Discussions

Always get a flu shot, had mine this year. Couple of weeks ago had a mild case that just lasted a couple of days.  
Thankful it wasn't one of those old "head in the toilet bowl" strains.

Only covers 2 or 3 of the worst ones out of about 100 different strains of the flu.

CatMan said "Always get a flu shot, had mine this year. Couple of weeks ago had a mild case that just lasted a couple of days.   Thankful it wasn't one of those old "head in the toilet bowl" strains. "

If you're referring to the stomach flu ("head in the toilet bowl") that's not the flu as in influenza. That's gastroenteritis. http://www.webmd.com/children/features/the-truth-about-stomach-flu

My understanding is that the shot only helps you to counter the flu a lot faster than if you were not to have it with your immune system.  
 
Force field against the flu, it is not.  
 
 
 

Recent research has suggested that if you get the flu shot every year, your overall immunity to the flu improves as you build immunity to a variety of strains and your immune system may fend off a similar, albeit not identical strain to one included in one of your previous shots.  
 
I've been getting the shot for the last 10 years, ever since our first child was born, without fail. I've never had the flu. I also work in an office where I frequently interact with the public and I am fastidious about washing my hands (no - I'm not OCD). After every meeting, especially where I shook hands with someone, I wash my hands. I might get one or two colds a year, at most, and they now usually come home with the kids.  
 
But even the flu shot is not 100%. Sorry you are not well and I hope you get better.

OP you have just given me one more reason to not get the fly shot. Every time I turn around I am hearing people young and old who get the shot faithfully every year but still manage to spend half the winter down and out, sick with the flu. I think ill just let my own immunity build on its own.

I last had the flu in 2007. Should have been flat on my back for 10 days, but wasn't smart enough, kept working through the fever and fatigue and aches...not my smartest move.  
 
I have received the flu shot every year since, and have not caught a flu. Won't go without it now, and it's never made me feel rough afterward.

The flu shot is aimed to help you fight off the respiratory areas of the flu, to ward off pneumonia and hospitalizations.  
 
I've had the shot for years and have not had the flu when the rest of my family has.

Any time there is a conversation about vaccination programs I usually read all the comments and don't have a problem relating to both sides of the topic. During the discussion I sat an read the ideas that were presented and things basically were what they always were.  
 
We use a vaccination program with our cattle for the same reason that people get flu shots or get their children vaccinated, and that is to prevent diseases. Yesterday I did get to see what does happen when things go wrong, we only ran 40 animals through the chute before we decided to go for lunch, I walked through the animals to go and open a gate to move them back to their pen, and all animals were up and alive, a few minutes later one calf was down and convulsing and in less than a minute it was dead.  
When a person looks at it from the idea that we lost one out of forty it leaves you wondering if you should finish the job or maybe take your chances. By the end of the day that number of one in forty had changed considerably, and given the numbers of animals that had been vaccinated since the last death of this sort you say it's just a part of your losses. When it's cattle you look at it two ways, the first is maybe from the point that you just took a financial hit, and should it be considered a management mistake or an unexpected loss, the second way of looking at it is a few minutes before the vaccination you had an animal that was healthy and alive, and for some of us the alive part is important because of how we feel about life.  
 
At times I just wonder how I would have felt if one of our children had died or had a bad reaction to a vaccine. It's all in the numbers, but when you've seen the other side it does make you think.