[lsyorke]

"And is his product FDA approved? How many trials has it undergone for safety and efficacy?"

Don't even make me go there!!!! FDA approved means nothing. Look at the SSRI clinical trial suppression. Where was the FDA then?? The state of clinical trials in this country is the drug company can do clinical trials and then pick which ones get shown to the FDA. Bad trial, goes in the drawer- good trial gets presented. The FDA is rubber stamping new drugs and taking years to tabulate the "Adverse reaction" reporting by consumers, putting thousands at risk. Yes ,I am a health professional, but I'm not about to blindly take a drug just because its FDA approved, or a vaccine because "Its what a responsible health professional does". We have educated minds and are capable of analyzing date. When I can see the raw data from all clinical trials, I will be comfortable taking a drug.

[RN4NICU]

[quote=kay]

Originally Posted by RN4NICU

Thimerosal is a mercury-containing preservative found in vaccines. It is also found in many contact lens solutions. I have had horrible reactions to thimerosal in the lens solutions, which may account for my weakened immunity after receiving vaccines.


An allergy to thimerosal is an absolute contraindication to receiving the flu shot.

Yes, but if you read the rest of my post, I had no idea that I had an allergy to thimerosal until I consulted with my opthamologist about why my contact lens solution made my eyes burn and asked him to recommend another solution. I had thought it was more along the lines of the citrate or maybe one of the other cleansing ingredients that would have made my eyes burn and that maybe I needed a different preparation. My opth. asked me about what specific products bothered me vs. what did not and came up with thimerosal and phenylcarbinol as the two preservatives that I was unable to tolerate.

[ZZTopRN]

u

Originally Posted by HerEyes73

Hi there...

You just reminded me that flu shot season is almost upon us and my whole facility will have to be vaccinated and charted on and I'll be responsible for my unit...ugh!

I will never get another flu shot, nor will I recommend one to anybody. I had never had one until last season when my infection control nurse stalked me until I finally gave in. Hours afterward I got a headache like I've never had before. It was on one side of my head and seemed to travel along a nerve path...well that headache lasted for about 3 1/2 months. I can't prove that the flu shot caused it, but I can't rule it out either. It seems like a pretty big coincidence if you ask me. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I'll roll the dice with the flu!

I have been getting flu shots every year for about 4 years with no reaction to the injection. One year I had a bad respiratory infection with strep throat. You know how they always ask you if you are "allergic to eggs?" Well, I'm not, but I had a tremendous allergic reaction at the injection site with a large red bump that took about 3 weeks to go away last year. None of the docs have a clue or answers for me.

The thing that scares me is "are the doctors that knowledgeable about drugs and their reactions, or are they just led around by the nose by the pharmaceutical companies?

mv

[Altra]

Is a thermisol-free version of the flu vaccine available? The Hep B vaccine is available in a thermisol-free formula for vaccination of infants less than 2 months of age. Just curious ...

[RN4NICU]

Originally Posted by movingalong

u
I have been getting flu shots every year for about 4 years with no reaction to the injection. One year I had a bad respiratory infection with strep throat. You know how they always ask you if you are "allergic to eggs?" Well, I'm not, but I had a tremendous allergic reaction at the injection site with a large red bump that took about 3 weeks to go away last year. None of the docs have a clue or answers for me.

The thing that scares me is "are the doctors that knowledgeable about drugs and their reactions, or are they just led around by the nose by the pharmaceutical companies?

mv

A friend of mine had the exact same reaction to the flu shot last year. Her arm was red and swollen for weeks. Her doctors didn't have any answers either. I wonder what it was?

[Quickbeam]

My work place does flu shots for the employees (I do not administer the program). I don't get a flu shot. Personal choice. As a non-nurse, I oversaw the swine flu vaccine program at my college dorm in the 70's. What a disaster. 2 of my residents got Guilliam-Barre. I know vaccines are better now, etc but I opt out.

[Shotzie]

Experiencing eye irritation from your contact lens solution is not a contraindication to taking a flu shot(for example: my son and I both have to use thimerisol-free contact solutions but we have been taking a flu shot for years without effects).
But having a history of experiencing a systemic reaction to thimerisol given internally is certainly a reason to avoid the shot.

Everyone must choose for themselves whether or not to take a shot. For some nurses, their personal decision does not affect anyone but themselves. For others (like nurses working with fragile children or in LTC) their decision not to take a shot makes it likely they could carry in the virus to their patients.
But my great concern is the number of nurses who spread general misinformation and fear about the flu shots. It bothers me to no end to see nurses who haven't kept up with what's new, who don't know what they are talking about, and their opinion influences the decisions of the public--and I don't mean with only the flu shot either.

