Even if you get the shot today, it will be at least 2 weeks before you have a substancial immunity to the disease. Then, with the vaccine it’s still an odds game. You may have 80% immunity, so you could still get sick (20% chance) but if you do get sick it should be far less severe than what you would have gotten.
Yes, I fully intend to either get the flu, or get the shot. Preferrably the shot. Either way, I’m not afraid of the Swine flu this year. I am terrified of what this strain of influenze could mutate into either next year, or the years down the road.
I’d rather have some immunity to future mutations; than no immunity at all.
Ever since it became fashionable to forecast 100 years out, I have been afraid of being afraid...
I have a question about flu vaccines that I have have never heard asked by anyone else.
I know that immunity obtained from nature (infection) lasts a lifetime whereas immunity from vaccines tend to “wear off” over time. This is why booster shoots are recommended for some diseases.
So if a younger, healthy person gets regular flu shots to avoid getting sick, then this immunity should diminish over the years. By the time this person is “old” they will have lost immunity to many of the epitopes on the strains that they were vaccinated against over the years. This would mean that they would be much more likely to catch the flu when they are old (and in a higher risk group) than someone of the same age that has acquired natural immunity to these flu strains.
So, in the long run, isn’t it better for a healthy person to skip the vaccines and develop natural immunity? That way they will be more likely to survive an influenza infection when they are old.