Flu shots as a student anyone?

lifelearningrn, BSN, RN · Sep 25, 2013

You'll find a lot of nurses/students are not too keen on the flu vaccine (as well as many others).. I think having the flu 3 times in 6 years is a lot, actually. I haven't had the flu since I was a child, and my children have never been diagnosed with the flu (just about every other childhood bug, though ) You're going to be in school, the shot is usually a requirement for you, no reason not to protect the whole family.. including the baby! :)

allnurses Guide · Sep 25, 2013

There are plenty of employers that are forcing people to be vaccinated. There is no longer a choice at some hospitals in regards to the mask during flu season. I've never had a vaccine before nor have I ever taken a medication and I don't recall being sick since I was a young child and I am going on 30 years old.
Efficacy and effectiveness of influenza vaccines: a systematic review and meta-analysis : The Lancet Infectious Diseases
The ’60% Effective’ Flu Shot That’s 98.5% Useless – LewRockwell.com
"
A new study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases reveals that the flu vaccine prevents lab confirmed type A or type B influenza in only 1.5 out of every 100 vaccinated adults … but the media is reporting this to mean “60 percent effective.”
It is estimated that, annually, only about 2.7% of adults get type A or type B influenza in the first place. The study showed that the use of flu vaccines appear to drop this down to about 1.2%. This is a roughly 60% drop, but that ignores the fact that the vaccine has no protective health benefit for 97.5% of adults. "
Its very difficult to find unbiased studies in regards to this topic. If you trace back the sources of the studies that show the effectiveness of the vaccine you most likely will find someone who has a financial interest in it. Find me something on Thimerasal not published by the FDA or CDC, both of which are closely tied with the pharmaceutical giants?
These flu vaccines are just another ploy by the drug companies to make a dollar and another sign of the over medication of America. I have met two people who have had dystonic reactions post flu vaccine, one of which used to work for my fire department and is now wheelchair bound and another a patient in a nursing home which I used to work in.

Did you read the study in Lancet that you cited? They concluded that there was a moderate and statistically significant protection from influenza vaccination. They ultimately estimated the effectiveness at an average of 59% which is c/w previous studies demonstrating effectiveness at 73% when controlled for a good-match year and 44% when controlled for poor-match year. Perhaps more important is the data that shows 89% effectiveness at preventing severe influenza.

As far as Thimerosal:

Thimerosal and the occurrence of autism: negative ecological evidence from Danish population-based data.

Madsen KM, Lauritsen MB, Pedersen CB, Thorsen P, Plesner AM, Andersen PH, Mortensen PB

Pediatrics. 2003;112(3 Pt 1):604.

Autism and thimerosal-containing vaccines: lack of consistent evidence for an association.

Stehr-Green P, Tull P, Stellfeld M, Mortenson PB, Simpson D

Am J Prev Med. 2003;25(2):101.

Safety of thimerosal-containing vaccines: a two-phased study of computerized health maintenance organization databases.

Verstraeten T, Davis RL, DeStefano F, Lieu TA, Rhodes PH, Black SB, Shinefield H, Chen RT, Vaccine Safety Datalink Team

Pediatrics. 2003;112(5):1039.

Association between thimerosal-containing vaccine and autism.

Hviid A, Stellfeld M, Wohlfahrt J, Melbye M

JAMA. 2003;290(13):1763.

JESSIEs_girllll · Sep 25, 2013

I was thinking of getting a flu shot. I figured that I will need one once I am officially a nurse, so I might as well try getting the shot now and test it out so it is not a complete shock when I go into the nursing field. I've heard that the flu shot is beneficial, despite whether your job or school requires it or not.

carterlee · Sep 25, 2013

I can't take flu vaccine I react major. I have six kids and have had just about everything over the years. Always kept the kids and husband's immunizations up to date. Hubby decided one year that he never got the flu or real ill not to get the shot. Guess who got it! Not only did he have a bad case of flu but caused damage to muscles on the back side of his heart. Even if the flu strains are not the same the body can and will adapt to the new strain.

brittanyjoy91 · Sep 26, 2013

I did not want to get a flu shot either, but for my nursing school you are required to. I actually had a doctor tell me that if you get the flu shot for 5 years in a row, your body won't respond to it as well and you are basically lowering your chances of being able to fight it off naturally. This makes me think that by our nation being so flu-shot friendly we are actually making ourselves weaker as a whole. This is just my opinion and right now I am subject to the system and must comply, but I do not think in the future that I will be taking my family in for flu shots yearly.