[Heff]

I have one stat for you...I am 40 and had a flu shot once...12 years ago...I also got the flu once....12 years ago, after getting the flu shot...lesson here???

Stat: I am 1 for 1 on flu shot to flu infection

Don't get the flu shot!

[milwguy]

My son is diabetic and got shot yesterday. He went to pediatrician for something else and she said he should get a shot right away, so they gave it to him. Interesting facts in NYT editorial today put this bogus issue into context. We were planning on 100 million doses, and will have 60 million because of Chiron. That is 1 dose per 6 people approx. The interesting thing is, last year the world outside the USA produced only 200 million doses, yet there was no pandemic, no stories of mass deaths, or anything close to that................here is relevant part of NTY...........Underlying this crisis is the increasing fragility of the vaccine manufacturing base. This may be mostly an American problem rather than a global problem. There are six major manufacturers in the world who produced some 200 million doses for other nations this year, but only two of them are licensed to produce the 100 million doses of injectable vaccine for this country. The British coped with the loss of Chiron's vaccine far better than the United States, mostly because they order far less vaccine and have a diversity of suppliers that can fill in if one company falters..............
This whole issue is just a desperate political ploy by the Dems to embarass Bush

[GrandEagle]

I also have "real time" data, at least as it affected me.
First flu shot was somewhere around 1978 or so when I finally ran into a Commander (I was in the USAF) that gave me a direct order to get one. Like you, the first time I got the flu was that year.
Every year since I got the flu somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas - that was until three years ago when my wife talked me into trying it again. Haven't had the flu since, and I get the shot every year.

I'm not exactly sure what conclusion I could draw from my experience - but there it is.

[thackney]

I also got the flu once.

It was the first year I skipped the flu shot. I had gotten a flu shot every year high school and have since that year.

I am not looking forward to this flu season.

[Yaelle]

I know people who have had flu shots and gotten the flu anyway; the shots are a educated guess, made months before the flu season. I have had the flu shot every year for several years and have NOT gotten the flu. I don't think that means anything, though, but with three kids I want to be well enough to care for them.