3 ms·

Is your immune system unusually effective, or do you simply have a lower exposure because people you come in contact with get their vaccines?

by jfoutz 12y ago

jMyles 12y ago
I surmise that I just have a good immune system (I'm not sure if it's "unusually" good). I don't go around asking all my friends and colleagues if they've gotten a flu shot, but I don't think they do? edit: Jeez, downvotes? Did I say something wrong? I'm not trying to troll, just answering the question.
- dghughes 12y ago
  It's called being an asymptomatic carrier look up Typhoid Mary. You may be infecting elderly and babies but are unaffected, as others have said a flu shot isn't so much about protecting you it's about people around you. My 70 year-old dad has IPF his lungs are shot and if he catches the flu he's as good as dead. It's frustrating the ambivalence or apathy or just outright paranoia is so prevalent these days. At my workplace out of 400 people one year only 3 people got a flu shot; myself and two others. The majority are 20-somethings and others who don't get the concept of a vaccines. I feel like saying "We don't care about just you we care about everyone!" but it's not a very good catch phrase.
  - PavlovsCat 12y ago
    But if you actually grant the "good immune system" bit, then wouldn't that imply that the immune system already is prepared to fight off the flu, or learns so very quickly; and then what ultimaltey is the difference between someone who was vaccinated with a syringe, and someone who was "vaccinated" by an actual infection, if you know what I mean?
    - maxerickson 12y ago
      Several days of shedding virus. Also, with influenza, you start spreading virus before you have symptoms. So keeping away from people once you notice you are sick isn't enough.
  - hga 12y ago
    Unfortunately, given the minuscule coverage compared to what's needed for good herd immunity, approximately 134.5 million doses distributed last year, and 100 million so far this year (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/vaccination/vaccinesupply.htm http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/vaccination/vaccinesupp...), while your advocacy doesn't hurt, how well can you ring fence your father? (As in get all the people he comes into contact with inoculated.)

Is your immune system unusually effective, or do you simply have a lower exposure because people you come in contact with get their vaccines?

by jfoutz 12y ago

Is your immune system unusually effective, or do you simply have a lower exposure because people you come in contact with get their vaccines?

jMyles 12y ago

I surmise that I just have a good immune system (I'm not sure if it's "unusually" good). I don't go around asking all my friends and colleagues if they've gotten a flu shot, but I don't think they do? edit: Jeez, downvotes? Did I say something wrong? I'm not trying to troll, just answering the question.

dghughes 12y ago
It's called being an asymptomatic carrier look up Typhoid Mary. You may be infecting elderly and babies but are unaffected, as others have said a flu shot isn't so much about protecting you it's about people around you. My 70 year-old dad has IPF his lungs are shot and if he catches the flu he's as good as dead. It's frustrating the ambivalence or apathy or just outright paranoia is so prevalent these days. At my workplace out of 400 people one year only 3 people got a flu shot; myself and two others. The majority are 20-somethings and others who don't get the concept of a vaccines. I feel like saying "We don't care about just you we care about everyone!" but it's not a very good catch phrase.
- PavlovsCat 12y ago
  But if you actually grant the "good immune system" bit, then wouldn't that imply that the immune system already is prepared to fight off the flu, or learns so very quickly; and then what ultimaltey is the difference between someone who was vaccinated with a syringe, and someone who was "vaccinated" by an actual infection, if you know what I mean?
  - maxerickson 12y ago
    Several days of shedding virus. Also, with influenza, you start spreading virus before you have symptoms. So keeping away from people once you notice you are sick isn't enough.
- hga 12y ago
  Unfortunately, given the minuscule coverage compared to what's needed for good herd immunity, approximately 134.5 million doses distributed last year, and 100 million so far this year (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/vaccination/vaccinesupply.htm http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/vaccination/vaccinesupp...), while your advocacy doesn't hurt, how well can you ring fence your father? (As in get all the people he comes into contact with inoculated.)