The pharmacist said that news articles claiming 10-30% effectiveness were erroneously referring to the Australian report. She also said that a higher effectiveness is expected here, in the States--about the same as last year.
I hate this season
Is there any mention of the strain that this years vaccine is targeting?
No flu shots for me. Got one once and it gave me flu like symptoms for weeks and the left sinus has never been the same. I ate two bowls of my homemade chicken soup today though.
Living out in the boonies and not sending the kids to public school, we never got sick unless we went to walmart. My wife works at an old folks home now so once a year we might get something.
The flu vaccine for any given year is medicine’s best EDUCATED GUESS as to what strain/s will likely be most prevalent for that particular year. Some years it’s an effective guess, others not so much. As a healthcare provider of 35+ years, I myself have never received a flu vaccine. I can count on one hand the number of times I have contracted the ‘flu’ after have interacted with hundreds of thousands of patients over that 35 year span. I have at times recommended said vaccine to those whose compromised health condition could possibly benefit from it but not for an otherwise healthy individual.
I hope that’s true but unfortunately most of those I have admitted to the hospital did have the vaccine
My doc told me last week that so far it’s been about 10% effective here in the states...:-(
Not interested in a flu shot. My Doc thinks I’m nuts. Maybe.
I take 5000 iu of vitamin D3 each day. Haven’t been sick in years. Maybe, maybe not ‘cause of the vit D. Certainly hasn’t hurt and it’s not expensive.
When people I know get the flu after getting the flu shot I suggest that they didn’t get a “whole dose” and to go back to wherever they got the shot and get another and this time make sure they get a double dose for free.
Oh, thanks for that info. Our church usually provides ‘em to members, but somehow we missed this year. My wife’s employer also provided such for her and our daughter, but not me. :-(
So instead for Christmas week I got a respiratory virus (but not flu) with a bad head cold laid over it. Pretty well knocked me out for a couple days — am now finally & slowly feeling a lot better. No more “kidneys hurt with a slight cough” / can’t say one sentence w/o coughing.
I figure my lungs are my weak point even tho’ I never smoked, and pneumonia will get me someday, like my Dad (who also did not smoke.)
Maybe I should say that I only THINK I did not have a flu variant. Is there any information somewhere of how different 2017-2018 flu variants’ symptoms may differ?
Only reason it’s low here in Iowa is because it’s too dang cold to go out anywhere. Sometimes I can’t believe I moved here. The things a grandmother will do...
Got it the day after Thanksgiving here in WA. First flu in 11 years (I can’t get the shot for health reasons). I was too wiped to even roll over for the first 36 hours. It took 2 weeks to get back to normal on my elliptical. I think one of my chickens had it too ... she got really weak and lethargic for two weeks ... would have died if we didn’t bring her in under the heat lamp.