The flu kills tens of thousands annually and hospitalizes well over 100k. These rates are greatly reduced when the shot is prevalent, regardless of whether or not it is the “right” strain for that year or not.
They’re not two disconnected topics. They’re both deadly and they should be kept up to date in order to protect yourselves and others.
Unless you have a valid medical reason for not getting one, it is frankly selfish to not do so. Not to mention incredibly stupid.
Do YOU want to be the parent whose child dies and you ask yourself for the rest of your life, “what if I had made him/her get the shot?” I sure as hell don’t.
With all of the anti-vaccine people around being disease vectors, the selfish action is to get the vaccine to reduce the risk of anti-vaccine people giving you the disease (unless medically unable to get the vaccine).
Regarding flu vaccines, non-egg ones are now available, so that those who previously could not get flu vaccine due to egg allergy can now get it. Where I am, a local Costco’s default flu vaccine is one of the non-egg ones (quadrivalent and half the price of other pharmacies, and you do not have to be a member to use the pharmacy).
I believe romani is making the point that when you get a vaccine, you contribute to herd immunity, which protects those very people you just mentioned-those unable to get the vaccine or those whose immune systems do not respond to the vaccines. Not protecting your fellow man by refusing vaccines is being selfish.
This isn’t an anti-vax thing but a lack of resources thing. 6,000 have died of measles in DR Congo in the world’s worst outbreak. They supposedly need about $40M to reach their target… why the Gates Foundation hasn’t just filled that, I’m not sure. (This isn’t me being snarky - I really don’t know the politics here.)
This might be neither here nor there, but my 90 year old dad recently was sharing stories of his youth, and how all the kids were terrified to go swimming in the lakes in the summer for fear of getting polio. Listening to his stories of classmates and kids in neighboring towns who got it, and how much the fear impacted their lives really drives home how lucky we are that we have this vaccine.
It is frightening how big that online anti-vax group is. Really sad that they are spreading misinformation that is killing innocents and putting others at risk. Yikes!
The mom and those anti vaxxers that pushed her should be prosecuted.
It is tragic that she lost her child - and she’ll have to live with that forever - but she shouldn’t have the chance to influence anyone else to do the same. She is a public safety hazard as are the others.
It is a fact that Tamiflu can cause hallucinations. In my experience, they went away, and I wouldn’t consider them serious enough to not try the drug, if prescribed. I’m not anti-vax or anti-Tamiflu.
I won’t speculate on other purported side effects, or whether the mother acted inappropriately.
^Hallucinations and suicidal thoughts are listed as a potential rare and serious side effect. However, it’s my understanding that at this point they aren’t sure if the drug is causing the behavior or the flu itself. It’s hard to say “it’s a fact.”
That being said, a couple of weeks ago, I directed younger S to his school’s clinic to be tested for the flu. We ALWAYS get the shot, but I know you can still get the flu. My S did last year, but he was the first person in my family for that to have that happen. Anyhow, the doctor that tested him said even if it was the flu, they don’t give out tamiflu for that reason. I was frustrated but I guess I can understand. You have thousands of kids away from him without anyone reliable to watch for serious symptoms. Fortunately, younger S was negative and had bronchitis.
I don’t condem the parent for not giving her kid Tamiflu, but she should have gotten him the flu shot. Is there a stat that shows how many otherwise healthy young people have died from the flu even though they got the shot?
Don’t know, but it would be complicated by the fact that the flu shot effectiveness is only between 40%-60% per year…meaning the vaccine doesn’t protect against all strains of flu. BUT people are still better off getting the vaccine per the CDC:
^the doctor at the University clinic last month said she doesn’t prescribe Tamiflu to students because of the potential side effects. I assume she was talking about the hallucinations and suicidal tendencies. But in S’ case it didn’t matter as he tested negative for flu.
I suppose I had two points in time in one paragraph. Last year, S got tamiflu when he had the flu despite getting the shot. I wasn’t worried about the side effects.
I’ve taken Tamiflu —2 or 3 different courses over the years. It made a huge improvement in symptoms and shortened the course of my condition with no side effects each time. D had Tamiflu once and also noticed it really helped her with no side effects.
The most effective thing to do for flu is get vaccinated. If you do get the flu, it is likely to be milder if you had the vaccine. Tamiflu actually does very little; it shortens the course of flu by about 2/3 of a day, and has not, to the best of my knowledge, been shown to decrease complications, hospitalizations, or deaths from flu. The earlier you start Tamiflu, the more effective it is, but I doubt that most people get diagnosed within 48 hours.
Not everyone who gets the flu is recommended to take Tamiflu, because of the risk of causing resistance and the worry that it will then be even LESS effective for those most at risk from infection. Supplies of the drug aren’t limitless, either.
My take-home: get the flu shot. It’s far and away the best thing you can do to protect yourself, and you wind up protecting others into the bargain.
I watched the Pandemic series on Netflix, and the woman with, I think 5 children, flowy long hair, long dresses, and placenta capsules, who thinks she is cultivating strong immune systems in her children with smoothies that will protect them from disease without vaccines, made me want to throw up. And I wanted to doxx her. Of course I wouldn’t, but I hope someone else already did! I guess I have strong feelings about this issue!
I do get my annual flu shots as well as pneumonia shots every 5 years. I still am told by my MDs that because I have lung disease, I need to take Tamiflu at 1st sign of flu (before they had rapid result flu tests), and for me, it was amazing! I did take it within 12-24 hours of 1st symptoms. Haven’t taken it in years.
Last time I had flu (vaccinated but pre Tamiflu), I felt better in a day. And I had felt pretty awful. There is no way for one person to know whether the credit goes to Tamiflu or the vaccine. Not saying you shouldn’t take it. Just no convinced that it’s the whole story.
