Anyone decide NOT to get Flu Shots?

No flu shots here... well no shots at all really. LOL

 

QUOTE
But to each their own.


Thank goodness that we can all choose what we think is best for our children!!!!

 

Yes we have gotten them every year and will definitely continue to do so.

 

QUOTE(Debb-i @ Nov 18 2007, 11:51 AM) [snapback]501027[/snapback]
I assume you are referring to the preservative "thimerosal". If you have ANY doubts about that (even though there has never been any conclusive scientific data on any relationship), you can easily request a "thimersol-free" influenza vaccine. I believe in children under 3yrs, it is automatically given anyway.

Yep, all 3 of my kids got the preservative free flu shot this year and last year as well. I have gotten the flu shot every year since I started teaching 10 years ago, and I've never gotten the flu. I'm home now and still get it. My DH will get it as well. I feel it is good protection for our family and everyone else we come in contact with. We will all get one every year.

If you are concerned about the ingredients in the flu shot, but want you kids to have it, ask for the preservative free flu shot, it's as simple as that. Thank you AmyA for all that good information.

 

QUOTE(Amy A @ Nov 16 2007, 02:51 PM) [snapback]498971[/snapback]
YES, we all got our flu shots!!
I am a pediatric RN and often exposed to influenza. So therefore my husband and son's are also at risk. I got influenza once two years ago and it was horrible. I was so sick I couldn't get out of bed - fever, chills, bad cough, ect. At the risk of souding rude, I think many people have a lot of misinformation about the shot. The flu shot is for INFLUENZA, NOT the "stomach flu" as many pepole think it is. I think many people who are not getting the shots on this forum might think it's for the stomach flu because many of you mentioned you have had it several times before even though you got the shot. MOST people don't get influenza several times!!! It is one little shot and saves many people from serious complicated flu. It is definatly recommended for high risk patients (elderly, small children, those with respitory or heart issues, ect). The flu shot is made each year and attempts to predict what strain will come out this year, but often the virus can change. However, the shot still protects you against the main forums. So you can still get the flu shot and still get influenza, but it is a lot less common due to the protection you get from the vaccine.

Just take one look at the floor I work on and you see many small children sick and hospitalized needing oxygen, nebs, antiviral medications - and you would know that a tiny prick is worth it. I know that is not the common oppinion on this thread. But seriously, a shot that your kids won't remember at all down the road could keep them healthy all winter and avoid influenza. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.


I know the shot isn't for the stomach flu - in fact I've never heard of anyone thinking that - in this thread or out of it...my DOCTOR doesn't recommend the flu shot for my kids because he doesn't feel that introducing them to a virus (alive or dead) that they may never get. I'm not anti-vaccination in any way (in fact both of my kids have had all their shots on schedule)

 

QUOTE(Debb-i @ Nov 18 2007, 04:51 PM) [snapback]501027[/snapback]
I assume you are referring to the preservative "thimerosal". If you have ANY doubts about that (even though there has never been any conclusive scientific data on any relationship), you can easily request a "thimersol-free" influenza vaccine. I believe in children under 3yrs, it is automatically given anyway.


Not only the thimersol, the other ingrediants as well.

 

We did decide to do it this year, but we debated.
DH and my work offers them for free. I work in a hospital environment, so there are many ill people around all the time I am there. They offered a flu shot clinic at DH's lab, so he figure, hey why not while they are here. And by that point he was the only one not done. For two years, kids and I were done, he was not, and he got hit really bad for flu later in the season.

I made appointments to get all of the kids done, because they are not 5 yet, and M&T are in pre-K and could bring it homet o A. The teachers are very careful to have the kids wash their hands, cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze, but IMHO, some of the parents are not very careful about keeping the sick kids home when they are sick. And I don't know what that other kid has, so I figured the extra help would not be admiss.

We are lucky that for the most part they are healty kids. And I want to help them keep it that way. Sick kids are never fun.
We also do not have any of the reactions or allergies some people have, so we are lucky that way too.

And, yes, it is always great to have a decision.

 

We haven't primarily because we live in a country where true influenza is rare. We don't have heating or A/C so we're not closed in spaces. Windows are open and air circulates. We just don't get sick as often. However when we return to the US next summer, we will start the flu vaccinations.

And I suspect that most people who say they have the flu actually have a cold virus. True flu would knock you on your a$$ for a minimum of 7 days. Feeling like crap with a stuffy nose and cough for a few days is NOT the flu.

 

We did get flu shots!

When DD and DS were only 10 months old they contracted influenza while traveling through an airport on our way to AZ. The flu was the most horrific illness I have ever experienced in my life. OUr twins had the rotavirus (and DS was in the hospital) and I have to say that the flu was 10 times worse. THey hurt so bad and cried so hard they would throw up. Fevers at 106 for days and days. My heart just broke over and over again. Around here you hear about little kids dying from the flu, and now that my kids have had it, I can understand how that might happen. It is a horrible thing.