Nobody's talking about this.

amother

Fri, Jan 16 2015, 10:45 am

reduced effectiveness of flu vaccine

Double standard?

When there's an outbreak of measles, imamothers get all twisted up about the unvaccinated. but when we are exposed to the lack of effectiveness of our medical standards, nobody talks about it?

solo

Fri, Jan 16 2015, 11:13 am

Science and medicine do not have the answer to everything. But where a measure of protection is offered and refused, that is upsetting.
Also there are lots of women on this site to direct anger towards. Less vaccine developers I'm assuming.
Btw I have my children vaccinated but do not rail about those that don't. Just answering ur question about the 1 sidedness of those who do get up in arms.

gp2.0

Fri, Jan 16 2015, 11:26 am

The flu vaccine is trickier than other vaccines in that there isn't just one "culprit" causing the flu, there are many. Every year they have to try to predict which strain of flu will be dominant that year, and which will be less dominant, and include all those in the vaccine. Looks like somebody messed up this year. And the CDC did publish a statement, which goes to show they're not "hiding anything" like vaccine conspiracy theorists like to say.

However with vaccines like DTaP and Polio that have A) been proven to work B) the vaccine formula doesn't change every year and C) the illnesses are much more serious than flu, it's a whole different ballgame.

Personally I'm a big fan of vaccines when they are proven to work. My DD age 4 had the chicken pox vaccine. My DD age 18 months had not yet received it. They were both exposed to chicken pox virus. My 4 year old had 0 symptoms. My DD age 18 months was miserable for days and now she has scars on her face from scratching the blisters. I'm not saying that chicken pox is necessarily the most important vaccine, it was just a glaring example of how the child who received both, the vaccine and the same exposure to the virus, had 0 symptoms BH.

mille

Fri, Jan 16 2015, 11:41 am

What do you mean no one is talking about it? The CDC released a statement about it. I have heard many people talk about what a bummer it is that it doesn't cover what ended up being the most prevalent strains of the illness. It's not some big secret that you are now magically uncovering. I think it's well known that the flu vaccine doesn't cover every strain of the flu virus.

"The flu" is not one single virus like some of the other diseases we vaccinate against. There are tons and tons of different viruses that are called "the flu", and it really likes mutating. It's really hard to pin it down, and like gp2.0 said, vaccine researchers do their best to predict which strains may be the most prevalent during flu season, but it's just a prediction. I don't have a source, but I believe they base it on patterns of the illness spreading through eastern asia, which has been a predictor of how the virus progresses in the west. I'd love if someone can back that up, but I don't remember where I heard it, so take it with a grain of salt.

Meanwhile, we have eradicated smallpox and are close to it for polio, thanks to vaccination. So I'm still gonna side with vaccines on this one.

amother

Fri, Jan 16 2015, 11:54 am

Every year when my family gets the flu vaccine I know its a gamble - it may not work. This isn't new information.
However I have found that those that have gotten the flu shot have gotten it much milder. And getting the flu can sometimes cause many more issues.

This year my DH a very healthy person got the shot and then got a mild possible flu it lasted 2 days, no big deal, right? he was better for one day and then got a horrible case of pneumonia that knocked him out for a while. The dr said most likely whatever he had the first time weekend his body to allow the pneumonia to happen.
My dad also got the flu and it messed up his asthma so bad, for the past few weeks already.

black sheep

Fri, Jan 16 2015, 11:56 am

There is no reason for measles outbreaks anymore, except for the fact that some people don't vaccinate. So of course people get upset when they hear of measles outbreaks, it could have been prevented. What does this have to do with the flu vaccine, which is not as effective? Are you suggesting that since the flu vaccine doesn't always work, as the CDC itself says, we should not try to prevent the measles, for which the CDC says the vaccine IS effective?

amother

Fri, Jan 16 2015, 12:00 pm

black sheep wrote:

There is no reason for measles outbreaks anymore, except for the fact that some people don't vaccinate.

DISAGREE!

And OP, this is probably why nobody here has been talking about it. Because the talk always comes back down to the same debate here that has been had over, and over, and over again and it's like hitting your head against the wall. What's the point?????

Barbara

Fri, Jan 16 2015, 12:13 pm

amother wrote:

Please provide evidence of any measles outbreak in which the percentagge of non-vaccinated victims is less than the percentage of unvaccinated individuals in the community.

In one California community, there were 10 measles cases, 9 in unvaccinated people. In that case, you would need to demonstrate that more than 90% of the population is unvaccinated.

