Shit changes, 25 years ago you probably where spending half your day picking seeds out of your Mexican brick weed!

Flu season is so bad in So Cal this year, the hospitals are setting up tents in the parking lots to handle the overflow and many people have already died from it.

Apparently whatever flu shots they were giving out did not cover this particular strain.

NOPE. Man has walked the earth and survived/thrived for 6 million years, modern man for 200,000 years. Yet suddenly were not gonna make it to spring without a flu shot. I work in a hospital and am exposed to it all. The flu bounces off my body's own natural immune system like ping pong balls.

Damn straight....they didn't need to pussy ass plague vaccines. Or tetanus, diphtheria. Or hepititis...or um goddamn Polio.
Chicken Pox or measles..none of that garbage. I mean Whats the worst the Flu has ever killed...like 80-100 million people in a year; Pathetic!

1918 or something like that.

People are in for a real shocker when the next flu plague hits and their little shots do nothing to prevent it.

I've always had the CHRONIC that's why I'm called Puff Danny

Never had one, never will. The elite don’t get em, what’s that tell ya. Because they know better.
Two words...zombie..apocalypse. Ever see I am legend? Flu shots priming people.

Man keeps trying, but in the end nature always prevails.

When this planet can no longer support the rapid population growth it is undergoing now, it is only natural a plague of epic proportions will come around and restore some sort of balance. I'm just a passenger and a spectator in the grand scale of things.

Hey wait, I just said that. You callin' me no one?

That wasn't a question that was asked. Carlin said "cover the toilet seat" - meaning use those paper covers. The answer is no, I don't use the covers if it's clean. If there's standing liquid, I'll probably just go elsewhere.

Well said

When shit does hit the fan, I'm counting on science and doctors to save us all! lol.

We trust our Doctors, right?

For 40 years Ive asked my doctors the same question as I did of all of them this year?
"Do you take a Flu shot?" "Do you get one for your wife and family?"
All these years, they answered, "No".
This year, several changed to "yes", early on, but replied its hit and miss with the wide range of varieties in the last 6 weeks.

Cant say anything for anyone else, just me.

I always get a flu shot, as do my entire family. I work in healthcare. 99% of my colleagues get a flu shot. Very disappointed to see the poll results.

Most people dont even know about The Tuskegee Experiment and wouldn’t believe it even if you told them about it.

No, I take a vaccine because I don't want to get the flu. I don't have any excuses not to get it when it's free and I don't have to leave work to get one. Doesn't seem like it's that complicated to me.

I personally do not invite anything into my body that is not absolutely essential medically.This includes pills as well.
There is a lot to consider when getting any type of injection.
Is everything truly sterile?
What is in this syringe?
Are they positive it is that?
What are the side effects?
What is the benefit that will outweigh those concerns?
Is it worth it?

For me it is a no these days but things may change or become more clear at some point .
I always tell my doctor “no injections for me unless completely medically necessary today” during my yearly physical because I remember even a couple years ago people died of meningitis from a anti inflammatory steroid shot supply that was tainted. I think someone even went to jail over it.
It isn’t the vaccines that scare me it is the process and accountability behind them. Some doctor or nurse walking into a room with a needle full of who knows what,handled who knows how by who knows who has killed people just like the flu.

So while I wouldn’t discourage anyone that is comfortable with the process and unknowns to do it I skip it because even though I would like to avoid the flu as well as possible I have other concerns on my mind.
My thought is if I do everything I can to avoid getting it(wash hands,eat well,exercise,sleep well,don’t eat out during flu season,avoid the public as much as possible during this time,observe personal space limits of a few feet,do not touch face,mouth or eyes unless hands are clean,ok I am nuts I know but it helps etc)then that is my best bet because these are things I can control and play a real part in.

If you have a life threatening emergency, hope you get a good one and not some hack. They do save lives.

It's been about five years since I had to go see one, but it was fairly obvious I shouldn't let that melanoma on the back of my leg try to heal itself for another year.

I don't go unless something is seriously wrong. Not for a cough or some antibiotics to kill a flu, because that won't work anyway. Or a shot if I'm feeling healthy. But again, they can and do save lives.

