Legit Reasons Not to Get a Flu Vaccine

Off Topic
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[quote]hungry4more wrote:
Obviously you’re very knowledgeable on this subject, and this is something I’ve wondered…how many types of the flu are generally contained in the vaccine? IIRC, aren’t there hundreds/thousands of different strain floating around at any given time?

You’ve got a lot of good points. And you’re right, there’s any bigger issues with where the government spends its money. With how strongly the gov’t pushes vaccines like this (I can understand things like smallpox and what not, ones that are relatively often serious or fatal), it just frustrates me, like anything else that seems like wasteful spending.

To be fair, isn’t it safe to assume that the vaccines for a constantly and quickly evolving virus like influenza well typically be a step or two behind?[/quote]

The traditional flu vaccines contain three different strains of the flu (trivalent vaccines), while FluMist is, I believe, the only one to contain four (quadrivalent). And, yeah, the number of influenza strains is at the very least in the hundreds, though I’m sure a more accurate statistic is floating around somewhere and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is in the thousands or greater (viruses are the most abundant biological entity on the planet). The issue with that is isolating and differentiating the strains, which many times is more academically useful than clinical because the drugs and immune responses can work equally well across various strains.

I absolutely agree that the “guess work” that goes into creating the yearly vaccine leaves something to be desired, though… but, unfortunately, right now it is the best we can do. The statistics for how well the vaccines do their job varies depending on the source; I believe the CDC ballparks it at 90%, give or take, while a recent study in (I think) the Lancet puts it at closer to 60% for adults given traditional vaccines (80% for children given FluMist).

Which leads me to something I forgot to mention the other day: FluMist is generally seen to be more effective in children than in adults. Where I work, it is considered to be the “children’s vaccine”.

So, yeah, there needs to be some degree of improvement if the newer study reflects the reality a little better than the CDC. What is interesting is that just recently, a new antibody was discovered that is HOPED to be the stepping stone to a “universal” flu vaccine that would be effective against all forms and, as such, would only be needed as a one-time shot.

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^^good post.

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Here’s a question I would genuinely like to know the answer to:

For those of you who doubt the efficacy or importance of yearly vaccinations, how do you reconcile your impressions of its usefulness with the fact that over 100 countries the world over collectively collaborate with both each other and international health organizations to ensure they have their asses covered for each and every flu season? Year after year after year?

Is it just Big Pharma pulling the strings with money and propaganda, or has the data actually shown some significant societal benefit to justify these yearly efforts?

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[quote]anonym wrote:
Here’s a question I would genuinely like to know the answer to:

Is it just Big Pharma pulling the strings with money and propaganda, or has the data actually shown some significant societal benefit to justify these yearly efforts?[/quote]

IMO, a little of both.

It’s a multi billion dollar industry so there is obviously a lot of propaganda/string pulling involved. With that being said, the flu vaccine has its benefits. As had been stated before, if you are very young, very old or have a compromised immune system the the vaccine is probably not a bad idea.

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[quote]gregron wrote:
IMO, a little of both.

It’s a multi billion dollar industry so there is obviously a lot of propaganda/string pulling involved. With that being said, the flu vaccine has its benefits. As had been stated before, if you are very young, very old or have a compromised immune system the the vaccine is probably not a bad idea.[/quote]

Agreed, or if you happen to work around those groups of people (I know many schools, hospitals, etc. make it a mandatory practice).

I don’t necessarily feel that EVERYONE needs the flu shot (I didn’t get one despite the fact that I can at no charge), but there really is a huge push to get as many people as possible on it. Particularly at the local level, such as retail pharmacies. It’s a fairly substantial moneymaker for those sorts of places, since you can bill insurance companies ~$30 per shot (a $20 - $22 profit after wholesale cost) for what amounts to, at most, a couple minutes worth of work for the pharmacist.

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[quote]gregron wrote:
As had been stated before, if you are very young, very old or have a compromised immune system the the vaccine is probably not a bad idea.[/quote]
Or if you’re a paramedic working very close to the old and immunosuppressed. While you’re unlikely to die if you get exposed to the virus, you really risk killing some people, especially with this “I don’t get sick” attitude.

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[quote]on edge wrote:

[quote]Elegua360 wrote:
OK, this might deserve its own thread, but here’s something very relevant to the discussion – (I’m not sure if I believe the causal connection…but it’s interesting stuff) –

This is clearly because the people with weak hearts are dying from the shot and not having the opportunity to have a heart attack.

There ya go Derek, now you can call me a conspiracy theorist.[/quote]
Lol

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[quote]anonym wrote:

[quote]gregron wrote:
IMO, a little of both.

It’s a multi billion dollar industry so there is obviously a lot of propaganda/string pulling involved. With that being said, the flu vaccine has its benefits. As had been stated before, if you are very young, very old or have a compromised immune system the the vaccine is probably not a bad idea.[/quote]

Agreed,.[/quote]

So this is what it comes to, both sides in this debate basically agree.

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[quote]on edge wrote:
So this is what it comes to, both sides in this debate basically agree.[/quote]

Well, I agree that children and the elderly would be best served getting the shot and that when billions of dollars per year are on the line, propaganda, politics and string-pulling will likely be involved.

I don’t feel that healthy individuals outside of those age brackets who don’t meet the conditions outlined earlier “need” the shot to the same extent the aforementioned groups do, but I don’t really think there is any harm to it if they choose to.

I am also skeptical of any long-term issues stemming from flu vaccinations, but it’s not something I’m really interested in arguing.

The whole “getting the vaccine gave me the flu” misconception is something I find annoying, but that’s probably just because I have to bite my tongue, nod my head and act sympathetic about it multiple times per day. It’s kinda like going to the gym and having that middle-aged guy with the gut offer unsolicited stories about benching 405+ “back in the day”… you know, before he popped a vertebrae carrying a refrigerator up four flights of stairs on his back. And all you can do is grimace in mock pain, nod sympathetically and say, “at least you bounced back nicely” while screaming “bullshit!” in your head.