Looking forward to your providing this evidence.

Miri7

Fri, Jan 16 2015, 12:13 pm

Just piping in to say that I have a DD with asthma. Flu could be a really serious issue for her, CVS.

So even though we know that it is some years more effective than others, I always vaccinate everyone in the house. It offers SOME protection, so I take what I can get! Who knows, it may be that one of the statins that's in the vaccine is the one that hits my school.

I would have a hard time living with myself if a child became ill with a preventable disease that I hadn't vaccinated against.

And I've heard numerous news reports on the CDC's announcement that they didn't accurately predict the right strains for this year, so it seems as though there are a lot of folks talking about it and the CDC is being very open and transparent about their process and the reduced effectiveness this year.

I don't understand parents who think that their kids' immune systems can't handle the vaccine but can handle measles, meningitis, etc.

Edited to correct a bizarre cut and paste error!!!

Last edited by Miri7 on Fri, Jan 16 2015, 1:20 pm; edited 1 time in total

Dolly Welsh

Fri, Jan 16 2015, 12:26 pm

There is a committee which tries to guess well which strain of the flu will be the one to vaccinate against, this year. Every year this has to be figured out again. Complete success with such a guess about nature is not possible. It is a good-faith best guess. Some years they do better than others. The people doing the guessing know their stuff. Nature has a lot of variables.

There can be partial success even with established, wonderfully successful and wonderfully useful vaccines. Nature has a lot of variables.

We do the best we can with what we have. We can only reduce the odds of something bad happening to us. We can't absolutely prevent something bad from happening to us.

I got the flu vaccine this year because I judged it better to do it than not.

I had no bad reaction and that's all I ask. I am now a little more protected than before, with no downside to me. Of course I could still get a flu.

chanamichaelah007

Fri, Jan 16 2015, 12:36 pm

Tough subject. Not as clean cut as some make it out to be. I was permanently brain damaged by a vaccine. I can't work and often can't function. Devastating effect it had on my and my childrens' lives. My sons have medical exemptions because of the danger to them. The govt gave me money as they admitted to the cause. I feel for both sides of the debate, but it isn't simple. I had a friend years ago who's life was derailed by the flu vaccine. In both our cases our doctors tried to say it was not caused by the vaccine. It took specialists not trying to push a pro-vaccine agenda to diagnose. In both our cases it was easy to prove. Gd only knows how many people's reactions don't get any farther than their general practitioners because most of them don't want to admit that vaccines can cause serious issues, and it's not so uncommon.

amother

Fri, Jan 16 2015, 12:58 pm

I believe in vaccinating all in order to protect those who are most at risk.

People who get away without vaccinating their kids are putting in danger those whose bodies have no way of protecting themselves against deadly diseases.

I don't care how big the risks of vaccines are. (And none of the risks have made much of an impression on me so far.) If you decide to skip immunizations, you are a potential murderer of those too weak to defend themselves.

The flu vaccine is a different issue. It's a gamble, and I don't see what the problem with either choice is.

amother

Fri, Jan 16 2015, 3:12 pm

amother wrote:

I believe in vaccinating all in order to protect those who are most at risk.

People who get away without vaccinating their kids are putting in danger those whose bodies have no way of protecting themselves against deadly diseases.

I don't care how big the risks of vaccines are. (And none of the risks have made much of an impression on me so far.) If you decide to skip immunizations, you are a potential murderer of those too weak to deftend themselves.

The flu vaccine is a different issue. It's a gamble, and I don't see what the problem with either choice is.

Can't bold on my phone. Potential murderer?! So this is what they are scaring you with. How about the woman above that got hurt for life, maybe she was murdered? Soon those that don't vaccinate will be considered terrorists.

While I did vaccinate my kids, I am starting to question some things. Not admitting that some people are damaged for life, seems to me that doctors are trying to protect this at all costs. I don't buy that they are truthful the way others posted as in the flu vaccine.

smss

Fri, Jan 16 2015, 3:12 pm

amother wrote:

if you get vaccinated with any of the following vaccines: rotavirus, inhaled flu, oral polio, measles, mumps, rubella and varicella, you are a danger to immunocompromised people for weeks following, as those vaccines shed.

an unvaccinated person would only spread those diseases in the event that they contracted them, which may or may not happen.

smss

Fri, Jan 16 2015, 3:14 pm

black sheep wrote:

the measles vaccine only works in 95% of people. even if the entire population were vaccinated, that would not eliminate measles.