5 ms·

Are there any negatives to getting the flu shot? For me, if there's a chance that it could prevent me getting the flu, and there are no potential negatives, th

Are there any negatives to getting the flu shot? For me, if there's a chance that it could prevent me getting the flu, and there are no potential negatives, then at least I may be prevented from certain strains.

llimllib 17y ago
Sometimes weakened strains of the flu can end up giving you symptoms of the actual flu. It costs money to get the flu shot. The needle could be infected. You could get in a car accident on the way to the clinic. You could pick up the flu from a previous visitor to the clinic. All of which is to say, TANSTAAFL.
- easp 17y ago
  Generally, symptoms from a vaccine are mild compared to getting the full blown illness, so the upside is still there, even if you suffer the downside.
gregwebs 17y ago
In the last swine flu vaccination (30 years ago), hundreds of Americans died from receiving the vaccine. You can find the sixty minutes episode on this online. Vaccines usually come with other toxic substances that will be injected in your body. The same research articles that show influenza vaccines aren't useful also indicate that the risk of severe side effects (such as death) are low. Those must be weighed against the benefits, which in the case of the influenza vaccine, seem to be mild or unproven.
- carbocation 17y ago
  On a related note, the US stockpile of h1n1 vaccine has none of these other toxic substances (adjuvants, namely squalene) this time around. Most of the rest of the world uses them, and the side effect profile is either zero or minimal, depending on whom you ask.
- ikitat 17y ago
  Hundreds? 48,161,019 Americans were vaccinated, 1098 cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) recorded nationwide by CDC surveillance, 532 of which were linked to the NIIP vaccination, resulting in death from severe pulmonary complications for 25 people http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swine_influenza#1976_U.S._outbreak http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swine_influenza#1976_U.S._outbr...
  - gregwebs 17y ago
    You are quite right, thanks for the correction. However, note that the actual total will always be higher then that which the authorities have officially verified. I will also quote the very next sentence on that Wikipedia article: ... the vaccine killed more Americans than the disease did
    - ikitat 17y ago
      Seasonal flu kills approximately 36,000 _Americans_ annually. Confirmed deaths worldwide for the 2009 H1N1 flu: 5,382 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic
      - gregwebs 17y ago
        That number for deaths (5,382) is for influenza in general, not H1N1. If you download the referenced source, it states that in 2009 there were less than 300 confirmed h1n1 cases admitted to intensive care worldwide.
        ikitat 17y ago
        I'm sorry, but the heading on table 2 reads: Table 2. Reported number of new and cumulative confirmed fatal Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza cases in EU and EFTA countries, as 23 October 2009, 09:00 hours CEST, and in the rest of the world by country, as of 22 October 2009, 16:00 hours CEST. The total at the bottom of the table is: 5,382 Perhaps you are reading that the total in EU alone is 269?

llimllib 17y ago

Sometimes weakened strains of the flu can end up giving you symptoms of the actual flu. It costs money to get the flu shot. The needle could be infected. You could get in a car accident on the way to the clinic. You could pick up the flu from a previous visitor to the clinic. All of which is to say, TANSTAAFL.

easp 17y ago
Generally, symptoms from a vaccine are mild compared to getting the full blown illness, so the upside is still there, even if you suffer the downside.

gregwebs 17y ago

In the last swine flu vaccination (30 years ago), hundreds of Americans died from receiving the vaccine. You can find the sixty minutes episode on this online. Vaccines usually come with other toxic substances that will be injected in your body. The same research articles that show influenza vaccines aren't useful also indicate that the risk of severe side effects (such as death) are low. Those must be weighed against the benefits, which in the case of the influenza vaccine, seem to be mild or unproven.

carbocation 17y ago
On a related note, the US stockpile of h1n1 vaccine has none of these other toxic substances (adjuvants, namely squalene) this time around. Most of the rest of the world uses them, and the side effect profile is either zero or minimal, depending on whom you ask.
ikitat 17y ago
Hundreds? 48,161,019 Americans were vaccinated, 1098 cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) recorded nationwide by CDC surveillance, 532 of which were linked to the NIIP vaccination, resulting in death from severe pulmonary complications for 25 people http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swine_influenza#1976_U.S._outbreak http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swine_influenza#1976_U.S._outbr...
- gregwebs 17y ago
  You are quite right, thanks for the correction. However, note that the actual total will always be higher then that which the authorities have officially verified. I will also quote the very next sentence on that Wikipedia article: ... the vaccine killed more Americans than the disease did
  - ikitat 17y ago
    Seasonal flu kills approximately 36,000 _Americans_ annually. Confirmed deaths worldwide for the 2009 H1N1 flu: 5,382 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic
    - gregwebs 17y ago
      That number for deaths (5,382) is for influenza in general, not H1N1. If you download the referenced source, it states that in 2009 there were less than 300 confirmed h1n1 cases admitted to intensive care worldwide.
      - ikitat 17y ago
        I'm sorry, but the heading on table 2 reads: Table 2. Reported number of new and cumulative confirmed fatal Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza cases in EU and EFTA countries, as 23 October 2009, 09:00 hours CEST, and in the rest of the world by country, as of 22 October 2009, 16:00 hours CEST. The total at the bottom of the table is: 5,382 Perhaps you are reading that the total in EU alone is 269?