Flu shot? shingles

I had to show the yellow card (looking for the yellow fever vaccine) in a number of countries in Africa (Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania, as I recall). They checked it even before passport control.
 
wrbix said:
OK - a hypothetical: you have children and a high morbidity/highly contagious measles epidemic is spreading worldwide, would you support the decision of your child's schoolmate's parents to refuse to have their child vaccinated for same and insist they continue to attend school?
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My support does not matter, it's not my place to tell them what to inject into their kids. However if that was a threat I would have my kids get the shot
 
I think the worst shot I got in the Air Force was for chorea and God knows what else. World wide deployment had to have 'em, and you had no choice!

images
 
If someone offers me a free flu shot and I'm right there I'd take it. I probably won't go out of my way to get it but I think it's a good idea.
 
I had the Russian Flu many years ago. Since then I get the flu shot every year. Influenza is a miserable thing.

My doctor advised me to wait on the shingles shot until the new one is available. He's about my age and is doing the same.

Rich
 
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Smallpox shot is fun. 13 pricks with this thing! :(
 
mscard88 said:
Is that 13 pricks each giving you a shot, or 13 piercings? o_O :)
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One needle, 13 times. Flight surgeon thought I had the shot before since I was born in the 70s. Told him I never had it but he insisted on the 13 pricks vs 3 just to be safe. Buddy of mine went right before me, got hit 3 times and turned white as a ghost! Nothing like seeing the guy before you about pass out and now it's your turn with 13! :D
 
Those of you saying you save vaccinations for the lethal stuff are fooling yourselves. Influence kills people all the time. Influenza isn’t the thing that makes you miserable for 24 hours. If you are infected with an influenza virus you will either die or wish you were dead. It’s a big deal.
 
You don't want the shingles.

CDC recommendation on the new vaccine is for healthy adults over 50. While I am still younger than that, I'll get it anyway.
 
cowman said:
If someone offers me a free flu shot and I'm right there I'd take it.
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It really is that easy.

If you’re there?
Yes, you are there, if you ever go to a drugstore. The pharmacist gives the shot without an appointment. Easy.

And free?
Yes, insurance pays for flu shots, and in my case it is at no cost out of my pocket.
 
rk911 said:
i pass on the flu shot every year...’they’ always seem to guess wrong about the strain. a buddy and my father-in-lawhad shingles a few years and i did not want to go thru that agony so both my wife and i did the shingles vaccine.
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You’re aware, of course, of the rapidly mutating nature of the influenza virus, yes? “They” get it ‘wrong’ every year. Every year. Always. Because the flu mutates. Every year. If it didn’t mutate then the Spanish Flu would have been even more popular. ;)
 
NoHeat said:
It really is that easy.

If you’re there?
Yes, you are there, if you ever go to a drugstore. The pharmacist gives the shot without an appointment. Easy.

And free?
Yes, insurance pays for flu shots, and in my case it is at no cost out of my pocket.
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Yeah that's how I've done it before. Only reason I haven't this year is I'm just not in a drugstore that often and the only time I have been recently there was a line and I didn't have time to wait.
 
Lachlan said:
You’re aware, of course, of the rapidly mutating nature of the influenza virus, yes? “They” get it ‘wrong’ every year. Every year. Always. Because the flu mutates. Every year. If it didn’t mutate then the Spanish Flu would have been even more popular. ;)
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Depends on what you mean by "wrong". Last year the flu vaccine effectiveness was 42%. Not great, but not nothing, either.

The year before that was just 19% effective. But if and when a serious flu pandemic hits, even those modest numbers could mean saving thousands, or far more, lives.
 
FastEddieB said:
Depends on what you mean by "wrong". Last year the flu vaccine effectiveness was 42%. Not great, but not nothing, either.

The year before that was just 19% effective. But if and when a serious flu pandemic hits, even those modest numbers could mean saving thousands, or far more, lives.
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Agreed. I was just commenting on the reactions of the crowd that believes that the flu vaccine is a waste of time because it’s not 100% effective.
 
