Have you guys received your flu shots yet?

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I just called in sick TWICE LAST WEEK because half my residents are coughing and I got it from them....*COUGH*...:imbar *COUGH*

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Speaking of flu shots, do they really work? I've gotten many flu shots before, but I always manage to get sick anyway. Go figure :rolleyes:

Specializes in ER, Medicine.

Since I have type I diabetes I'll be the first in line for my flu shot when they come out in October

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I wouldn't be so sure. There is a new theory that suggests that causing your body to create antibodies weakens your immune system. Not to mention the formaldehyde and mercury and other additives, and who knows if there are any long-term effects. It's just a personal choice, but I stay away from vaccines altogether. Maybe I am rolling the dice here, but aside from the vaccines I was given in childhood I haven't received a single one, not even a hepatitis shot (which contains plasma that has not been tested for diseases like HIV).

Hepatitis B shots are not derived from plasma. The recombinant version is "made without any human blood or blood products or any other substances of human origin and cannot give you the hepatitis B virus (HBV) or the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)." -Source http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/uspdi/202281.html

In regards to mercury and vaccine - no studies have shown any links YET (and there have been numerous attempts). This is why we have epidemiologists and biostatisticians - because ancedotal evidence is often quite unreliable.

Example of ancedotal evidence - "I survived Russian Roulette, therefore Russian Roulette must be safe."

Depending on your work, you may also compromise the health of your patient. You may be a asymptomatic carrier for HBV, pertussis, measles, etc. If you work w/ immunocompromised patients (AIDS, people on chemo, people taking high dosage of steroids), then you are putting them at risk. There have been recent outbreaks of pertussis in recent years due to a non-immunize carriers bringing the disease back into the states.

Anyway, if you have some free time and want to do some reading about mercury in vaccines from some reputable peer-reviewed journals

Thimerosal exposure in infants and developmental disorders: a retrospective cohort study in the United kingdom does not support a causal association.

Pediatrics. 2004 Sep;114(3):584-91.

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

Pediatrics. 2003 Sep;112(3 Pt 1):604-6.

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

Am J Prev Med. 2003 Aug;25(2):101-6.

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Same here Cyberkat.... NEVER want that again! I was even vaccinated against the "Swine Flu" in 1976 while I was in Nursing School. Oops! Guess I'm telling my age now! Ha

Flu imunization starts here in October and I will be first in line!

Had an Infectious Diseases Physician tell me once that after taking the flu shot for a few years, your body gains antibiodies against colds as well... Hummmm Haven't had a cold in years either!

Question: wasn't there a controversy with that Swine flu?
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