once or twice.

Sure, it wasn't the flu. But I did get much sicker than I usually do. So did the shot affect my immune response and make me more susceptible to other pathogens?

And before you make a claim about lifestyle then vs now, I am just as tired now than I was then, don't eat as well now, exercise a LOT less. I am also exposed to more sick people in hospital than I was during school.

Getting the flu from a flu shot is a myth. The flu shot is dead virus. There is no way to get the flu from it.

You can still get the flu after getting the flu shot, just not from it.

As far as getting sick, I can't speculate on that. If you we're treated with abx I would assume there was at least some sort of evidence you had a bacterial illness. The flu is viral. Abx aren't appropriate for the flu alone.

The flu shot should not make you immunocompromised.

Specializes in critical care.

I don't think she is saying you get the flu. I think she is saying the flu shot lowers your immunity for other things. I had a similar experience the one and only time I got the shot before nursing school (this was like, 10 years ago). I was sick that whole season with everything but the flu. I decided I would never get the flu shot again. Now I have to because of school, and this year, I've been okay. My husband got it because he works in a prison.

Neither of us has been horribly sick this year like I was the one other time I got the shot, but I'm quite certain my kids got the flu (they did not get the flu shot). This is the very first time the flu has been in our home. If we're playing a game of odds, we've done well. I'm on the fence about whether my kids will get it again next year. I do understand the pros of it. I am a very well informed parent. My children are at the lowest of risks for complications from the flu. There was also research that came out in the last few years saying that yearly flu vaccines in children can suppress their adult immunity. We also tend to not have thimerosal-free vaccines here. I understand that it is said the mercury content is safe, but mercury scares me in any form, even elemental.

As I said, it really is a game of odds. And just because a parent says no, it does not mean we are I'll informed and we are not putting enough thought into it. Will they get the shot next year after having the flu this year? I really don't know. This year I decided no, but I hadn't considered that my work in high risk pops (and my husband's work) doesn't just put me and him at risk. If we aren't careful, we could bring something home. I'm leaning toward getting it for them at the moment. We'll see how I feel in the fall.

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