I got shingles on my face in August. Not fun, especially on the inside of an eyelid. I had wanted to get the shot for a couple of years but my wife is an RN that gives immunization shots for our County and she said I should wait until September when I turned 60. Don’t wait.

I honestly didn’t know you could get shingles on your face. All the commercials show it on your body or arms and the two people I know that had it got it on their torso. After I got it both of my doctors and my pharmacist said it’s common to get it on your head or face. In my case the anti-viral eye drops and shot kept it from spreading into my eye and shortened the episode to about a two week duration.

If it does get to the area around your eye see an eye doctor. There are a lot of different kinds of eye drops. My eye doctor said that a lot of GP’s and urgent care doctors misdiagnose the early stages of shingles as just some kind of inflammation and give steroidal anti-inflammatory drops. He said that really speeds up how fast the disease blows up and it always gets into the actual eye which usually causes permanent vision damage. I had asked my GP to just give me eye drops instead of sending me to an eye doctor but he refused so everything worked out OK for me.

You have to wait at least 6 months after an episode to get a shot so I’m slated to get it next month. It turns out that you don’t need to wait until 60 (now 55). It’s just that the immunization doesn’t last forever so if you get the shot earlier you might need a second one at some point. Don’t wait. Shingles is really unpleasant.

Gary
 
GaryV said:
I got shingles on my face in August. Not fun, especially on the inside of an eyelid. I had wanted to get the shot for a couple of years but my wife is an RN that gives immunization shots for our County and she said I should wait until September when I turned 60. Don’t wait.

I honestly didn’t know you could get shingles on your face. All the commercials show it on your body or arms and the two people I know that had it got it on their torso. After I got it both of my doctors and my pharmacist said it’s common to get it on your head or face. In my case the anti-viral eye drops and shot kept it from spreading into my eye and shortened the episode to about a two week duration.

If it does get to the area around your eye see an eye doctor. There are a lot of different kinds of eye drops. My eye doctor said that a lot of GP’s and urgent care doctors misdiagnose the early stages of shingles as just some kind of inflammation and give steroidal anti-inflammatory drops. He said that really speeds up how fast the disease blows up and it always gets into the actual eye which usually causes permanent vision damage. I had asked my GP to just give me eye drops instead of sending me to an eye doctor but he refused so everything worked out OK for me.

You have to wait at least 6 months after an episode to get a shot so I’m slated to get it next month. It turns out that you don’t need to wait until 60 (now 55). It’s just that the immunization doesn’t last forever so if you get the shot earlier you might need a second one at some point. Don’t wait. Shingles is really unpleasant.

Gary
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Yes you can get it on the face as you found out. I had a coworker get it all across his forehead. It avoided the eyes, but you don't mess around with eyes, jump on that hard and early. You did good.
 
GaryV said:
If it does get to the area around your eye see an eye doctor. There are a lot of different kinds of eye drops. My eye doctor said that a lot of GP’s and urgent care doctors misdiagnose the early stages of shingles as just some kind of inflammation and give steroidal anti-inflammatory drops. He said that really speeds up how fast the disease blows up and it always gets into the actual eye which usually causes permanent vision damage. I had asked my GP to just give me eye drops instead of sending me to an eye doctor but he refused so everything worked out OK for me.
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Very much this. Get a general ophthalmologist or specialist in cornea and external disease to look at your eyes if you have involvement anywhere on your face.

In case anyone here happens to have zoster ophthalmicus, there is a national eye institute funded multicenter study to figure out the optimal treatment strategy for the disease. My wife happens to be in the 'zoster of the eyeball' business:

Zoster Eye Disease Study (ZEDS)

United States, District of Columbia
Medstar Georgetown University Hospital Recruiting
Washington, District of Columbia, United States, 20007
Contact: Lisa Thompson 202-444-7237 thompsol@gunet.georgetown.edu
Principal Investigator: Aruoriwo Oboh-Weilke, MD
 
I don't usually get the flu shot.

