Poll: Flu 2017/18 Season - Flu and Shot

[Car-Guy]

According to the news, this seems to be a bad flu season here in the US. I was just curious about who on this forum has gotten the flu "so far" this season and if you got a flu shot/nasal spray or not.

 

[aja8888]

No flu and no flu shot.

 

[EastWest Gal]

No flu yet. Working as a hospital pediatrician, I've seen lots of flu. The youngest was 3 weeks old. Did fine.

 

[Ronnieboy]

I think you need to define the flu for this poll. The true influenza comes on fast, has a fever of 100.5+, chills and sweats, headache, body ache, dry persistent cough, fatigue and weakness, sore throat, lasts for a 5-7 days or longer. You feel that you've been run over by a truck.

Having diarrhea and vomiting over two days even with some of the above is NOT the flu, it is a viral infection but not influenza.

Seems to be easily confused, especially by those who happen to get the 'flu' from a flu shot

I guess they're the same ones that got Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis from the TDap vaccination too.

 

[Time2re]

No flu and no flu shot.

+1

 

[Texas Proud]

Got sick when coming back from China.... but it was not the flu...

So mine was no shot, no flu.... but still sick....

 

[Scuba]

I had the shot in Oct. Got the flu in Dec. - 102 degree fever for a couple of days and sick about a week. Awful.

 

[donheff]

Got the shot, haven't yet been bit by the flu, but it's a little early for this poll.

 

[Dawg52]

Got the shot, no flu but got a deep chest cold. Wish they had a shot to prevent those. Wish they had a shot to make live to 100 while in good health. While I'm at it.....a shot for longevity and super wealth.

 

[REWahoo]

Got the shot, no flu but got a deep chest cold. Wish they had a shot to prevent those. Wish they had a shot to make live to 100 while in good health. While I'm at it.....a shot for longevity and super wealth.

That's quite a wish list. A shot of Old No. 7 might help.

 

[RunningBum]

I think you need to define the flu for this poll. The true influenza comes on fast, has a fever of 100.5+, chills and sweats, headache, body ache, dry persistent cough, fatigue and weakness, sore throat, lasts for a 5-7 days or longer. You feel that you've been run over by a truck.

Having diarrhea and vomiting over two days even with some of the above is NOT the flu, it is a viral infection but not influenza.

Seems to be easily confused, especially by those who happen to get the 'flu' from a flu shot

I guess they're the same ones that got Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis from the TDap vaccination too.

I'm one of the 3 so far who got the flu (a month later) despite getting the shot. I had fever over 102, and chills for 2-3 days. No stomach issues. I've read that the shot can reduce the symptoms even if it doesn't prevent the flu all the time, which seems to have happened to me. I'm not sure how, since I thought it either protected you from a strain or not.

 

[Car-Guy]

Got the shot, haven't yet been bit by the flu, but it's a little early for this poll.

Maybe I'll run another poll in a few months to see the difference.

 

[Car-Guy]

That's quite a wish list. A shot of Old No. 7 might help.

JD works wonders. Prefer black label myself (the real Old No. 7) but green label will do in a pinch. I once went on a tour of JD's facility, which by the way, is located in a dry county. Very interesting tour.

 

[UtahSkier]

No flu, but I have been hiding. working out at home instead of the gym for nearly a month. Dw also healthy and has been to the gym a few times.

 

[jollystomper]

I have gotten a flu shot for at least 12 consecutive years. During that time I caught the flu once, and the symptoms were reduced. I'll keep getting a flu shot, the odds have favored me so far.

 

[Dawg52]

That's quite a wish list. A shot of Old No. 7 might help.

Probably as close to euphoria as I'm going to get.

 

[RAE]

Interesting that only one person who did NOT get the flu shot has gotten the flu. From what I have read, this year's flu strain (H3N2) is one that the flu shot provides little or no protection against.

 

[REWahoo]

I once went on a tour of JD's facility, which by the way, is located in a dry county. Very interesting tour.

Never been but I understand it is an olfactory experience.

 

[FIREmenow]

No shot, no flu (yet)

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Got the shot, no flu but got a deep chest cold. Wish they had a shot to prevent those.

I think I caught the same cold. No fever, but had a lingering cough that kept me up at night. It scared me into getting the shot.

 

[Ronnieboy]

I'm one of the 3 so far who got the flu (a month later) despite getting the shot. I had fever over 102, and chills for 2-3 days. No stomach issues. I've read that the shot can reduce the symptoms even if it doesn't prevent the flu all the time, which seems to have happened to me. I'm not sure how, since I thought it either protected you from a strain or not.

The theory seems to be plausible that getting the flu shot can help lessen severity of the flu cause it will recognize the flu virus a little faster even if it is the wrong one or a mutated version that your body has to start making antibodies from scratch.

A simplified example is, say the flu virus is a capsule with hands on the outside of it and to attack you it has to attach to your cells with a handshake. The flu shot is a bunch of little left and right hands without the 'capsule' of flu (that is one reason you can't get the flu from the flu virus, there is no flu RNA in the shot). These left and right hands interact with your immune system and trigger it to make antibodies to recognize and destroy the flu virus if you get it during the next year or so (this is why you could get a slight fever from the shot and/or a little malaise).

Here comes flu season and well they guessed wrong, instead of the flu virus with 5 fingers it has 3 fingers. Well you can still shake a persons hand with 3 fingers, it might not be as strong a grip as someone with 5 fingers so some of the antibodies can get shaken off, but your body is still getting a head start on clearing out that virus than if it started from scratch.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I got the flu shot in early November. Right after flying out of town and back for Christmas I got a bad chest cold (no fever or body aches); had to leave town again ten days later and came back over the weekend with the flu (101 fever and hit-by-a-truck body aches). It is already breaking up so I think the flu shot probably did lessen the severity.

 

[SheitlQueen]

No shot and haven't gotten the flu. I've never had the flu and hope my record holds out.

 

[iloveyoga]

We both got the shot and no flu. Knock on wood.

 

[eytonxav]

From what I have heard the shot will only minimize your flu symptoms or shorten the duration, but will not prevent one from getting the flu. Originally I heard it was only 10% effective, but later was clarified that was for Australia, and the shot should provide an effectiveness of ~ 60%.