An asymptomatic carrier (healthy carrier or just carrier) is a person or other organism that has contracted an infectious disease, but who displays no symptoms. Although unaffected by the disease themselves, carriers can transmit it to others.

YOU can be 100% fine and still infect others and put their lives at risk(and never know it)--sadly hitting close to home for some people on here. Vaccines are more effective with more people vaccinated.

I used to get sick every January. I started the flu shots about 15 to 20 years ago, and rarely got sick after that. This last year I have been sick a few times, and I caught the flu bad in January. I will still take the flu shot.

Here is a few flu based information from what I understand, please correct if wrong:

It is not the US government that designs the flu shot, it is WHO, World Health Organization.

Up to a few years ago the flu shot would protect against 3 strains, but now it protects against 4 strains.

The flu of 1918 killed 50 million people world wide. It killed many younger people. The reason for this is that the 1918 flu was a variation of a flu prior to 1889, and younger people were not exposed to it, and did not have a level of immunity. The swine flu was a variation of the 1918 flu.

You cannot get the exact same flu strain again. Once you have a flu, you will develop antibodies against that exact strain.

You can catch a few different strains of a flu in one year.

Pine needle tea can help against the flu. Pine needle tea gives shikimic acid, which is a key ingredient in Tamiflu.

Repeated vaccination for flu is highly effective in preventing severe infection on older adults.

From my understanding above, I will continue to take the flu shots. Since variations of a flu seam to resurface after 30 to 40 years, if you have antibodies from a flu shot that are similar to a current flu, it may help you not catch or lower the effects of that strain. For this reasoning, take a flu shot now may help to protect me in 30 years when a variation of that strain will come out. I feel taking the flu shot is insurance for the future when I am older and weaker.

I am sure some people will dispute some of the above information, please do not be personal.

Not wise but it's your life. Yearly screening with full blood panels are key to catching things early and adding years to your life in many cases. Most insurance covers it and it's foolish not to do. Pinside will be boring in a few years if you don't start taking better care of yourself.

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This young punk does and I'm also familiar with our government poisoning our troops in Vietnam with Agent Orange and then denying it.my father fought his battle with the government over his Agent Orange poisoning for years while they denied it all,he used to try to raise awareness and was the guest on some TV shows back in the 80's like Kelly And Company.in the end he had a miserable painful life because of it and died at the age of 56 just a few short years after they finally admitted what they did.and now I'm supposed to trust them?

dude, get your plumbing checked every 2-3 years at least regardless of how you feel if you are an "older" individual. I felt 100% great and hit a super jackpot on my ?what's the word for waiting 5 years between? physical. Would've been dead inside of 2-3 years if they had not caught it. Medicine can be your friend.

Thanks! But, I'm healthy as a horse can be in this environment. And I'm eating four day old KFC just to prove it.

I have a 17 year old son that is both severely autistic and Type 1 diabetic.
We have to count carbs and inject insulin at every meal give him a shower and wipe his ass. We have to hold his hand everywhere we go and lock all the doors so he can’t get out. He spends his day rocking back and forth chanting the names of local streets.
I am not anti vaccine as a result but I am cautious. You to have understand sometimes people experience things that shake their confidence in something because they are living it whether it seems rational or not it is about personal life experiences and what ifs after the fact.
True or false,right or wrong doesn’t matter it is those experiences that is what shapes our beliefs.

I feel my immune system is pretty strong and don't get the shot. The rest of my family all got the flu shot and came down with the flu this year. If I ate like crap, was extremley overweight, smoked, drank too much, didn't take vitamins and didn't exercise then I would get it. If I listened to my doctor about going on medication for Gout five years ago instead of dropping weight, eating better, drinking less and staying hydrated then I would probably still have Gout and be on multiple meds with all the bad side effects to boot.

I can relate to this at least partially. My daughter was diagnosed with type1 diabetes at 8 months old. She developed a fever after getting shots and got severely dehydrated and almost died. When they figured it out her blood glucose was 1200. Coincidence? Don’t know. I know for sure that anything that hurts them hurts us 1000 times more. Very sorry to hear about your son Chris. I can only imagine how tough that must be.