I got s 'mild' case of shingles and it sucked. I'd definitely get the shingle vac.
 
steingar said:
Those of you saying you save vaccinations for the lethal stuff are fooling yourselves. Influence kills people all the time. Influenza isn’t the thing that makes you miserable for 24 hours. If you are infected with an influenza virus you will either die or wish you were dead. It’s a big deal.
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OMG! Influenza isn't fatal. If you think it is you need to do a little googling. Complications from influenza can be deadly, and certain persons in certain age groups, and with certain medical conditions are more likely to develop complications. For normal, otherwise healthy individuals who are not to old, and not too young, influenza usually resolves on its own.

Get your facts straight.

If you want to let big pharma charge you $5 and stick a needle into you to give you a vaccine for what they "think" the next strain will be, go right ahead. But don't go around lying to people and telling them that they're gonna die if they get the flu.

If you are in a risk category, that's an entirely different story. But don't forget, if they guess wrong, (and they usually do) you aren't protected. You're better off washing your hands frequently, and staying away from those who are ill.
 
Mark and I are going to get some Tequila shots. That way the shingles and flu won't seem so bad.

Reminds me of the joke that ends: The bartender offered him another and he said, no thanks, if the first four didn't wash the taste away, a fifth won't help.
 
Rykymus said:
If you want to let big pharma charge you $5 and stick a needle into you to give you a vaccine for what they "think" the next strain will be, go right ahead. But don't go around lying to people and telling them that they're gonna die if they get the flu.
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You are human and have risk factors associated with the flu. Get sick, catch pneumonia, die. It happens to healthy people. So you get the shot to reduce the odds of catching the flu. Kind of like you wear your seatbelt in the car to minimize your risk in case of an accident. The whole goal is to reduce your exposure to risk.
 
Rykymus said:
OMG! Influenza isn't fatal. If you think it is you need to do a little googling. Complications from influenza can be deadly, and certain persons in certain age groups, and with certain medical conditions are more likely to develop complications. For normal, otherwise healthy individuals who are not to old, and not too young, influenza usually resolves on its own.

Get your facts straight.

If you want to let big pharma charge you $5 and stick a needle into you to give you a vaccine for what they "think" the next strain will be, go right ahead. But don't go around lying to people and telling them that they're gonna die if they get the flu.

If you are in a risk category, that's an entirely different story. But don't forget, if they guess wrong, (and they usually do) you aren't protected. You're better off washing your hands frequently, and staying away from those who are ill.
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Uninformed, irresponsible, self-serving. Suggest you read many educational resources from such informed sources as the CDC. I have personal professional experience in influenza killing patients.
Again, vaccination protects not only the individual but also, and equally important IMO, the "herd".
I tire of trying to convince some folks of the overwhelming science that supports vaccination
 
wrbix said:
Again, vaccination protects not only the individual but also, and equally important IMO, the "herd".
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This is an underappreciated benefit of vaccines. They slow the exponential growth of an epidemic. If you don't catch the flu, you aren't gonna spread it.
 
I'm sorry, but you're flat wrong. You can't immunize a herd using a guess at which strain it will be. I've got a bit of professional experience and training in this area as well. And I can read educational resources just as well as you can. I also know how to tell when those resources are skewed for their own needs. It's simple math, really.

Just google "is influenza fatal".

I have no beef with people getting the vaccine. But your assertion that people choosing NOT to get it is putting the rest of the public at high risk is absurd. This isn't small pox we're talking about. It's the f'ing flu. Just about ANY bug can be fatal to the elderly, young children, the infirmed, those with weakened immune systems, etc. But it isn't the bug that kills them, it's the complications that arose from it.

Talk about uninformed, irresponsible, and self-serving. What a tool.
 
