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Flu Shot? or not?

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by AuntBee, Oct 25, 2007.

?
  1. YES

    43.8%
  2. NO

    56.3%
  1. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    Oh please please bring it, and bring us a bill of rights too please.
    (we need a higher road death toll and more gun deaths too.)

    I think you will find that little Johnny Howard is George Dublya's lap dog anyway.

    I see it every time someone on here posts about a minor irregularity, suddenly Toyota are ogres and the entire range of cars are built with a level of quality the Russians would be ashamed of. Also the number of people who seem to sleep with a loaded gun by the bed???

    Quick edit, another fine example: - http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=4...mp;#entry530931
     
  2. priusenvy

    priusenvy Senior Member

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    Last time I had the flu was 1996. I had to stay home from work for two weeks. Even after that, for the next few weeks, I was so weakened that just climbing the stairs at work was tiring. It was awful.

    I swore I would get a flu shot every year after that. With just a couple of exceptions I have, and haven't gotten the flu since. I'll be getting one this year too. I've never had a bad reaction, other than perhaps a sore arm.

    Tomorrow is a good day to get a flu shot if you live in Silicon Valley. Target, Longs, and Camino Health are all having flu shot clinics on Saturday the 27th.
     
  3. gazz

    gazz Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusenvy @ Oct 27 2007, 04:20 AM) [snapback]531114[/snapback]</div>
    Just for curiosity are there any other "preventative" shots or tests relatively young and healthy persons gets in the states. This is an interesting topic how different countries go different routes, I suppose we will never really know, with the British Health Service supposedly one of the best in the world at mass state run health care why they do not do a relatively simple thing as vaccinate its population? Is it cost or value for money? or..... what
     
  4. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    The Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (LAIV) is a relatively new vaccine that has been introduced in some countries, including the USA and Russia. It contains living influenza virus particles that have been weakened so they won’t cause the flu, rather than the killed viruses used in other vaccines. It’s administered by a nasal spray rather than a needle. It has proven to be successful, but in the US it’s only recommended for healthy people aged between five and 49 because of limited safety data.

    By the way 05_SilverPri, I am a man but I'm confident enough to say stuff like that.(and I knew what I was saying)
     
  5. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gazz @ Oct 27 2007, 05:43 AM) [snapback]531121[/snapback]</div>
    I'm going to assume you mean after the routine childhood series.
    Pretty much everyone gets a tetnus booster at least every 10 years.
    Depending upon our travel habits many of us get vaccinations specific to the area we intend to travel based upon government recommendations.
    Hepatitis A & B should be updated.
    We're now recommending a shot to young women (teen years and older) to prevent cervical cancer as well.
    Sporatically there are recommendations for the Meningococcus vaccine, typically when there has been a spate of infections on a college campus or high school or in a community.
     
  6. GreenGene

    GreenGene New Member

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    Got my flu shot yesterday. My arm is a bit sore, but it's the weekend and I can rest it.

    I guess I've had a flu shot every year but one - when they ran out before I could get one - for the last 10-12 years. In that time, I haven't had the flu. The last time I had the flu was the year before my first flu shot, and I was absolutely miserable for a week.

    What can I say? I'll continue to get the flu shot - to me, it seems like a reasonable thing to do. I understand that some people are reluctant to have a flu shot, and others are totally against it. That's fine - we should do what we believe is the right thing to do, and not force people in either direction.
     
  7. wbuttler

    wbuttler New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(AuntBee @ Oct 24 2007, 10:05 PM) [snapback]530092[/snapback]</div>

    I've never had one
    based on my personal belief that:

    the shot is a projection on the type of flu
    which will supposedly occur during the year in question...
    why subject yourself to the X-factor of statistic's
    in a possible deadly reaction--"just in case" which may be completely wrong.
    for example what i've read about avian flu
    (just read now mind you, awhile ago, just conversation--don't hammer)
    it targets people with active immune systems---young-middle age individuals
    each flu i understand is different and hard to project..

    I completely oppose forcing an adult-citizen to do anything regarding their
    private life by an employer.....they only rent me for pay.....they don't own me.
    That being said---one must make their own stand and go elsewhere for work
    if a corporation reaches too far into your life----this is a decision each person
    must make on their own. To me there is a distinct difference in a circumstance of
    "employee's must wash hands" and "emloyee's must be injected with an experimental substance".

    just my thoughts
    Froley
     
  8. Dr Ed

    Dr Ed New Member

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    People who should get vaccinated each year are:

    1. People at high risk for complications from the flu, including:

     Children aged 6 months until their 5th birthday,
     Pregnant women (In years past, pregnancy was a contraindication to flu vaccine but, today, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends flu vaccine for women more than 14 weeks pregnant.
     People 50 years of age and older, and
     People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions;
     People who live in nursing homes and other long term care facilities.

    2. People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu, including:

     Household contacts of persons at high risk for complications from the flu (see above)
     Household contacts and out of home caregivers of children less than 6 months of age (these children are too young to be vaccinated)
     Healthcare workers.

    There are some people who should not be vaccinated without first consulting a physician or nurse practitioner. These include

     People who have a severe allergy to chicken eggs.
     People who have had a severe reaction to an influenza vaccination in the past.
     People who developed Guillain-Barré syndrome within 6 weeks of getting an influenza vaccine previously.
     Influenza vaccine is not approved for use in children less than 6 months of age.
     People who have a moderate or severe illness with a fever should wait to get vaccinated until their symptoms lessen.
     
