Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lillie on January 14, 2013 at 9:51pm

Yes, got mine last October.  Wonder if you need another.  I also had a Shingles shot and it is only 64% effective but compared to the Shingles, I'll take the 64%.

Permalink Reply by Joseph Corder on January 14, 2013 at 10:54pm

I have mine!  My wife works in a nursing home and they have to wear masks.  She and I are recovering from a stomach virus but no flu!  My parents have had their flu shots and a Shingles shot along with a pneumonia shot!   I am 51 yrs old.  Should my wife and I get a Shingles shot?

Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on January 15, 2013 at 12:18am

I think everyone should protect themselves from shingles. I got my immunization several years ago. I knew a woman who lived in excruciating pain from shingles. That motivated me to protect myself.

Permalink Reply by Lillie on January 17, 2013 at 2:26pm

Yes, my very elderly friend had shingles, too, and died from complications.  She was in terrible pain, too.

Permalink Reply by Randall Smith on January 15, 2013 at 7:45am

No flu shot for me. The only time I ever had one (35 years ago), I got the flu that year. Never again. I'll take my chances.

Permalink Reply by James Kz on January 18, 2013 at 6:06am

I don't need a flu shot. I went to Cheyenne (leaving my incredibly isolated village) and picked up the flu. So I should be good for this year (if I survive it, which seems uncertain at the moment).

This is nothing compared to the Spanish Flu outbreak (1918-19) where an estimated 10-20% of everyone who caught it died, and was so severe it ended WWI (because the armies were decimated by the flu)

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on January 20, 2013 at 12:54am

James are you and your wife all better from the flu now?
I hear on the news that the hospitals are full from all the flu cases.

Permalink Reply by Luara on January 20, 2013 at 7:14am

There are different strains of flu going around, and I doubt that having had one flu protects you from the other strains. 

You can get prescription antiviral drugs that make the flu less intense and they work best if you take them soon after you've been exposed or symptoms develop. 

The flu shot is only about 60% effective this year, but that's a lot better than nothing! 

I wear a P100 mask a lot of the time when I'm out in public, because I have a very bad dog allergy.  Masks might protect a little against the flu for the person wearing them.  But I know the mask only protects me a little from dog dander, so it may not help much with viruses either.  But if you have a flu, wearing a mask protects other people from getting it. 

Permalink Reply by James Kz on January 21, 2013 at 3:19am

Steph:

No we are not better from the flu. My 102F that ran for two days dropped, and is now rebounding (at 100F). Beth is feeling worse as well.

A few folk around here have noted that this particular flu seems to oft-times have a rebound effect.

Beth and I are planning to go to a party in Omaha (four hundred miles) in five days, but if this doesn't end soon we will be outta luck (and the money we've already spent).

As for the local hospital, I would have trouble going anyway: I went there in April about another matter, and they are now locked in a battle with the VA over payment and threatening to turn me over to collections (in violation of the law).