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Do you get your flu shot?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by Andrew99, Jan 14, 2020.

  1. Destin

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    The two main ones circulating this year are A(H1N1)pdm09 and B(H3N2)Victoria.

    A(H1N1)pdm09 is pretty similar to B(H1N1)Yamagata which was included in the shot last year and was mixed with the current updates, so it has tested well against the virus so far because of the similarities in their makeup.

    B(H3N2)Victoria on the other hand, is not testing well against the vaccine at all because only a small portion of the updates are similar to it.

    They're theorizing at the moment that the recent influx of Japanese tourists to the west coast in the last couple years caused the similarity between the current strain and the Yamagata strain, as the Japanese Yamagata flu probably at some point combined itself with an American flu from the extended close contact between tourists and locals in California/Oregon/Washington.

    The Victoria flu is from Australia, and is very different from pretty much any recent American flu, so our vaccines aren't really doing very well. Australia's vaccines also aren't really equipped to handle it because they put much more emphasis on the Brisbane flu instead of the Victoria flu this year.

    New and updated flu shots this year are supposed to be quadrivalent including these four strains:

    A/Brisbane/02/2018 (H1N1)
    A/Kansas/14/2017 (H3N2)
    B/Colorado/06/2017 (H1N1)
    B/Phuket/3073/2013 (H1N1)

    So basically one of them is covered and one of them not so much.
     
  2. Loves books

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    The past two years I went to the doctor for different reasons and he just offered the flu shot to me. It hurt way less than I thought it would I barely felt it. I know it’s not 100% effective, but some protection is better than none. I took all the vaccines offered to me. When I was 17 girls in my school got the mumps so they offered the MMR to the whole school.
     
  3. Andrew99

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    Well, I mean everyone has a right to make money though.

    Also, in February of 2018, I got really sick with the flu. I was sick for almost 2 weeks. Couldn’t go to work or school for that whole time. It was horrible. I had to take tamiflu (which made me dusy) just to stop throwing up and I really don’t want to get that way again and even if I do get the flu, since I got the vaccine, it can help alleviate some of the symptoms and I won’t be sick as long. Also, my dad has a weekend immune system so if he doesn’t get the flu shot and gets the flu, he has to get an IV. It’s just better all the way around for me me me to get the flu shot.
     
  4. Destin

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    The issue with pharmaceutical companies making money is they realize people have absolutely no clue how much medicine actually costs, so they charge whatever they feel like and people are forced to pay it because they need it for their illnesses. It's the largest monopoly on earth, because you can't not pay them, the choices are pay whatever they want or die if you have a serious illness.

    On the surface you see "oh $25-$35 for a flu shot, that's not too bad" (that's what stores like CVS, Walgreens etc. charge your insurance for them even if it's free for you) but in reality it costs the company producing them somewhere around like $3 to make the shot in the first place. They're charging more than 10x what it costs them to make it just because they can, since nobody really understands how much it's actually worth like they would with other economic items like a car. If a dealership charged you $200,000 for a $20,000 car everyone would be pissed off and call them out on it, yet that doesn't happen to pharmaceutical companies due to lack of knowledge on the real prices.

    It costs $250-$300 to buy one EpiPen which is necessary to avoid death during an allergic reaction, yet it only costs about $30 to make one (a while ago a brand called Mylan randomly raised their price from $100 to $600 for literally no reason overnight, just because they could and they knew nobody could do anything about it).
     
    #44 Destin, Jan 21, 2020
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2020
  5. Joeri

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    No, and tbh I'm not going to do it ever.

    I have never had a flu in my life, actually. Even with epidemies going around. ‍♀️
     
  6. Will S

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    Yes, I get my flu shot every year because It helps me stay happy and healthy and in my 17 years of life I have never gotten a flu shot.
     
  7. LaurenSkye

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    Personally, I don't like the idea of making a huge profit off of people's health and well-being.

    And here's a picture I got from the Cincinnati Police LGBT Liaison Facebook page:
    [​IMG]
     
  8. Mihael

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    Nah. Apparently flu shots don’t help much.
     
  9. Roscoe S

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    I keep getting a reminder on my phone that my flu shot has been overdue since September. Oops.
     
  10. Ashley01

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    I just get it if my doctor sees that I have not gotten yet for that flu season and she mentions it. I don't go out of my way to get it though. I have a baby niece that recently almost died like a month ago from the flu though...
     
  11. Bouldghirl

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    Get it every year. Only had flu once and I remember how bad it was. Knocked be out totally for almost a week. I’d rather not go through that again.
     
  12. Nightlight

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    Every 2 years or less. It makes me feel more "healthy" and prepared for the season. Most of the time I don't care for it.
     
    #52 Nightlight, Feb 8, 2020
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2020
  13. Mike92

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    I've gotten the flu shot every year since I was about 11 and have only had the flu a couple times including this year, which was pretty awful.
     
  14. Libertino

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    Yes, I get one annually. It was at the urging of my parents primarily, but I don't see any harm in getting one. I have not had the flu since I was in high school.
     
    #54 Libertino, Feb 14, 2020
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2020
  15. BradThePug

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    I get one every year. My clients get the flu every year and if helps me to avoid getting it, then I'm all for it.
     
  16. Aussie792

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    I really agree with Austin here.

    (1) I get the flu shot every autumn.

    (2) For a highly-vaccinated population, a 30-50% reduction rate in preventable illness is a huge boon. Winter is always brutal and expensive for hospitals due to the flu and dangerous for the old, young and immunocompromised. Also, my understanding is that the choice of which strain to target the shot against is heavily influenced by the prevalent strain in the last winter in the opposite hemisphere, which greatly assists prediction given flu strains take a while to die out.

    (3) In a country with relatively comprehensive prohibitions on private advertising of prescribed medical products and a very highly intermediated market for medications (by governments) we have similar uptakes in flu shots and antidepressants. There's certainly money in these medications but the reason doctors and health bureaucrats recommend them is not because they're profitable (in fact, there's a direct disincentive for governments to market expensive medicines they pay for) but because they're medically necessary.
     
    #56 Aussie792, Feb 16, 2020
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2020
  17. Awesome

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    Yes, every year. I trust doctors over people who base their opinions on anecdotes or google searches.
     
  18. Chip

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    Just for the record, it isn't anecdotes and Google searches, it's the US Centers for Disease Control's own published data, and in Destin's case, his father, who is an immunologist with epidemiological experience. Not exactly random bullshit.
     
    #58 Chip, Feb 16, 2020
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2020
  19. BobObob

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    I get the flu shot every year. It may not cover all strains of the flu, but according to reputable sources, it lowers your chances of getting the flu by ~50-60%, and may lessen it's severity if it doesn't prevent it. From the Mayo Clinic:

    More importantly than lessening your individual chances of getting the flu is that you're lessening the spread of the disease. If everyone gets the flu vaccine, there are fewer flu viruses to go around, and hence fewer people getting the flu, and therefore fewer flu viruses to go around, etc. The flu vaccine won't eradicate the flu (unlike vaccines for other diseases), but it can greatly reduce it's spread. With a fatality around 0.1% to 0.2%, it's not harmless. It kills thousands of people a year.
     
  20. jenniferf

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    No and never will,they get you sick.My wife is a RN nurse and told me what is in them