To Be Shot or Not? - The Flu Vaccine

With the help of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/side-effects.htm#flu) I want to address ONE OF THE MOST DEBATED QUESTIONS OF OUR TIME: "Should I  get a flu shot?" In my case the answer is absolutely. I am not allergic to eggs or egg-like things (I don't know if this includes chickens) or anything else noted by the CDC. Nor am I disqualified by anything else noted on the CDC page cited. I can't say for sure if you should get one or not. If you're in doubt I would again suggest this CDC web page. HOWEVER THERE IS ONE ISSUE (among others) THAT HAS DRIVEN ME CRAZY! AND HAVING NEW INFO I MUST INFORM THE WORLD!!!! SO DON'T STOP READING HERE OR YOU'LL BE AT THE MERCY OF YOUR OWN PERIL!!!

PLUS THE CDC "NEWS" HAS BEEN INUNDATED MORE THAN USUAL WITH THIS IMPORTANT QUESTION/ISSUE because the number of people in the 18-64 age group are being hospitalized in way above average numbers from the flu this season. Also on a personal note, I want to thank the CDC for referring  to people 64 and below as being "middle-age." They didn't give a beginning age for Middle Age so we'll debate that some other time (http://www.cdc.gov/media/index.html). But I digress. So it may not be too late to get a flu shot for this season and it may be more important to the Middle-Aged group than most years. But the real reason the Flu Shot Debate drives me crazy now requires a new paragraph, so don't risk Peril and stop reading yet.

You see, for me this debate even has a family history. Even now my father (a guy in the high risk category despite being over 64) will not get a Flu shot because he claims his mother got one once and got the Flu from it. I bet you've heard this, huh? (In general, if not about my grandmother.)Well I do get a flu shot each Fall and this year I couldn't help but note I didn't feel up to par for about the next 24 to 48 hours. A few days later, I had an appointment with my Primary Care Physician so I mentioned this to him. I always tell him too much. I confidently prefaced my comment about my post Flu Vaccine slump saying, "I know it probably isn't really possible. But I kinda felt like I had a light case of the flu after I got a Flue Vaccine last week."

Well, my PCP paused. Then he explained in so many words a phenomenon noted in the above cited CDC information. The Flu Shot is dead flu viruses and, by definition dead flu viruses will not give us the Flu, at least the full-blown version. BUT HERE IT IS:  My PCP said, and I paraphrase loosely (but close enough), that our immune system still attacks the dead Flu viruses shot into our arm (if we're lucky). In fact, and this is the basis of many vaccines, our immune system gears up the production of the anti-Flu viruses antibodies, they guessed at for that season. So, in review and clarification, the extra anti-Flu cells (antibodies) made by our bodies are the reason we do not generally get the Flu. SO, IT'S USUALLY BETTER IF YOU'RE SHOT. I KNOW IT IS IN MY CASE, because the few Flu-like symptoms we might feel relatively briefly after being vaccinated are almost never as bad as getting the full-blown, real Flu; perched precariously upon the Porcelain Thrown holding a bag or bucket of some sort. So, there you have it; my opinion and a CDC page to ponder and perhaps even quote the next time this heated subject seeks to ruin a family gathering or valued relationship. Good Luck.