My dearest friend is a nurse who runs the health/nursing side of a large school district in Texas. She has had one nurse who was adamant that the flu shot was dangerous and should never be taken. She told staff members that the vaccines were live and dangerous, and spread many of the harmful rumors about the flu vaccine and vaccines in general. My friend had spoken to her in the past about influencing decisions based on facts and research, even providing the journals and current information as required reading. Last year Texas experienced an early, hard flu season. They had offered the flu shots but on the two campuses this nurse worked in only 3% of the staff took a shot as compared to 62% on the other campuses. Those two campuses were hit so hard with flu the shcools both had to be shut down for a week. They had several of the older staff hospitalized with secondary infections and their cost for this run of flu is 10X that of that seen in other years on those two campuses.
This nurse is not longer working for that district.

[QueenNurse]

Shotzie, I totally understand what you mean about nurses spreading misinformation. We have trouble too with our nurses giving telephone advice that is not approved on our protocols. We caught one RN telling her 18 year old patient with asthma that they didn't need to take a flu shot until they were in their 60's and we had already distributed the CDC's info and our doctor-recommended info that tells who should have a flu shot.

Nurses owe it to their patients, their jobs and their profession to keep up with what's going on in the medical world. Everyone should take at least one professional journal. If you can't afford it, at least get on the Web and cruise the good sites like the CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Diabetes Association, American Liver Foundation, etc, etc. Stay away from the places where the doctor is selling their own products or promoting their own personal agendas in medicine.

As far as people getting Guillian-Barre from a flu shot. That link is nebulous at best. They've never been able to reproduce it or duplicate it in research conditions ever since. The warnings not to take a shot if you have every had anything like G-B is said in a "just to be safe" effort" by the FDA.

And it's very, very rare, even during the swine flu year. It would be highly unlikely for two people in the same city, much less the same dorm to have contracted it.

[Quickbeam]

That's fascinating...I'll be sure to have my lifelong friend tell her neurologist that she never really had G-B after all.

I never said current vaccines have that impact. I said I was affected by my first hand experience seeing so many people ill after the 70's experience. I don't currently work in direct care nor with fragile populations.

I think it is safe to say there are well respected points of view on either side of this question. I don't get flu shots. I don't tell anyone else what to do nor do I pontificate about it to others. Just my call.

[Havin' A Party!]

Originally Posted by Shotzie

... here are the FACTS about the influenza vaccine:

FLU- is influenza. It is not a cold, it is not a stomach virus that lasts 24-48 hours and consists of nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.
Flu is a serious illness that consists of severe body aches and fatigue, chills, fever, sore throat, dry cough, nasal congestion, and sometimes, mild nausea or diarrhea. The average American who gets the flu misses 4 or more days of work and feels badly for another 5 days.
The influenza vaccine is 70-90% effective in preventing the flu in young, healthy adults. It can reduce influenza-related death in the elderly by as much as 80%
Palache AM, "Influenza vaccines: a reappraisal of their use.", Drugs 54:841-56, 1997

FLU is a dangerous illness. Millions of people in the United States — about 5% to 20% of U.S. residents — will get influenza each year. An average of about 36,000 people per year in the United States DIE from influenza, and 114,000 per year have to be admitted to the hospital as a result of influenza.
U.S.Center for Disease Control 2004

The FLU shot REALLY works-Those who take the flu shot can expect to have 25% fewer episodes of the flu and other upper respiratory infections, take 43% fewer absences due to illness and have 44% fewer visits to the doctor during the flu season.
New England Journal of Medicine 1995

The FLU shot WILL NOT CAUSE YOU TO GET THE FLU!!!
I don't care what you have heard, I don't care what you have experienced. The viruses in the vaccine ARE DEAD. It cannot give you the flu. If you got a flu shot and then came down with cold symptoms, it wasn't because of the flu shot...it was coincidence, not cause and effect. It takes 2 weeks to develop full immunity to the flu after you get the shot. That's why you take it in early October and flu doesn't have it's greatest activity until December (usually).
Also, it is possible that you might take a shot and still get the flu. But you will feel like you have a cold instead of being on your butt for 2 weeks. That's because a flu shot will still offer partial protection even if you are infected with a completely different strain of flu than is in the vaccine this year.
CDC, 12/03

The FLU shot is very safe- It is so safe it is even being recommended for pregnant women, nursing mothers and babies.
"Vaccines in pregnancy". Munoz FM - Infect Dis Clin North Am

It's better to take the Flu Shot than to wait until you have the disease and take antivirals. The flu shot is about $20.00 from commercial flu clinics, is usually free when taken at work and costs only your copay when you go to your doctor. The antivirals only work if you start them within 48 hours after the onset of symptoms, you will still miss a day or so of work because the meds only shorten the flu, not eliminate it. The antivirals only work against the A strain of flu virus, they are very expensive (approx. $75 to $150 per RX, depending upon how long you are on it).

Get your FLU shot-your heart will thank you!- Two studies suggest that a flu shot might protect you not only against the misery of the flu, but against a heart attack or stroke as well.
Harvard Heart Letter | October 2002...

Shotzie -- Thanks for the post! Trying to understand the source(s) of the info.

Is the above of a conglomeration of published works which you assembled for us? Or was it all put together by the USDC? Or neither of the above?

Appreciate the clarification.