Just some blabbering:
The decision whether or not to get a flu vaccine is a personal one. But, please think of the babies under 6 mos of age who or severe asthmatics with an egg allergy who can not get the vaccine. If you are protected, you know you will not get these at risk children/people sick and you could potentially save yourself from a REALLY lousy week!
You cannot get the flu from the flu shot, but localized swelling/soreness and low grade temp are common side effects of all vaccines. Your immune system is reacting to a foreign substance. The result of such reaction is your immunity to whatever you were injected with. In the process, however, normal immune system reactions like fever, swelling etc may happen.
The flu shot should not be given until late Oct or later. It is not for anyone alleric to eggs.
The flu mist is not a shot. It is a live vaccine nsal spray, so asthmatics or similarly at risk people are not able to get it. The flu mist can be given at any time of year as it has been shown to provide a full year of immunity. It is a great option for generally healthy individuals and is not predicited to have a shortage this year. In fact, if people without a contraindication would get the mist, we would have TONS more shots for high risk individuals.
I agree with whoever mentioned the sniffling "I have the flu" people. They drive me bonkers! I think many people simply don''t know what the true flu is. The actual flu is a specific virus that knocks you on you butt. It is a signifant respiratory (not simply stuffy nose/ headaches and not vomiting or other stomach upset.) illness with high fever, aches, pains and other stuff that totally wipes you out. I can''t tell you how many parents have told my patients "You need the flu shot so you don''t throw up this winter." or "You don''t want a cold this year, right?" I never like to contradict parents in front of their kids, but I do my best to delicately educate them on how awful the flu really is and what the actual symptoms are. (I save all my venting for here.)
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Thimerisol is a very sticky subject. Unfortunately, scary things have been attributed to it, and many do not do their own research.
Thimerisol is in the typical flu shot, but you can special order a preservative-free vaccine.
The big scary vaccine is supposedly the MMR. Thimerisol has not been in the MMR since 1997. Quite simply, there is some sort of hard wiring autistic kids have. Other than Rhett''s syndrome, we don''t know the specific link. People are anxious to find a cause and I personally think they are eager to blame something. Parents want a reason that their child is this way.
The MMR is given at 12-18 months of age (in US). That is coincidently the age that austitic symptoms begin to be readily apparent. That is the age range where we do our key screening. Personally, I feel that in their eagerness to have a reason, parents went after the MMR vaccine as it was a readily identifiable "new" thing in their child''s system. My opinion is that if there were not a genetic component, then all recipients of the MMR would have autism. Or, if it were due to thimerisol, autism rates would have dropped dramatically since 1997. Unfortunately, they continue to rise. (Again personal opinion here - I think a lot of the rate increase is simply due to improved diagnosis. In generations past, a person with Asperger''s would be "set in his ways" or "very focused;" a non verbal person with Autism would have been "retarded." Now we have a better understanding of how truly intelligent these people are, and there is a name for it.) Sadly, if you watch home videos of autistic children in their infancy, subtle signs can be found MUCH earlier that 12-18months. So stepping off my soapbox, I don''t think vaccines are the bad guy.
Hope that I''ve helped someone out there!
The decision whether or not to get a flu vaccine is a personal one. But, please think of the babies under 6 mos of age who or severe asthmatics with an egg allergy who can not get the vaccine. If you are protected, you know you will not get these at risk children/people sick and you could potentially save yourself from a REALLY lousy week!
You cannot get the flu from the flu shot, but localized swelling/soreness and low grade temp are common side effects of all vaccines. Your immune system is reacting to a foreign substance. The result of such reaction is your immunity to whatever you were injected with. In the process, however, normal immune system reactions like fever, swelling etc may happen.
The flu shot should not be given until late Oct or later. It is not for anyone alleric to eggs.
The flu mist is not a shot. It is a live vaccine nsal spray, so asthmatics or similarly at risk people are not able to get it. The flu mist can be given at any time of year as it has been shown to provide a full year of immunity. It is a great option for generally healthy individuals and is not predicited to have a shortage this year. In fact, if people without a contraindication would get the mist, we would have TONS more shots for high risk individuals.
I agree with whoever mentioned the sniffling "I have the flu" people. They drive me bonkers! I think many people simply don''t know what the true flu is. The actual flu is a specific virus that knocks you on you butt. It is a signifant respiratory (not simply stuffy nose/ headaches and not vomiting or other stomach upset.) illness with high fever, aches, pains and other stuff that totally wipes you out. I can''t tell you how many parents have told my patients "You need the flu shot so you don''t throw up this winter." or "You don''t want a cold this year, right?" I never like to contradict parents in front of their kids, but I do my best to delicately educate them on how awful the flu really is and what the actual symptoms are. (I save all my venting for here.)
-
Thimerisol is a very sticky subject. Unfortunately, scary things have been attributed to it, and many do not do their own research.
Thimerisol is in the typical flu shot, but you can special order a preservative-free vaccine.
The big scary vaccine is supposedly the MMR. Thimerisol has not been in the MMR since 1997. Quite simply, there is some sort of hard wiring autistic kids have. Other than Rhett''s syndrome, we don''t know the specific link. People are anxious to find a cause and I personally think they are eager to blame something. Parents want a reason that their child is this way.
The MMR is given at 12-18 months of age (in US). That is coincidently the age that austitic symptoms begin to be readily apparent. That is the age range where we do our key screening. Personally, I feel that in their eagerness to have a reason, parents went after the MMR vaccine as it was a readily identifiable "new" thing in their child''s system. My opinion is that if there were not a genetic component, then all recipients of the MMR would have autism. Or, if it were due to thimerisol, autism rates would have dropped dramatically since 1997. Unfortunately, they continue to rise. (Again personal opinion here - I think a lot of the rate increase is simply due to improved diagnosis. In generations past, a person with Asperger''s would be "set in his ways" or "very focused;" a non verbal person with Autism would have been "retarded." Now we have a better understanding of how truly intelligent these people are, and there is a name for it.) Sadly, if you watch home videos of autistic children in their infancy, subtle signs can be found MUCH earlier that 12-18months. So stepping off my soapbox, I don''t think vaccines are the bad guy.
Hope that I''ve helped someone out there!
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