Where I work, the flu shot is mandatory.
It doesn't mean we get fired if we don't get it or that they hold us down while jabbing at our left arm like my dad did to me when I was 16 and didn't want a flu shot. What it does mean is that if you don't get a flu shot, then during the entire flu season, you are required to wear a mask in patient care areas.
In addition to the mask, you also have to wear a badge that explains why you aren't wearing the mask. The badge says "I'm wearing a mask because I care about your health." That doesn't sound so bad, except underneath that statement is a picture of the cartoon pig wearing a mask.
Personally, I am in favor of mandatory flu shots for everybody who is capable of getting it. I have heard a lot of the reasons people don't get flu shots and I think most of those reasons are dumb, in all honesty. Most of the reasons are something along the lines of, "I never got a flu shot and I have never gotten the flu before so why should I get a flu shot?" Or, "I got the flu shot once and got sick right after, so I will never get a flu shot again."
That said, if someone has a really good reason for not getting a flu shot, like a history of Guillain-Barre, then I'm not sure it's fair to restrict them like that. I mean, wearing a mask for four months straight really sucks.
I get the shot every year and will continue to do so. That being said, recently on the news was the story of a 10 year old girl who can no longer peak and has lost use of her muscles right after getting the flu shot last year, and apparently even her docs acknowledge her condition was triggered by the shot. It doesn't look like she will ever recover at this point. Such a sad story. If people see her story and then decide they or their kids should not to get the flu shot, can't say I blame them. I'm sure this girl's situation is rare, but that doesn't make it any less scary for people.
ReplyDeleteThat's true, but it's nothing compared to the number of people who die every year from the flu…
DeleteI agee but hardly anyone knows anyone under the age of 65 or serious preexisting conditions who has died from the flu. So if they don't think the risk of death (for then or their kids) is that high, and then they see the horror that this girl's family is going through, they may decide the "risk" of getting the shot isn't worth it.
DeleteI agree with you though, I get the shot every year and I think the risks are outweighed by the benefits.
You are 10 times more likely to get GBS (which is I think what the girl in your example has? - I haven't gotten to that course is medical school) from the flu than from the flu shot.
DeleteI meant to say "or without preexisting conditions"
ReplyDeleteI wear the mask. The ones work supplies are really awful, but when I went to Asia I found a large number of comfortable ones (and really cute to boot!)
ReplyDelete(Allergy prevents me from getting the shot)
Many people think that they have the flu when what they have is a bad cold. Or, they say that they got the shot, but got the flu anyway. (In fact, if true, their symptoms might have been somewhat mitigated by having received the vaccine.)
ReplyDeleteHonestly, the real flu doesn't go away in 24 hours. Most people are not able to work if they really have the flu - Fevers to 104; bone-breaking shaking chills; severe head pain with "I'm-on-a-rocking-ship dizziness;" lungs filled with fluid and such bad intercostal pain that taking a breath is torture; and, just to ensure that you feel as bad as you possibly can, sinus congestion. The severe symptoms often last >72 hours with post-viral sequlae lasting much longer.
You had better believe I am a flu vaccine proponent. I feel so sorry for Anon who is allergic. :( And, yes, Alex, the only patients I ever took care of with G-B syndrome were post-viral; they had not received a flu shot. (Not that it can't happen, I guess, but not in my experience.) TCG RN
An annual fall tradition Mark Crislip's, MD, Infectious Diseases Budget of Dumb Asses. 2014 Edition.
ReplyDelete1.The flu shot gives me the flu. Dumb Ass. The shot is a killed vaccine. It cannot give you influenza. It is impossible to get flu from the influenza vaccine, either from the shot or the live attenuated vaccine.
2.I never get the flu, so I don’t need the vaccine. Irresponsible Dumb Ass. I have never had a head on collision, but I wear my seat belt. And you probably don’t use a condom either. So far you have been lucky, and you are a potential winner of a Darwin Award, although since you don’t use a condom, you are unfortunately still in the gene pool. As a HCW, when you do get influenza and come to work, you can pass it on to the most vulnerable hosts. Nice going.
4.I can prevent influenza or treat it by taking echinacea, vitamin C, vitamin D, oscillococcinum or Airborne. Gullible Dumb Ass cubed then squared. None of these concoctions has any efficacy what so ever against influenza. And if you think oscillococcinum has any efficacy, I would like you to invest in a perpetual motion machine I have invented. None of the above either prevent or treat influenza. And you can’t “boost” your immune system either. Anyone who suggests otherwise wants you money, not to improve your health.
http://boards.medscape.com/forums/?128@@.2a794c48!comment=1
Boy, Dr. Crislip sounds like a real peach. The amount of condescension in his writing makes me think he burned out years ago and needs to retire....
Deletehttp://yournewswire.com/johns-hopkins-scientist-reveals-shocking-report-on-flu-vaccines/
ReplyDelete