Flu shots, should they be required?

[BGeise]

So we all get asked around this time of year if we want to get our flu shot, but have you ever been required to do so? My wife is a nurse and her current employer requires her to have one or lose her job! We both do not believe in them and I always opt out of getting them. My wife and I are also trying to get pregnant which makes me even more reluctant to have her get shot up with it. I guess in my book I think we shouldn't ever have to put something into our bodies that we don't want and your job shouldn't require so. What do you guys think?

 

[bribrius]

should kids be required to get vaccinated before attending public school?

 

[waday]

If your job requires it, then yes, you have to do it to keep the job. Especially if she's around others that can get sick more easily.

Also, I thought pregnant women should be getting it anyways to avoid getting sick and hurting the fetus?

 

[limr]

If the job requires it, okay, but should the job require it? I understand the reason why nurses and teachers would be required - they are more at risk of getting the flu and transmitting it to people who are more vulnerable to it (sick people and children) and who could have more serious consequences if they get the flu. There's a question of public health involved.

Having said that, there should be (and I think there is) an option to waive the requirement, either temporarily or permanently, depending on the circumstances.

My mother works in a pre-school and had to start getting the flu shot. One year, she started feeling numbness in her hands and feet. Didn't know what caused it. The next year, right after she had the flu shot, she ended up in the hospital with Guillain-Barre, an auto-immune syndrome. The body attacks the peripheral nervous system. And yes, it can be the result of a reaction to the flu shot.

She doesn't get the shot anymore and her job waives her requirement to do so. And because there's still a question about whether or not this kind of reaction is hereditary, I don't get the flu shot either. (To be honest, I never got a flu shot before that, either.)

 

[Msteelio91]

So we all get asked around this time of year if we want to get our flu shot, but have you ever been required to do so? My wife is a nurse and her current employer requires her to have one or lose her job! We both do not believe in them and I always opt out of getting them. My wife and I are also trying to get pregnant which makes me even more reluctant to have her get shot up with it. I guess in my book I geek we shouldn't ever have to put something into our bodies that we don't want and your job shouldn't require so. What do you guys think?

I'm getting so sick of people saying "I don't believe in them". They are medically beneficial, are free, and have ZERO consequences. People literally kill for **** like that elsewhere.

The flu shot will even protect her unborn baby if you are trying for a child.

Go get the shot.

 

[BGeise]

So we all get asked around this time of year if we want to get our flu shot, but have you ever been required to do so? My wife is a nurse and her current employer requires her to have one or lose her job! We both do not believe in them and I always opt out of getting them. My wife and I are also trying to get pregnant which makes me even more reluctant to have her get shot up with it. I guess in my book I geek we shouldn't ever have to put something into our bodies that we don't want and your job shouldn't require so. What do you guys think?

I'm getting so sick of people saying "I don't believe in them". They are medically beneficial, are free, and have ZERO consequences. People literally kill for **** like that elsewhere.

The flu shot will even protect her unborn baby if you are trying for a child.

Go get the shot.

It's not that I just"don't believe" in them. The information shows that all of the things you hear about how the vaccine does so many great things is biased information that the vaccine manufacturers and your government have tailored to fit what they need to portray to the public. The fact is that your chance of getting influenza decreases from 2% to 1% and that is if the vaccine is perfectly manufactured to fit the strain in the environment which is almost impossible because the influenza virus is always changing. Also the facts show that children under 6 months of age did not show any significant results to require vaccination and children under 2 years of age have the risk of cataplexy, narcolepsy and febrile convulsions.

Here is the real facts:
Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy children. - PubMed - NCBI
Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults. - PubMed - NCBI

 

[runnah]

How else would the government secretly give us mind controlling drugs that make us feel an uncontrolable need to purchase goods? It's no coincidence that "flu" season and holiday shopping season are so close together.

The bigger question is who is telling the government to give us the shots. You might say the corporations but I think it goes higher than that...

 

[407370]

I have actually had flu, Asian Flu to be exact and it floored me for 3 weeks. Everything hurts even your hair follicles and I got so tired from getting out of bed I gave up and stayed there for nearly 2 weeks. Kept my fluid levels up to reduce dehydration from the raging fever and let it run it's course. Flu is bad, really bad and anything to reduce the chances of catching it is a good thing. Vulnerable groups with reduced ability to fight such an infection especially need the jab.

Read this The 1918 Influenza Pandemic if you think you have flu symptoms.

 

[Designer]

What do you guys think?

The medical field (her place of employment) has a vested interest in pushing the vaccinations.

A. The vaccine producers are guessing which strains to make the vaccine for.
B. Sometimes they are wrong.
C. The preservatives used in vaccines would in any other scenario be classified as poisonous.
D. Some people who get the flu are down for a few days and then recover.
E. Those people who recover are more resistant in the future.

 

[pjaye]

This thread is going to require popcorn I think.

I get the flu shot. My ex-father in law was high risk and I was his primary caretaker. Thankfully, I got the shot because the first year he lived with us, my ex husband got H1N1. He was violently ill. Neither my father in law or I got sick. It was confirmed btw, that the ex did in fact have h1n1.

Two years ago, I was again exposed to a confirmed case of the flu. I took care of the sick person and did not get sick. I don't really care if people get them, but I firmly believe in them.

