5 ms·

And of Alzheimers. I wonder at what age flu shots provide overwhelming benefits. 40? 50? I'm still reasonably young and don't bother, but maybe I should start

And of Alzheimers. I wonder at what age flu shots provide overwhelming benefits. 40? 50? I'm still reasonably young and don't bother, but maybe I should start getting them. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35723106/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35723106/ Also discussed here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31899781 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31899781

deleted 4y ago
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Alex3917 4y ago
Now that the evidence seems pretty clear that it reduces your risk of dying from cardiovascular events by ~30%, you should probably just get it every year: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5256393/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5256393/ It's like bike helmets. I didn't always wear them as a kid because they were uncomfortable, they weren't that effective, and we didn't know how bad head injuries were. But now that they're extremely comfortable, extremely effective, and we know how bad head injuries are, it doesn't really make sense to wear them any less than 100% of the time.
- jtbayly 4y ago
  100% of the time? I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it, but you’re right. Everybody should be wearing bike helmets all the time to protect against head injuries. Really, we should change the name “bike helmets” to something else if we want people to change their thinking and behavior. Perhaps “personal safety devices”?
  - zmgsabst 4y ago
    We should mandate them! If we just stopped one of the 1.5 million brain injuries each year — mandating permanently wearing helmets for the entire population is worth it! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459300/#_article-31648_s4_ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459300/#_article-31648...
    - criddell 4y ago
      > If we just stopped one of the 1.5 million brain injuries each year — mandating permanently wearing helmets for the entire population is worth it! I don't think most people would agree with you. If we passed a law in the US mandating no car can be capable of traveling faster than 25 mph, we would save 30,000 lives per year. But we don't do it because driving at higher speeds is worth the trade off in lives.
      - zmgsabst 4y ago
        Yes — I was being sarcastic, by using the logic we heard justifying QALY negative public health measures during the pandemic. I probably shouldn’t have used sarcasm online; it doesn’t translate well.
- jimmaswell 4y ago
  This claims flus cause heart attacks, so the flu vaccine reduces heart attacks by reducing flus. In my own case I wonder if there'd be any benefit, because I've never gotten the flu despite taking no precautions including shots.
  - nradov 4y ago
    Many influenza infections are asymptomatic. You might have been infected at some point without realizing it.
    - t0bia_s 4y ago
      So?
      - dqv 4y ago
        So the greatgrandparent can at best say they have never had symptomatic flu. They cannot confidently say they have never gotten the flu. It is flawed reasoning to use no symptoms of flu = not gotten the flu = not getting vaccine.
        t0bia_s 4y ago
        This is not medical and vague argument. Symptoms are what you "fight" against by medicine. Nonsymptimatic could be basically anything.
  - ysleepy 4y ago
    To stay with the helmet analogy, this sounds like "I won't wear a helmet because I've never been run over."
  - bobbyasdfasdf7 4y ago
    [dead]
maxerickson 4y ago
It depends a little on how you react to the vaccine, but just avoiding the flu once in a while is likely enough to be an overwhelming benefit.
- CyberDildonics 4y ago
  just avoiding the flu once in a while is likely enough to be an overwhelming benefit No one is getting the flu on purpose, if people could avoid it they would. It depends a little on how you react to the vaccine Statistically it doesn't and this is about statistics, not 'what if' scenarios. What is this supposed to mean?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - maxerickson 4y ago
    There's people that claim they are impacted for days by vaccinations. I generally notice a little tiredness. I don't care to argue with them about whether they are actually impacted for days, but if they are it certainly changes the comparison vs being a little tired for part of a day. And clearly people don't care to avoid the flu, vaccination rates are pretty low!

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

Alex3917 4y ago

Now that the evidence seems pretty clear that it reduces your risk of dying from cardiovascular events by ~30%, you should probably just get it every year: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5256393/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5256393/ It's like bike helmets. I didn't always wear them as a kid because they were uncomfortable, they weren't that effective, and we didn't know how bad head injuries were. But now that they're extremely comfortable, extremely effective, and we know how bad head injuries are, it doesn't really make sense to wear them any less than 100% of the time.

jtbayly 4y ago
100% of the time? I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it, but you’re right. Everybody should be wearing bike helmets all the time to protect against head injuries. Really, we should change the name “bike helmets” to something else if we want people to change their thinking and behavior. Perhaps “personal safety devices”?
- zmgsabst 4y ago
  We should mandate them! If we just stopped one of the 1.5 million brain injuries each year — mandating permanently wearing helmets for the entire population is worth it! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459300/#_article-31648_s4_ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459300/#_article-31648...
  - criddell 4y ago
    > If we just stopped one of the 1.5 million brain injuries each year — mandating permanently wearing helmets for the entire population is worth it! I don't think most people would agree with you. If we passed a law in the US mandating no car can be capable of traveling faster than 25 mph, we would save 30,000 lives per year. But we don't do it because driving at higher speeds is worth the trade off in lives.
    - zmgsabst 4y ago
      Yes — I was being sarcastic, by using the logic we heard justifying QALY negative public health measures during the pandemic. I probably shouldn’t have used sarcasm online; it doesn’t translate well.
jimmaswell 4y ago
This claims flus cause heart attacks, so the flu vaccine reduces heart attacks by reducing flus. In my own case I wonder if there'd be any benefit, because I've never gotten the flu despite taking no precautions including shots.
- nradov 4y ago
  Many influenza infections are asymptomatic. You might have been infected at some point without realizing it.
  - t0bia_s 4y ago
    So?
    - dqv 4y ago
      So the greatgrandparent can at best say they have never had symptomatic flu. They cannot confidently say they have never gotten the flu. It is flawed reasoning to use no symptoms of flu = not gotten the flu = not getting vaccine.
      - t0bia_s 4y ago
        This is not medical and vague argument. Symptoms are what you "fight" against by medicine. Nonsymptimatic could be basically anything.
- ysleepy 4y ago
  To stay with the helmet analogy, this sounds like "I won't wear a helmet because I've never been run over."
- bobbyasdfasdf7 4y ago
  [dead]

maxerickson 4y ago

It depends a little on how you react to the vaccine, but just avoiding the flu once in a while is likely enough to be an overwhelming benefit.

CyberDildonics 4y ago
just avoiding the flu once in a while is likely enough to be an overwhelming benefit No one is getting the flu on purpose, if people could avoid it they would. It depends a little on how you react to the vaccine Statistically it doesn't and this is about statistics, not 'what if' scenarios. What is this supposed to mean?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- maxerickson 4y ago
  There's people that claim they are impacted for days by vaccinations. I generally notice a little tiredness. I don't care to argue with them about whether they are actually impacted for days, but if they are it certainly changes the comparison vs being a little tired for part of a day. And clearly people don't care to avoid the flu, vaccination rates are pretty low!