The flu shot making people sick

[psu_213]

It's not my intention to start a debate on the flu shot, but I'm afraid it's going to happen in this thread. Oh well, here we go....

I work in the ER. About 6 nurses were talking last evening about the flu shot. The vaccination is highly encouraged at out hospital, but not required. 4 of the nurses said they would not get it and all four INSISTED that flu shots make them deathly ill. One nurse even said that when she worked in oncology, she was required to get the flu shot and then "spent the next 3 days curled up in bed." The next year, when required to get the shot, an oncology doctor told her the shot would not make her sick, but she told the doc "yeah right, I spent 3 days in bed with a high fever...there is no way you are making me take that again."

I don't want a debate about someone's right to refuse the flu shot; however, I was stunned by the level of ignorance by these nurses. There are reasons to not get the shot, but saying "the shot makes me sick" is not one of them.

OK, so that was a rant....just try and resist the urge to argue for or against required flu shots.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

Thread moved to Flu forum.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Guess she plans to homeschool exclusively?

All states offer medical exemptions, most states offer philosophical exemptions. No homeschooling needed.

[nursie_nursie_415]

about 10 years ago was the only time i have ever received a flu shot & was also the only time i have ever become so sick it felt that i was near death. coincidence? it's possible... (who the heck knows what REALLY goes into those syringes?) but i have never received the shot again & have never contracted the flu again - a FACT. i'm all about equipping my body with what it needs to fight diseases as opposed to relying on vaccines/medication as preventative measures. the founding father of medicine, hippocrates, said it best: "food is medicine." i know this is contrary to our role as nurses but honestly, the more i learn about medicine & "disease care" (NOT "health care") the more i want to avoid medication. these days, more & more there are medical doctors who are beginning to [re]embrace this concept which, ironically, was the basis of the practice of medicine long before pharmaceutical companies took the driver seat.

thankfully, my facility does not require us to receive the vaccination (yet) but i fear for my future as a healthcare professional when the time comes that it is being decided for me what goes into MY BODY. imagine a world where we are lined-up, forced to receive whatever injection is decided that we "need" in order to be deemed worthy of continuing our practice. today, the flu shot. tomorrow, who knows? SCARY.

should some people get the shot? if their intake of nutrients is deficient enough for their immune system to be unable to combat disease, then maybe so. should we as healthcare professionals be educating the public about the importance of a diet that would enable our bodies to repair itself from damage & fight off disease? absolutely. are we doing this? NO - because we have ventured sooo far from nutrition as our best source of health & have been brainwashed into thinking that medicine/vaccines are the answer. such a sad state of "disease care" we are in...

[azhiker96, BSN, RN]

I've taken the flu shot every year since 1982 and have never had more than a sore arm. At least half the nurses in my unit have received the flu shot this year and none of them have called off sick. Maybe there is a study and some data out there to settle the issue since anecdotes seem to be at odds.

[CrazyGoonRN]

I get the flu shot every year, but I have mixed feelings about this issue. A nurse I work with does not get the flu shot because a few years ago her son developed Guillian Barre syndrome as a result of the shot. Actually knowing someone that this has happened to makes it real instead of some mostly unheard of adverse reaction.

[timmedico]

Considering the time it takes for the vaccine to take effect, it is possible to get sick while the body goes through the necessary processes on the path to immunization. Factors like immunity for instance might help explain it. The flu shot is literally an inactivated, "killed" version of the flu. I'm not sure how exactly someone could get the flu in this way.

If we use other examples, there seems to be no correlation between vaccines causing the problem. Have we heard of cases in which people (past and present) have became ill from a virus AFTER the vaccine has taken effect? Great topic. :)

[wooh, BSN, RN]

however, I was stunned by the level of ignorance by these nurses. There are reasons to not get the shot, but saying "the shot makes me sick" is not one of them.

I'm stunned by the ignorance of people that don't realize that some people do have pretty severe flu-like symptoms after vaccination.

[tokebi]

about 10 years ago was the only time i have ever received a flu shot & was also the only time i have ever become so sick it felt that i was near death. coincidence? it's possible... (who the heck knows what REALLY goes into those syringes?) but i have never received the shot again & have never contracted the flu again - a FACT. i'm all about equipping my body with what it needs to fight diseases as opposed to relying on vaccines/medication as preventative measures.

The thing is, vaccination is about quipping our bodies to fight diseases. Good nutrition and general health are essential, no doubt about it. That's because healthy body has healthy immune system and the stamina to endure illness while immune system takes care of the pathogens. When you become infected, the non-specific immune system mobilizes and starts fighting. Meanwhile, B cells start producing antibodies but it takes a while to make ones specific to the pathogen.

If you were vaccinated, or have been exposed to the pathogen before, production of those specific antibodies (IgG) is rapid and amplified several-fold thanks to the memory cells.

Many people have the misconception that vaccine protects themselves. It does not. We get vaccinated in order to protect others, not ourselves. Most of us are healthy and will probably recover from many infectious diseases, but by getting vaccinated and establishing herd immunity, we protect children and elderly who will likely succumb to the illness.

I am sorry for those who got serious illness from vaccination. Things like that are bound to happen. But that should not be the reason for others to avoid it. I don't have the numbers but the risk is extremely extremely small. I understand that there has to be a balance between public health measures and personal freedom. But as more and more people refuse vaccination, we are bound to see more outbreaks.

[cannolis]

I believe in too many conspiracies to get ANY kind of vaccine. I hope a future job I may have doesn't require everyone to get them.

[Novo]

I refuse to take them. Why? For starters it's unnecessary I think our immune system needs to be tested every so often and the flu does just that it keeps our bodies in check. Secondly it's not even a 100% effective shot they just guess which strain will be in this year out of thousands, sounds like a shot in the dark to me.

[babywhisperer333, BSN]

The flu vaccine does not contain a live flu virus, You are not being injected with the flu, so the flu shot can not give you the flu.

1-It is possible that you were already infected with the flu at the time of vaccination, but because of the incubation period ( the time it takes for symptoms to appear), you may have not been showing symptoms until after you got the vaccine. People usually get the flu shot during flu season, so to receive the vaccine a little too late is not unconceivable. It takes about 2 weeks from the time of injection to build up the appropriate antibodies to fight the flu.

2-It is possible the side effects of the flu shots, which may seem similar to the flu, may cause you to believe that the shot gave you the flu, when in fact these are known side effects and by no means, means that the flu virus is present in your body.

3-Epidemiologists work very hard to determine and predict what strains of the flu virus we can expect, but it is possible for you to come into contact with a different strain and become sick from that one.

Health care workers where I am, are now required to a)get the flu shot or b) wear a mask at all times (during flu season)

As nurses we deal with individuals who likely have a compromised immune system, or increased risk of infection and it is our job to protect the patients from further illness. What may be a nasty flu to you, could mean much worse for your patients. Make sure you have all of the facts from reputable sources before you decide not to get the shot.

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/pdf/freeresources/updated/no-excuses-flu-vaccine.pdf

[CrunchyMama, ASN, RN]

I wouldn't feel comfortable working somewhere that forced me to inject toxins into my body. Luckily with nursing, there's plenty of other places to work. If someone wants the vaccines, that's their choice. If someone doesn't want the vaccine, he/she should also have the choice. None of this forcing people to do it, that's BS IMO.