Flu Injection?

[Florence Fennel]

Never had it and never going to - I've seen my sister and BIL really ill after it.

[cariann88]

I get the flu jab done every year. Need to have it done so I don't end up making the old people ill If I become ill.

I've not been ill off it but do have a sore arm for a few days. Not good when your working :/

[Bill HH]

Have not had mine yet, but I have a stinking cold. If I had, had the jab when I should have done I would be blaming that for my cold would I not.

The District nurses came last week to give our elderly foster guy the jab, I told her not to mention injections or "small pricks" of he wouldnt have it. Our old nurse knew this and would say "Oh look at that cat outside the window" when he looked she gave him the jab and he hardly noticed it. Not this new lot, "We can't do it without his informed consent" She said. Well he chased them through the house wielding his stick (he can be quite aggresive) and now he is not protected. SO when he dies of Flu we will be comforted by the fact it was his choice (even though he is not capable of understanding the choices in the first place). PC gone mad once more.
What was even more annoying was that I suggested they gave me the jab instead to save me a trip to the doc's and them a wasted journey "Oh we can't do that your not on our list"

[Lumpy]

That's a shame Bill.

It's a pity common sense can't be learnt from books and initiates.

[JanieB]

I had my first 'flu jab 3 years ago and the pneumonia one last year. I used to get regular disabilitating bouts of bronchitis. Touch wood I haven't had so much of a cold since the first jab.

[Knight of Albion]

Never had it, never will.

Extra vitamin D for me. And might get a bottle of Sambucol in as a precaution.

[muddled]

My daughter has Down's syndrome along with lung damage from pnuemonia so she has the jab.
I am her carer and work with the elderly so I have it too.

My daughter's dearest friend caught swine flu (when lots of people were telling me there was no such thing) and died within a week.

I know that the flu jab cannot protect against every strain...but I also know they try to cover the most dangerous ones.

I know that my daughter's friend's parents had religious objections to the jab.

But I loved that girl for twenty years and if she or the person she caught flu off had had it a beautiful young woman, charming, funny and inspiring, would still be here.

Real flu is nothing like a cold.
And I'll do anything I can not to unwittingly spread it to someone without the strength to survive it.

[Kirk]

As has been mentioned the problem is that people talk of "flu" when they have a cold. A cold is uncomfortable, flu can kill. So a bit of difference.

As to the jab, well never actually considered it, never been in a situation where I have been offered it or even asked.

I suppose the "simple" answer is that if it is ineffective you have lost nothing, if it is in any way effective then it is of benefit to you. So having it could be useful.

One other aspect is that the powers that be have to guess at the most probable strain of flu (actually I believe it is 2 strains) and the vaccine developed relates to those. If another appears then the vaccine does not "protect" against that. Equally not getting the vaccine also does not protect against anything.

[Lumpy]

A friend of ours does not have an conditions that qualify her to get one from the Dr's so she goes to oots the chemist and pays £10 for it.
She told me that she watched her sister struggle to breathe for 3 weeks when she had diagnosed flu a few years ago and this is what prompts her to get it.

When it come down to it the decision to have one or not is a personal one but I really hope that anybody on the Vine that ends up with this vicious virus gets the help they will need for a speedy recovery

[Sheneval]

I've just recently had mine and have never had any bother - others sometimes get a sore arm for a few days - I had the shingles one, (a live vaccine) at the same time on the other arm and it was tender for a day or two.

After nursing my grandson for 4 nights when he had swine flu I would recommend the flu jab to anyone unless they have a medical reason for not having it.

Have to say my grandkids pass on all their colds and viruses so it makes sense to me to have any protection I can get.

[Chris11]

Like Lumpy's friend, I don't have any of the qualifying conditions, at least not yet

Qualifying conditions currently not recognised by the NHS include:

-being self-employed, or just actually wanting to work rather than have a week off. If you don't work, you don't get paid, so you pay less tax. Tax for things like ....the NHS. And some people feel they have to work, even when ill, which benefits nobody.

-caring about not passing it on to anybody who may not have the strength to fight it off or have anyone to care for them while ill.

-prone to post-viral fatigue where you're just not quite right for weeks or even months after an infection like Flu.

Flu is a serious illness, and I think there are strong economic as well as medical reasons for offering it to anyone who wants it. In an ideal world, free on the NHS.
If pharmacies can do it for £10 or less, it's a small price to pay.

[PyreneesPlot]

I'll be having one as I'm on immunosuppressant drugs - I'll be taking 1g of paracetamol three times a day for a week beforehand so I have lots planned for a pain free week

[bramble]

In our surgery the flu injection was on offer from 17th September.
When was the start date for the flu injection in your area?

[Bigmallly]

When I worked in Leeds, it was mid October.

[muddled]

The flu jab is available at my GPs when he hangs bunting outside

The surgery is up the shops so if the bunting is out you just walk right in an take a seat and wait your turn.
Weird thing is that people able to get it on the NHS seem to be a nice lot. The nurse says 'next' and there's never any argy bargy, a polite 'I think it's you dear' or 'Oh no, you were here first'.

In the main surgery its more like a zoo with folk complaining and huffing about waiting times