Should I get the flu shot for me and for my kids/baby?

amother

Hydrangea

Fri, Nov 25 2022, 2:50 am

I'm more worried about RSV than about flu. One of my babies was in the ICU for a few days because of RSV, and so was my newborn nephew.

But there's no vaccine for RSV, and nobody worries about it too much. So I don't worry about the flu either.

Interestingly a cousin same age and size as my child had RSV at the same time (I think exposed in the same place), my baby was in the ICU, theirs was just regular sick. That also makes me feel like regular hishtadlus is enough (sleep, food, sunshine, handwashing) and I don't stress too much.

amother

Eggshell

Fri, Nov 25 2022, 6:16 am

amother Anemone wrote:

Safe and effective?
The inserts list these side effects...GBS, brachial plexus neuropathy, neuralgia, pruritus, febrile seizures, paresthesia, myelitis, respiratory distress… Everyone can do what they want, but to say they are safe and effective when the vaccine itself lists over 15 adverse effects.. seems funny to me. VAERS exists for a reason.

No need to hug my post either, just stating facts that are listed on every vaccine. It's important for people to not follow doctors blindly.

We should never listen to our doctor ...of course we know more than them..after all .we have Google!!

amother

Charcoal

Fri, Nov 25 2022, 7:02 am

There actually is a vaccine for RSV but it is given to a select population. Premature babies, sick babies, babies with heart defects, etc... It is very very expensive and is given monthly throughout RSV season.

amother Hydrangea wrote:

amother

Hosta

Fri, Nov 25 2022, 8:04 am

amother Orchid wrote:

Are you serious?
Every story about a child who died from flu was a child who did not get the flu shot.

The logic here is simply flawless! I'm astounded that anyone even considers this.

Let's try it this way: Every story about a child who died from flu was a child who did not eat crayons. So let's go, ladies, lets all feed our kids crayons.

amother

Valerian

Fri, Nov 25 2022, 9:05 am

amother Hydrangea wrote:

The reason some pathogens make some people regular sick and some very sick is terrain. There are so many things we can do to strengthen our terrain so that we can effectively ward off pathogens without too much collateral damage.

Oldest

Fri, Nov 25 2022, 9:43 am

amother NeonPurple wrote:

Yes, sooner rather than later

The only year I got the flu was the year I didn't get the shot.

Last year me and dd were vaccinated. Dh and ds were not. Guess who got the flu. Dh and ds.

And in my experience- the only year I didn't get the flu was the year I didn't get the shot. In the past I got the flu shot every year, and was sick in bed for a week with high fever. I finally had enough and stopped getting the shot. I haven't gotten the flu since.

amother

Honey

Fri, Nov 25 2022, 9:46 am

amother Anemone wrote:

Curious if you ever read the side effects on antibiotics, tylenol, motrin and other OTC drugs/creams/ointments/cosmetics, and what not.

I'm just stating that making a decision about the minute chance of one of those side effects happening is like making a decision not to fly anywhere ever because of the remote chance of an airplane crash.

My point is not to advocate pro or con here. My point here is that this kind of approach is not an educated one. One needs to evaluate the full picture, which includes the pros, how it works, the benefits, the risks, and how much weight the side effects should play into a particular scenario to make an intelligent decision.

amother

Honey

Fri, Nov 25 2022, 9:55 am

amother Camellia wrote:

I work in Healthcare and have seen the ugly side of flu. I vaccinate all my children as soon as soon as shots are available.

What people don't realize is that the reason they don't see the ugly side of the sicknesses is precisely because of the very medicines they shun.

If only we take parents to see a polio hospital, where patients were locked up in iron lungs and others were paralyzed. If only we'd be able to show parents how many patients were born deaf because of measles, or how many men never were able to become fathers because they were sterilized by mumps.

Our grandparents did see them, ran after the vaccines to protect their children. It is their children and grandchildren who never were exposed to the cruelties of those diseases who now shun them. Sad. Are we doomed to go into cycles with these, instead of learning from the past?

amother

Phlox

Fri, Nov 25 2022, 10:25 am

amother Honey wrote:

I give all vaccines not the flu vaccine or the Covid vaccine. But some vaccines you see the real truth about outright

amother

Valerian

Fri, Nov 25 2022, 10:39 am

amother Honey wrote:

Hospitals are just as full today with sick children, if not fuller. We may be experiencing less effects from infectious diseases, but HUGE increases in all kinds of other diseases. We just traded one set of risks for another.

amother

Valerian

Fri, Nov 25 2022, 10:45 am

amother IndianRed wrote:

What do you mean by terrain?

Terrain refers to the environment in the body that affects how the body will react to pathogenic invasions.

Vaccines and most allopathic treatments for that matter are predicated on the [flawed, outdated] assumption that the symptoms we see with infectious diseases are caused solely by the pathogen. The fact that people react so differently to the same pathogen, and many don’t get sick at all from exposure, proves that the interaction between the pathogen and host plays an outsized role in dictating how sick the person will become and how effectively they will recover. So it makes much more sense to work on strengthening the terrain than to constantly be chasing pathogens in an attempt to eradicate them. We also have a lot more control over the state of our terrain than we do over which pathogens we will encounter.

amother

Trillium

Fri, Nov 25 2022, 10:46 am

amother Honey wrote:

What people don't realize is that the reason they don't see the ugly side of the sicknesses is precisely because of the very medicines they shun.

Our grandparents did see them, ran after the vaccines to protect their children. It is their children and grandchildren who never were exposed to the cruelties of those diseases who now shun them. Sad. Are we doomed to go into cycles with these, instead of learning from the past?

To he fair, my generation (40 plus) were never vaccinated for things like the chicken pox and the flu and I really don't remember any childhood friends hospitalized for the flu. We did get all other vaccines.

Amarante

Fri, Nov 25 2022, 10:53 am

amother Valerian wrote:

This is a ludicrous statement.

Children regularly died of diseases which now are either relatively curable because they are bacterial or because of vaccinations.

Hospitals are not filled with more children who are there because of effects of vaccines.

Some diseases like childhood cancers were death sentences versus now having treatments. Some conditions like heart defects would have been a death sentence before the advent of excellent heart surgeries. Some premature children would have died immediately but are now in the NICU for long periods of time.

There actually is an issue with shortage of pediatric beds but that has nothing to do with some insane conspiracist theory that somehow vaccines are causing more children to become sick. It is because there are fewer pediatric beds because many were converted to adult beds because they are more profitable for hospitals and obviously because if you have the same number of beds and a rising population, you will need more beds.

As for flu shots - they have been around for years with no valid reputable scientific studies indicating they have side effects. Yes they aren't completely effective as some people with shots still manage to get the disease but statistically vaccinated people have significantly lower rates of flu.

As for me, I hate being sick even with a cold. I vaccinate every year and haven't had the flu for many years. I am also careful about washing my hands frequently and try to eat healthily.

FWIW I read an article yesterday which advised that one of the best things you can do to avoid getting sick is to avoid touching your face because flu (and other diseases) can enter your body if your hands touch a contaminated surface and then you rub your eyes or nose.

amother

Gardenia

Fri, Nov 25 2022, 10:59 am

amother Orchid wrote:

Here’s a source but it’s from the cdc so not sure what’s that worth.
It says approx 80% of flu related deaths among children were among unvaccinated children.
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/faq.htm

We would need to know the vaccination rate for this info to be useful.

If only 20 percent were vaccinated, then it makes sense for 80 percent to be among unvaccinated children, and that doesn't indicate that the vaccine is effective. Just the same probability whether vaccinated or not.