Flu shot heresy (Read 2156 times)


Feeling the growl again

    My grandmother got shingles multiple times.  It would flare up every few years.

     

    It's probably one of those things not considered cost-effective to vaccinate younger people for shingles, since they DON'T get it too often.

     

    My understanding is that the shingles vaccine is just a concentrated form of the chicken pox vaccine.  They are caused by the same virus, which gives you chicken pox when you contract it then goes dormant in your nerves and can crop back up later in life as shingles.

    "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

     

    I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

     


    A Saucy Wench

      Personally I am on a campaign to quit trying to talk anyone into getting the flu shot.  They are out of the seasonal, they dont know when they will get H1N1.   Why am I trying to talk my friends in to possibly getting ahead of my children in line? 

      I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

       

      "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

      DirtyGraceFlint


      The Crap Whisperer

         To be honest, I don't know.  I do know that they did it for my wife before and after they gave her the chicken pox vaccine.  She is an odd case, as she has never had it (to her knowledge), and didn't have an immune response to it either before or after getting the vaccine.  So I know that it's possible to do for at least the chicken pox virus; but as to the costs or whether they could do that for all vaccines, I'm not sure.

        I found out that my MMR immunization didn't take when they did my blood work because I was pregnant...so they apparently check for certain immunities in pregnant women. The same thing happened to my Mom - she had to be re-vaccinated after having both my sis and I. I got another MMR before I left the hospital after having my daughter but haven't a clue if that vaccine took or not...

        Being the best tiny spec that I can be!


        Best Present Ever

          Here's where I get lost.  Parent A is angry at Parent B for choosing not to vaccinate.  Why is that?  I mean, child A is vaccinated, so even if child B gets polio (sucks for child B), isn't child A protected from the disease?  I'm not seeing how Parent B's actions are directly effecting Parent A or child A.  (Of course I realize there are broader social implications, but it seems Parent A is responding to a kind of personal attack.)

           

           I get mad because 1) I am willing to assume the vanishing small but existing risk that my kids will be injured by the vaccine.  Those who choose not to vaccinate can only do that because of the Parent A's like me do (thereby ensuring that the risk to the unvaccinated remains low)  and 2) there are individuals who cannot be vaccinated (due to age or health), those who get the vaccine but dont' have a sufficient immune response, and those who are immune compromised after being vaccinated.  All three groups are put at risk by all the Parent Bs. 

           

          I know a woman who chose not to vaccinate her child.  She spent a summer in Africa doing research and brought her child.  He became ill and they were evacuated to London via commercial airliner.  In London, it was determined that he had measles.  He exposed everyone on that plane -- the ill, the immune compromised, the babies too young for vaccination -- and bunches of other people on two continents because of her decision.  Oh, and her kid was really sick, too, but that was a chance she took knowingly on his behalf. She didn't factor in all the other folks.

            Personally I am on a campaign to quit trying to talk anyone into getting the flu shot.  They are out of the seasonal, they dont know when they will get H1N1.   Why am I trying to talk my friends in to possibly getting ahead of my children in line? 

             

            Yeah.  My kids had their seasonal and are scheduled for H1N1 in 2 weeks when their PCP will allegedly have it.  I don't see myself ever getting it...otherwise healthy adult males are way down the priority list plus it's a huge hassle if  you don't work somewhere that gives them out.

             

            A buddy of mine just posted on his FB: "So I'm in line for a flu shot...currently #113. Good times."

            Runners run

            jEfFgObLuE


            I've got a fever...

               Those who choose not to vaccinate can only do that because of the Parent A's like me do (thereby ensuring that the risk to the unvaccinated remains low)  and 2) there are individuals who cannot be vaccinated (due to age or health), those who get the vaccine but dont' have a sufficient immune response, and those who are immune compromised after being vaccinated.  All three groups are put at risk by all the Parent Bs. 

              This is what "herd immunity" is all about.  The weaker members of the herd (age, immuno-compromised, etc.) are protected from the disease because the strong (vaccinated) don't get sick in the first place.  When more people opt out of getting vaccinated, it reduces the herd immunity of the population at large.  In other words, by getting vaccinated, we protect ourselves as well as those who can't get vaccinated or for whom the vaccination won't be as effective.

              On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office.  But you will wish that you'd spent more time running.  Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.

                Our local health department was giving the H1N1 vaccine free of charge. Both of my kids received the vaccine today.


                A Saucy Wench

                  Our local health department was giving the H1N1 vaccine free of charge. Both of my kids received the vaccine today.

                   Actually if I was on the WIC program both my kids could be vaccinated right now.  But since I am not, too bad.

                  I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

                   

                  "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

                  xor


                    Ah.

                     

                     

                    WICcan.

                     

                     

                    Ennaycant.

                     


                    Why is it sideways?

                      I got confused back at the distinction between Parent A and Parent B.

                         Actually if I was on the WIC program both my kids could be vaccinated right now.  But since I am not, too bad.

                         Ours was free of charge for anyone, just had to wait in line.  DS's doctor advised me to go there since they would not have the vaccine for several weeks, and he was concerned about him due to his asthma.

                        xor


                          Please don't turn me into a toadstool.

                           

                           

                          Or a newt.

                           


                          A Saucy Wench

                            Please don't turn me into a toadstool.

                             

                             

                            Or a newt.

                             toad?

                            I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

                             

                            "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

                               

                               

                              Or a newt.

                               

                              You might watch your back.  Newts are in demand.  I've never seen a spell concoction that didn't call for eye of newt.

                              xor


                                And I need my eyes to watch my back.  EEK.