 

[waday]

If the job requires it, okay, but should the job require it? I understand the reason why nurses and teachers would be required - they are more at risk of getting the flu and transmitting it to people who are more vulnerable to it (sick people and children) and who could have more serious consequences if they get the flu. There's a question of public health involved.

Having said that, there should be (and I think there is) an option to waive the requirement, either temporarily or permanently, depending on the circumstances.

My mother works in a pre-school and had to start getting the flu shot. One year, she started feeling numbness in her hands and feet. Didn't know what caused it. The next year, right after she had the flu shot, she ended up in the hospital with Guillain-Barre, an auto-immune syndrome. The body attacks the peripheral nervous system. And yes, it can be the result of a reaction to the flu shot.

She doesn't get the shot anymore and her job waives her requirement to do so. And because there's still a question about whether or not this kind of reaction is hereditary, I don't get the flu shot either. (To be honest, I never got a flu shot before that, either.)

If someone has an adverse reaction to the shot, of course, they can't require it. But, if they don't have any allergies or reactions to it and it's required by the job, then they need to do it to keep the job.

It's not that I just"don't believe" in them. The information shows that all of the things you hear about how the vaccine does so many great things is biased information that the vaccine manufacturers and your government have tailored to fit what they need to portray to the public. The fact is that your chance of getting influenza decreases from 2% to 1% and that is if the vaccine is perfectly manufactured to fit the strain in the environment which is almost impossible because the influenza virus is always changing. Also the facts show that children under 6 months of age did not show any significant results to require vaccination and children under 2 years of age have the risk of cataplexy, narcolepsy and febrile convulsions.

Here is the real facts:
Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy children. - PubMed - NCBI
Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults. - PubMed - NCBI

It's easy to find data to support your own beliefs (see below).

The problem arises when you're not a doctor and you didn't do the study. You can read this, but can you actually understand what it means on a day to day basis, including all the nuances that you can't learn from reading a study? I'm not in the medical field, so I'll just make an informed decision after listening to my doctor and reading studies. In the end, I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Influenza vaccine given to pregnant women reduces hospitalization d... - PubMed - NCBI
The efficacy of live attenuated, cold-adapted, trivalent, intranasa... - PubMed - NCBI
Effectiveness of influenza vaccine in reducing hospital admissions in people with diabetes.
Influenza vaccination in secondary prevention from coronary ischaem... - PubMed - NCBI
Effectiveness of Influenza Vaccine Against Life-threatening RT-PCR-confirmed Influenza Illness in US Children, 2010–2012
Relation between influenza vaccination and outpatient visits, hospi... - PubMed - NCBI
Influenza vaccination reduces cardiovascular events in patients wit... - PubMed - NCBI
Effectiveness of seasonal vaccine in preventing confirmed influenza... - PubMed - NCBI
Effectiveness of influenza vaccine for preventing laboratory-confir... - PubMed - NCBI
Association between influenza vaccination and cardiovascular outcom... - PubMed - NCBI

 

[limr]

Yes, the flu can be bad, but for most healthy adults, it's not always as serious as what you experienced. I've had the flu, too. It knocked me out for a couple of days. Then I got better. A week after I got it, I still felt a little tired but mostly normal.

And in more than 20 years of not getting a flu shot, I've gotten the flu once that I can remember. If I had it another time, I don't remember, so I can't imagine it was all that bad.

As for zero consequences, did y'all catch that part of my post above about my mother developing an auto-immune syndrome from the flu shot? The one that landed her in the hospital for 2 weeks and still affects her several years later?

Everyone is going to have a story. The fact is, though, that you can't generalize from one person's experience.

 

[waday]

Yes, the flu can be bad, but for most healthy adults, it's not always as serious as what you experienced. I've had the flu, too. It knocked me out for a couple of days. Then I got better. A week after I got it, I still felt a little tired but mostly normal.

And in more than 20 years of not getting a flu shot, I've gotten the flu once that I can remember. If I had it another time, I don't remember, so I can't imagine it was all that bad.

As for zero consequences, did y'all catch that part of my post above about my mother developing an auto-immune syndrome from the flu shot? The one that landed her in the hospital for 2 weeks and still affects her several years later?

Everyone is going to have a story. The fact is, though, that you can't generalize from one person's experience.

I definitely understand your mother's story, and if someone has an adverse reaction to it, then, of course, they shouldn't be required to have the shot. However, to go back to the original question, if it's required by the employer (and you don't have any reactions to it), then, tough.

She should have known what was required when signing up for the job. For my job, I have to undergo annual physicals/etc. and regular drug/alcohol screenings. If I had a problem with it, I shouldn't have chosen this field.

 

[limr]

If someone has an adverse reaction to the shot, of course, they can't require it. But, if they don't have any allergies or reactions to it and it's required by the job, then they need to do it to keep the job.

Yes, but my point was that this is begging the question. The question in the OP was asking if a job should require employees to take a flu shot. Saying "Yes because the job requires it" is not answering that question.

<snip>
I guess in my book I think we shouldn't ever have to put something into our bodies that we don't want and your job shouldn't require so. What do you guys think?

 

[runnah]

Like it or not we are herd animals. We all eat, **** and mingle with other members of the herd all the time. Viruses like the flu love herd animals as it gives it an easy way to spread.

Getting a flu shot is not only helpful to you but could save the life of others around you. Not getting one is selfish.