Flu Vaccine - It’s Not Just About You

I told myself when I started blogging, that I would try to refrain from getting up on my soapbox about things that are somewhat controversial, and I would stick to topics that were fairly benign.  However, when I feel really strongly about something, I just can’t help myself.

So here we go, it’s soapbox time.

Last week, our entire family received our flu vaccines.  I went to a Kaiser facility by my work, and the hubby took the kids to the flu clinic in Davis.  I know from my previous job that although many people have access to free or low-cost flu vaccine, not everyone avails of it.  Why?!  I just could not comprehend it.  The last time I got the flu, it was my last year of college, and I was SICK as a DOG.  I was literally in my sick bed for two weeks, drugged up on cough medicine with codeine.  Delicious stuff.

Anyway, with all the hype around the H1N1 flu a couple of years back, people are certainly more aware, and vaccine is even more readily available these days, and there are still folks who don’t get vaccinated.  Then I had a few conversations with folks not in the health field, and I realized there are a lot of myths about the flu and the flu vaccine that people still believe to be true.  

One of the biggest myths is that people get the flu from the vaccine.  TOTAL MYTH.  The flu vaccine does not contain the virus, so it is impossible to get the virus from the actual shot.  If someone gets the flu after getting vaccinated, they were just unlucky.  Don’t go to Vegas with them.  They could already have been infected before they got the vaccine or they could have gotten infected soon after they got the vaccine, before the vaccine was able to build a defense.  It is true that some people feel generally unwell after getting the vaccine, but that is just because the body reacting to the vaccine, which is what it is supposed to do, to be able to build a defense.

Another reason I find that people do not get a flu vaccine is that they are afraid of needles.  Well GOOD NEWS PEOPLE!  The flu vaccine is also offered as a nasal spray.  So just one squirt in the nose, and you are on your way.

Some people say “Oh, I’ve had the flu and it was no big deal.”  I say, if it wasn’t a big deal, then it probably wasn’t the flu.  It was more likely a bad cold.  Influenza is a severe respiratory infection.  I was confined to my bed for about a week and didn’t have the energy to leave my house for two weeks.  It knocked me the heck out.  And I was a healthy 24-year old at the time.

The biggest reason I think people don’t bother with the flu vaccine is because they think that getting the vaccine would not big a big benefit to them or harm them in some way.  Guess what?  Getting the flu vaccine, or any vaccine for that matter, doesn’t just protect you.  It protects everyone else around you.  It’s called herd immunity.  If people who are able to get vaccinated do just that, they are creating a protective barrier for those who can’t get vaccinated or those who have weak immune systems are very susceptible to getting sick.  
There are a lot of people out there in this situation.  Babies six months old or younger are too young to get the vaccine.  There are people who are allergic to some component of the vaccine and can’t get vaccinated even if they wanted to.  Well, they could, but then they’d die from anaphylactic shock.

So you say that if you get the flu, you’ll do your part  by staying at home, so as not to spread it, right?  Maybe not.  There are people can be healthy carriers of the virus and can spread it around without knowing it.  Most importantly, you can be infected with the flu and can be infectious BEFORE you even show any symptoms.

Lastly, a lot of people don’t get the vaccine because they just don’t think it is effective.  You may have seen the most recent media coverage on the effectiveness of the flu vaccine, but this is not news.  Yes, the flu vaccine may not be 100% effective and can stand to be improved, but it is still the best protection from a potentially deadly disease.  So get your flu vaccine anyway.

Alright, I’m getting off my soapbox now.  I promise that I will put it away for a while.  I hope this helped you fence-sitters out there.  And for those of you who are on the opposite side of the fence, well, there’s probably no changing your mind anyway.