5 Bogus Theories People Use to Avoid the Flu Vaccine

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/5-bogus-theories-people-use-avoid-flu-vaccine



1. “Vaccines are dangerous and give kids autism.” One reason people avoid the flu shot might come from anti-vaccine propaganda widespread in the media, mostly on the Internet. Anti-vaxxers have sown vaccine fear over a wide swath of the western world. In 1998, a British study by Andrew Wakefield purported to show a link between vaccines and autism. While the study focused on childhood vaccinations, the fearful link between vaccines and danger spread to other kinds of vaccines as well. Despite the fact that the study was definitively discredited and Dr. Wakefield was disgraced, the misinformation lives on, fueled by Hollywood celebrities like Jenny McCarthy, Bill Maher and Jim Carrey.

2. “I got the vaccine one year and it didn't work.” Some people who believe flu vaccines don’t work cite the time they got the vaccine and still got the flu. This can happen. Flu vaccines are reformulated every year, based on the best guesses of flu experts as to which strain of flu will be most prevalent that season. It is not an exact science, and while the predictions are often correct, sometimes the scientists get it wrong. When that happens, the vaccine you have received does not protect you against the strain that is actually out there, and you might get the flu despite the vaccination. Still, the vaccine is effective about 60% of the time. Better odds than no vaccine.

***SNIP

3. “I have egg allergies.” This one is not completely bogus, but it is overused. While flu vaccines are prepared in eggs, only those people with severe anaphylactic reactions to eggs need to avoid the vaccine. Lesser reactions to eggs like hives or mild rashes pose no danger and are not a reason to avoid the vaccine, as long as the vaccinated are observed for 30 minutes after the vaccine is administered.

4. “I don’t get the flu.” Certain superhumans among us claim they “never get the flu.” The first answer to that is “never say never.” This could be your unlucky year! Beyond that there is a larger public health reason to get vaccinated—for the sake of the people around you. Some people are infected by the flu virus, and for whatever reason, do not suffer symptoms (up to 30% of flu virus carriers display no symptoms). Despite their lack of symptoms, they can still be carriers of the virus, and as such, threaten those around them. Infecting children, pregnant women and the vulnerable elderly are all to be avoided. (And, by the way, pregnancy is also no reason to avoid the vaccination, and in fact is vital to protect mother and fetus from serious flu effects.)

[Warren DeMontague]

1. I had the actual flu about a decade and a half ago.

As opposed to other times in my life when I might have gone "oh, shit, I think I have the flu" and it was probably a bad cold.

This was real frikkin' flu, some nasty one- and it laid me out for a good solid 3 weeks.

when my kids were babies, I started getting the yearly shot out of interest of protecting them by protecting me from getting it. Now I get it every year, so thanks for the reminder.

[xchrom]

2. i'm gonna get mine.

i have a story similar to yours -- it's been years now -- but i got the real flu -- and man wasi ever sick. awful..

[Quantess]

3. What about when there is a shortage?

You let the crucial populations get theirs and skip it for yourself. That's not a bogus reason.

[3catwoman3]

4. During the first major "swine flu" scare...

...a few short years ago, I was fascinated by the difference the perceived threat of serious illness made in parents' willingness to immunize their kids. By and large, no one asked about side effects, no one asked about preservatives, they just really, REALLY wanted their kids to get the shot, and they were pissed when we ran out.

I remember a news item about one mom who drove hundreds of miles to Canada to get her child immunized when there was no vaccine available anywhere near her in the US.

[LiberalElite]

5. I ALWAYS

get the flu shot. I have asthma and I need the flu like a hole in the head.

[hobbit709]

6. The last time I had the flu was the Hong Kong flu in 1968.

My wife hated me. Even with the shot she would get the flu every year. I had to take care of her for 2 to 3 weeks each time. I never so much as sneezed.

[onecent]

7. I wouldn't ever get a flu shot.

Look up the ingredients in a flu shot. They have Formaldehyde in them.http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/vaccine-decision/ingredients.html

CDC website. I am almost 70 and if the flu takes me down, SO be it, I don't want to be preserved ahead of time..

[xchrom]

8. oh brother

[closeupready]

9. I ask my doctor every year if he recommends it - he hasn't yet

after about 10 years, year after year. And he practices at a university medical center.

But you know, hey, maybe he's a bogus doctor.

[xchrom]

10. maybe he is. nt

[closeupready]

11. Wow. So anyone short of Sanjay Gupta is a quack now?

On medical issues, DU has become the most pompous board, ha.

[FLPanhandle]

12. People panicking about Ebola

Yet the flu kills 1/4 to 1/2 million people each and every year. Worst pandemic ever in this country was a flu epidemic after WW1.

If Ebola hit this country and killed 1% as much as the flu everyone would be running for a vaccine.

Human psychology is fascinating.

[frogmarch]

13. I have an egg allergy that

makes my face puff up and my throat swell to the point I can hardly breathe, but so far flu vaccines don't bother me. Lucky me, because I got one yesterday.