Read up on psychiatric medication if you want to see placebos in full force (as in 70% of reported efficacy vanishing when controlled properly). Flu vaccine efficacies are often vanishingly small, we haven't got a good handle on what we may be doing to the evolution of the germs themselves, and the precedent / growing sentiment of and for business and governments mandating their injection into your body is completely fucking dystopian.

There is a marked difference between the reliable and verifiable inoculation from previously deadly diseases and the, "Hey, this might work!" gun slinging of yearly flu vaccines.

I believe genetics has a lot to do with your disposition to getting sick.

But more importantly than that is eating right and not working or stressing to the point of wearing yourself down. In my 20s I used to do that and got all kinds of flu. Keep your batteries charged and drink lots of water. Get some exercise too. Even just walking is better than sitting watching TV. And being overweight and eating too much junk is a means to an end.

After weekend of heavy partying, I got a dose of this year's flu back in November. It only lasted a couple days, but I could tell if I hadn't been prepared and in good shape, it might have knocked me for a loop. Some of the other people I know who even got a shot were not so lucky. It lasted for a month.

Read this.

It's only a matter of time until another one comes out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic

Sadly, our government is preparing for this to happen in India, and southeast Asia related to water issues.

I’ve never received flu shot and I’ve never had the flu

And what could possibly go wrong here?

"One group of researchers recovered the virus from the bodies of frozen victims, and found that transfection in animals caused a rapid progressive respiratory failure and death through a cytokine storm (overreaction of the body's immune system)."

You've lived a charmed life.

Sorry about your dad, he sounded like a smart man. Big brother is not your friend for sure.

In my opinion there are lots of reasons not to take a flu shot but im certainly not going to knock you if you believe in them. The flu shot being free though wouldn’t even figure in to my decision for taking it or not taking it. My girlfriend got one this year and we talked about it before she did. I told her my reasons why i wont get one but i left the decision entirely up to her. Im not going to tell someone not to get a flu shot and then they die and ive got to live with that for the rest of my life, but in return i dont think people should be encouraging other people to get flu shots either. Its a very personal decision that only you can make.

I know quite a few people in the medical field that are furious because they are required to take flu shots in order to keep their job. They do not think they are safe but they’re forced to take them anyway. I cannot believe that This battle has not been fought and won by medical workers. My girlfriend asked her doctor if he takes a flu shot and he told her no by the way. He didnt givenher reasons why but basically just told her what i did, that its her decision to make for herself.

Answer to original question is no, but just because of laziness. I havn't had the real flu in 18 yrs. my wife who gets the shot gets it every year. Too bad for her.

Maybe they took them to Plum Island?

Thank God someone finally called the OP on this!

Now, about your misuse of "you" instead of "your" ...

I am from Ann Arbor and I can tell you you didn't have the kind before 1990 friend.

My friend tried to explain this to me and I didn't really understand it till I had a baby and they say "OK we're gonna vacinate now...and there is a small chance she'll die."

That's some shit that makes you think.

Come on now, it’s not that bad. 10% this year sucks but it’s usually much better than that. I’ll agree that the actual risks associated with the flu vaccine are vanishingly small.

Interesting concept. Is this something actual scientists are worried about? Of course anything humans do will affect the evolution of the flu, we’re it’s host after all. But I’d never heard people argue that vaccines might encourage negative (from our perspective) traits to evolve.

I don’t think forced flu immunizations are a political reality anywhere in the US anytime soon. If you’re talking about hospitals making it a condition of employment though I don’t see the problem. It’s demonstrated to reduce the probability of carrying the flu, and if you’re in constant contact with high risk populations, seems fair enough to require it. If I’m on chemo or otherwise have a compromised immune system, I don’t give a damn about my nurse’s right not to take injections, I want to know she’s taken every step possible to avoid making me sick. She can excercise her right not to be vaccinated, of course, but she should then find a career path that aligns with her life choices.

Seems like the same concept, just more of a running battle against a cagier foe (in that influenza seemingly mutates more quickly such that immunity is limited in effectiveness and duration and the vaccines have to be more frequently updated). The “gun slinging” is a necessity of the task at hand. Statistically widespread flu vaccinations still very clearly saves lives. Even in weak sauce years like this one.

That was caused by the 12 pack o-din bought in lieu of a flu shot this year ...

Its called "practicing medicine",..
For a reason.