  9. jkash

    jkash Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Oct 24 2007, 10:09 PM) [snapback]530094[/snapback]</div>
    I also got pneumonia after having the flu one year. As a teacher, I see about 180 kids a day. There are kids in every class who are sick. Not getting the flu shot is unthinkable to me. Anyway, my local Kaiser hospital makes it really easy. They set up a flu clinic in an auditorium staffed by numerous nurses. All they do is give flu shots. It is an amazingly efficient operation. It probably saves tons of money in the long run keeping all these folks out of their doctors offices and urgent care.
     
  10. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dr Ed @ Oct 28 2007, 11:06 AM) [snapback]531380[/snapback]</div>
    You forgot people who don't wish to or can't afford to get sick for 2 to 6 weeks, maybe more. I'll take the little prick. BTW I wonder if people have the worst reaction to the egg rather than the dead virus.
     
  11. priusenvy

    priusenvy Senior Member

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    I got my flu shot today at Longs Drugs, since the line at the Camino Medical Group's (big SF Bay Area medical group with 200k patients) flu shot clinc was a couple hundred people long at least. There was no wait at Long's, and my insurance pays for the shot in either case.

    They were offering a pneumonia vaccination as well, but as it was only for bacterial pneumonia and not viral pneumonia, it wasn't recommended for most people.
     
  12. Pinto Girl

    Pinto Girl New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Oct 27 2007, 04:19 AM) [snapback]531113[/snapback]</div>
    You gave us the Holden Morano, surely we can return the favor.
     
  13. AuntBee

    AuntBee New Member

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    Question for you doctors and nurses out there--because I work in an acute care hosptial, does that put me in the at risk category for catching the flu? I have minimal direct patient contact. Occasionally I have to enter a room to get some paperwork signed. I scrupulously wash my hands. If the patient is on isolation, I get a nurse to go in the room...

    I'm still leaning towards NOT getting the shot, but it looks like the majority 65/35 of people responding to my poll (my first!) think it's a good idea to take it. By the time I make up my mind, they'll probably be out of the serum:) I can hope.
     
  14. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Oct 28 2007, 01:26 PM) [snapback]531441[/snapback]</div>
    Sorry about that, most of them went to the middle east and we still send Holden Statesmans over there, they love em.
     
  15. RobH

    RobH Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Oct 25 2007, 10:08 AM) [snapback]530306[/snapback]</div>
    Dr. Richard Kunin has had some very encouraging experience with autistic kids. He is an orthomolecular psychiatrist, and sees a lot of autistic kids. At a meeting I attended, he remarked that a large proportion (60%?) of those kids have multiple blood clotting factors (hypercoagulability). In kids! For some of them, their autism can be reversed by correcting these factors. Mercury is one of the factors. As I recall from the talk, there are at least a half dozen clotting factors for which there are simple treatments. He spoke of one patient who was autistic, and when given heparin orally, recovered over a period of 20 minutes. I suspect that coumadin would have been equally effective, though not so quickly. A google of "richard kunin blood clotting" is a place to start.
     
  16. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    oral heparin? but... heparin only works when given parenterally.
     
  17. RobH

    RobH Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Oct 28 2007, 09:55 PM) [snapback]531835[/snapback]</div>
    As I recall (it was several years ago), he squirted a needle full of heparin into the patient's mouth. Perhaps he was planning to give it as an injection, but the patient was so disruptive that he just squirted it as an easier way to administer it. There may have also been other nutrients in that needle, such as B12, B6, and folic acid (but I'm just guessing here).

    I've attended 2 talks by Dr. Kunin, and have been thoroughly impressed with his medical insight. My guess is that this was a second or third visit, and that Dr. Kunin was looking at extensive lab work that indicated a coagulation problem. He obviously thought that the heparin was worth a try. He described how he was talking with the parent, and over the 20 minutes the patent went from totally internal focus, to looking about, and then to talking and interacting with them. I have no idea about the dosage, or subsequent treatment protocol. But it was oral administration, and it worked dramatically.
     
  18. RobH

    RobH Senior Member

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    I think I found a video of the talk by Dr. Kunin where he mentioned the use of heparin. It is the August, 2002 meeting of Smart Life Forum. The title of the talk was "Role of Blood Coagulation in Disease". Dr. Kunin spoke at several other meetings of this group, but this one sure sounds like the topic.

    The meeting list is at http://smartlifeforum.org/wiki/Meetings , while the order information ($25) is at http://smartlifeforum.org/videos.htm


    Also relevant for the main topic of immunity is the newsletter announcing this month's meeting. The main speaker is Dr. William Grant, speaking about the effects of vitamin D. http://smartlifeforum.org/2007/11/newsletter.pdf
     
  19. pyccku

    pyccku Happy Prius Driver

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    I'll be getting the shot. I see 180 students per day as well. My school makes it very simple for us - the nurse from BCBS comes to each campus in the district one day. We get our shots in the library. I haven't gotten the flu since getting the shots.
     
  20. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(AuntBee @ Oct 28 2007, 02:56 PM) [snapback]531472[/snapback]</div>
    AuntBee,
    See post #68