--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "raunchydog" <raunchy...@...> wrote: > > I always get mild flu-like symptoms for a few days > after I get a flu shot. I'm sensitive to any medication, > so I avoid it whenever possible. I allow myself to get > a flu shot every two or three years and wonder if I'm > playing Russian roulette on years I decide against it. > I'm definitely getting a flu shot this year. I think > we're going to see a doozy of a flu season this year, > so I recommend that everyone get a shot.
Thing is, you're going to need three--two for swine flu, and one for the seasonal flu. The swine flu shots won't be ready for the general public as soon as the seasonal vaccine, unfortunately, but health-care practitioners will supposedly to be able to get them earlier. If we have a bad wave of the swine flu, it'll be *really* important for practitioners not to get sick or there won't be enough of them able to treat the people who do. > I work at a hospital and they strongly encourage us to > get a free flu shot for hospital employees every year. IMO, they should *require* anybody who works at a hospital to get vaccinated, because they'll have more exposure to flu from the patients that come in with it, and if they become infected, they can spread it to vulnerable patients who are there for other reasons. > When I don't take a shot I always get a form letter > asking me to explain why. I don't think it's any of > their business, but I understand they operate by the > numbers and probably have statistical reports they > have to fill out for the government. If we have a > pandemic in the US, odds are we will, and a lot of > people start showing up at the hospital for treatment, > I don't want to get sick. Judy is correct, the more > people we can protect with a flu shot the more likely > we will avoid a pandemic. For the record, there already *is* a pandemic. The question is how bad it'll be when the next wave hits in the fall. Typically the second wave is worse than the first. We just have to hope it won't have mutated into something really lethal.