Rykymus said:
I'm sorry, but you're flat wrong. You can't immunize a herd using a guess at which strain it will be. I've got a bit of professional experience and training in this area as well. And I can read educational resources just as well as you can. I also know how to tell when those resources are skewed for their own needs. It's simple math, really.

Just google "is influenza fatal".

I have no beef with people getting the vaccine. But your assertion that people choosing NOT to get it is putting the rest of the public at high risk is absurd. This isn't small pox we're talking about. It's the f'ing flu. Just about ANY bug can be fatal to the elderly, young children, the infirmed, those with weakened immune systems, etc. But it isn't the bug that kills them, it's the complications that arose from it.

Talk about uninformed, irresponsible, and self-serving. What a tool.
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Be careful going out to the mailbox. You could fall off the edge of the earth.
 
Rykymus said:
OMG! Influenza isn't fatal.
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“The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than the Great War, known today as World War I (WWI), at somewhere between 20 and 40 million people. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history. More people died of influenza in a single year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351. Known as "Spanish Flu" or "La Grippe" the influenza of 1918-1919 was a global disaster.”

“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana
 
The flu isn't so bad. Only kills about 12-56,000 people per year. That's what, 30 to 135 times the number of GA fatalities? And remember, to die from the flu you dont even need to spend any money or do anything special. It comes to you all by itself. Yes, 64% of the fatalities are in the group aged 65 and over, but that doesn't mean it won't kill you dead if you are 35, 50 or 55. We have a couple every year. Starts out with a cough, next thing you are chewing on a plastic straw with your lungs full of cells.
 
weilke said:
The flu isn't so bad. Only kills about 12-56,000 people per year. That's what, 30 to 135 times the number of GA fatalities? And remember, to die from the flu you dont even need to spend any money or do anything special. It comes to you all by itself. Yes, 64% of the fatalities are in the group aged 65 and over, but that doesn't mean it won't kill you dead if you are 35, 50 or 55. We have a couple every year. Starts out with a cough, next thing you are chewing on a plastic straw with your lungs full of cells.
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A good friend of mine, a year younger than me, died of the flu. His wife pulled through but spent time in ICU. Don’t mess around. If ya have flu symptoms get the antivirus meds quick.

And it absolutely can’t hurt to get the shot as long as you aren’t allergic.
 
Clark1961 said:
And it absolutely can’t hurt to get the shot as long as you aren’t allergic.
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Oh, there are all kinds of bad things you can get from the flu shot. I have to get the shot in order to work and a couple of times I had a couple of days of low grade fever and muscle aches afterwards. Occassionally someone gets Guillain-Barre syndrome after the flu shot. That is a nasty disease where your immune system starts to eat your peripheral nerves. But guess what, every disease you can get from the flu shot, you'll get 10 times worse from the real thing.
 
I had shingles ON MY FACE.
It was ****ing painful.

I still feel it when I'm stressed.
 
weilke said:
Oh, there are all kinds of bad things you can get from the flu shot. I have to get the shot in order to work and a couple of times I had a couple of days of low grade fever and muscle aches afterwards. Occassionally someone gets Guillain-Barre syndrome after the flu shot. That is a nasty disease where your immune system starts to eat your peripheral nerves. But guess what, every disease you can get from the flu shot, you'll get 10 times worse from the real thing.
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All medicines combine curative properties and side effects. Vaccines are no different, and you are correct that they can have adverse side effects like autoimmune dysfunction. That said, the probability of suffering such an autoimmune disease from a vaccination is far, far lower than the odds of dying from the disease against which you are being vaccinated. Also, persistent viral infections themselves are one of the most frequent causes of autoimmune diseases. A friend got Guillain-Barre in college from not treating a cold for weeks on end.
 
Can shingles reoccur or is it a one time thing? Had a mild case many years ago, and one of the spots is still insanely itchy now and then.
 
It can, indeed, recur. Likelihood of recurrence increases with age,stress, immune dysfunction. Vaccine reportedly decreases likelihood of recurrence.
 
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