#%@&$ Flu Shot!

Spritenurse1210, BSN, RN · Nov 7, 2006

I'm allergic to flu shots, I've only gotten the flu once in the past 16 years.

smarter · Nov 7, 2006

I don't do anything that is mandatory, fortunatly I work in a hospital that does not demand that! Yeh!!

buggal1989 · Nov 8, 2006

Well know and documented reaction to the flu shot is mild fever and muscle aches 72 hrs after the shot. You should have been told this. It DOES NOT mean the flu shot made you sick - it is your body's normal reaction to ANY vaccine even Td (tetorifice/diptheria), which BTW, you should get every 10 years and make sure it has the d in it (Diphtheria) you can give a non-vaccinated child Diphtheria as an adult. It doesn't harm you - but can make the child severely ill. Take you flu shot every year and quit whining. Take your normal muscle ache/fever and pain reliever as recommended for 72 hrs after the vaccine. You should take your first dose 30 minutes before any vaccine. Your EH nurse should tell you this and yes I was a IC/EH nurse!

BSNtobe2009 · Nov 8, 2006

Well know and documented reaction to the flu shot is mild fever and muscle aches 72 hrs after the shot. You should have been told this. It DOES NOT mean the flu shot made you sick - it is your body's normal reaction to ANY vaccine even Td (tetorifice/diptheria), which BTW, you should get every 10 years and make sure it has the d in it (Diphtheria) you can give a non-vaccinated child Diphtheria as an adult. It doesn't harm you - but can make the child severely ill. Take you flu shot every year and quit whining. Take your normal muscle ache/fever and pain reliever as recommended for 72 hrs after the vaccine. You should take your first dose 30 minutes before any vaccine. Your EH nurse should tell you this and yes I was a IC/EH nurse!

Oh, I totally agree with getting the boosters every few years. I fully support it, fully agree with it, and take those shots for my own health.

heartonfire · Nov 13, 2006

The influenza shot is from dead virus, therefore should not cause any more than a small local reaction.

Also the CDC has done recent studies that show recieving the flu vaccine gives no significant protection from illness than those who do not recieve it in both health care workers and patients.

These studies collaborate on European studies that came to the same conclusion.

The_Iceman · Nov 14, 2006

i personally think that the flu vaccine is nothing more than a government conspiracy, here is my theory. the pharmaceutical companies are paid by the center for disease control (cdc) to develop a vaccine that includes an inactive flu virus at the time of injection. the flu strain is actually encased in something that makes it act as time-released, ie once injected, over time the substance that encases the flu strain is eventually dissolved and the flu strain is released into the person injected. this then spreads and this person now has "contracted" the flu. the areas of interest that would benefit from this theory include: 1-the pharmaceutical companies that develop the initial vaccine 2-the pharmaceutical companies / drug store chains that sell the treatment for the persons who have contracted the flu 3-the doctors who treat the patients 4-most importantly, the government, as they receive taxes and other benefits from everyone along the chain, ie every time someone has to visit the doctor/buy pharmaceuticals/the initial vaccine/insurance company payments, the government receives taxes from all of the money that exchanges hands. when one visits the doctor after the flu strand has grown and replicated, if you tell them that you had the flu vaccine and ask them why you contracted the flu anyway, they will tell you that if you did not receive the vaccine, you would have had the flu much worse and could have been hospitalized and/or possibly died. there is my theory and reason why i do not get the flu vaccine. just a thought...

twotrees2 · Nov 16, 2006

In years' past, we were encouraged to get flu shots. This year it is mandatory. I never got them before because the only time I did I was feverish and sick for a couple of days afterward. I have only gotten the real flu 1 time in the past 20 years! So, yesterday I dutifully went for my flu shot and here I am with a fever and feeling sore and miserable. And, yes, they expect me to go to work tomorrow. Hopefully the fever will be gone. I HATE flu shots!!!:angryfire

at my work two yrs in a row the administrator cam in said miss tracie you havent had your flu shot yet so im gonna give it to you and she slams it in my arm before i have a chance to say no then hands me a piece paper to sign - sigh - one ofthese days im gonna say hey i dont want it - sheesh - ( even though its strongly recommeneded by doc due to depressed immune system on me) ( i think thas why i havent made a big stink about the way she does it cause i really shoud get it but i get achy and my arm hurts like heck for 3 after. )

ortess1971 · Nov 16, 2006

Last year, I decided that I wasn't going to bother with a flu shot. I ended up with a horrible case of the flu that decided to take up residence in my lungs for a bit. Yes, my arm gets sore and I feel a little "off" for a day or two, but not as horrible as I felt when my lungs were clogged with mucus! Ultimately, I think vaccinations are a good thing-100 years ago, people died from the flu and other such illnesses so I don't buy the whole "vaccinations give you a weak immune system" nonsense. Modern medicine isn't perfect by any stretch, but because of some of these treatments, vaccinations etc we have it a lot better than our grandparents and great-grandparents did.

prmenrs, RN · Nov 17, 2006

at my work two yrs in a row the administrator cam in said miss tracie you havent had your flu shot yet so im gonna give it to you and she slams it in my arm before i have a chance to say no then hands me a piece paper to sign - sigh - one ofthese days im gonna say hey i dont want it - sheesh - ( even though its strongly recommeneded by doc due to depressed immune system on me) ( i think thas why i havent made a big stink about the way she does it cause i really shoud get it but i get achy and my arm hurts like heck for 3 after. )

I'd call that assault and battery. And very illegal. Next year, I'd warn her not to do that. As pro-flu shot as I am, that is soooo over the line.

twotrees2 · Nov 17, 2006

I'd call that assault and battery. And very illegal. Next year, I'd warn her not to do that. As pro-flu shot as I am, that is soooo over the line.

yeah well when your blacklisted for calling state on a facility - you tend to not say much at whatever emplyment that will take you. so guess i am blessed tohave here to come cause the place im at is unbelievable.

brendamyheart · Nov 17, 2006

That action is against the law!!

MIA-RN1, RN · Nov 17, 2006

I have gotten the flu shot every year since I was 22--that year I didn't get one, got horrible mycoplasm pneumonia, all sorts of upper respiratory illnessess, cfs, it was awful...doc said from now on, get the flu shot. I've gotten it religiously ever since and have never been sick with the flu or URI other than garden variety stuff since.

My daughter has asthma and always gets the flu shot. Before she got diagnosed (at 3), she had the flu every year. It was awful. My husband has leukemia so my son gets the shot too. My husband has gone and gotten a flu shot at my urging every year since he was diagnosed, although we were just told this year by one of the NP's on his tx team that it won't do him much good since the medicine he is on (gleevec) does something to his immune system to make him unable to build up antibodies anyway. He still plans to get it tho, 'just in case'.

I believe in a person's right to choose if they get vaccinated but I always recommend getting the vaccine. The thermosol stuff scares me a bit, but not enough to make me stop getting it, or getting it for my kids.