This year's flu shot

[regexcellent]

I hurt both my right shoulder and left leg pretty badly around the same time. Had to do physical therapy on the shoulder, the leg healed on its own with lots of rest, ice, and motrin. They're both fine now.

I don't injure myself often, no. Last fall was weird.

[DaShi]

I don't injure myself often, but when I do, it's from too much Dos Equis.

[N35t0r]

I hurt both my right shoulder and left leg pretty badly around the same time. Had to do physical therapy on the shoulder, the leg healed on its own with lots of rest, ice, and motrin. They're both fine now.

I don't injure myself often, no. Last fall was weird.

lol, if your body is that prone to breakdowns, maybe it's a good thing you took the flu shot.

[Alexander's Horse]

I get the flu shot every year, except this one.

[I AM MOBIUS]

No, not getting the vaccine would encourage the spread of the disease, possibly to small children, which would keep Guy in a job. I don't believe the state of Ohio has yet been reduced to conscripting pediatricians to churn out vaccine. Or is "job" Welsh slang for "good temper"?

Christ on a bike!

I am merely following UK National Medical Guidelines:

I repeat, for the 3rd time:

People who should have a flu jab

The injected flu vaccine is offered free of charge on the NHS to people who are at risk to ensure that they are protected against catching flu and developing serious complications.
You are eligible to receive a free flu jab if you:

• are 65 years of age or over
  
• are pregnant
  
• have certain medical conditions (see below)
• are living in a long-stay residential care home or other long-stay care facility
• receive a carer's allowance, or you are the main carer for an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if you fall ill
• are a healthcare worker with direct patient contact or a social care worker (see below)

These aren't my rules - these are the NHS's rules!

Why are you all being so defensive when I say that most of you don't need the flu jab?

As far as I can tell, very few of the posters on this thread fit into the about categories. Guy, certainly, Ming and rah, are you guys really that old...?

[I AM MOBIUS]

I was already in the clinic for my shoulder, the nurse says "oh we're offering flu shots for $5." It was not even out of my way. Considering that it protects me as well as the people around me, not getting it would make me (more of) an *******.

MOBIUS should come up with less pathetic trolls.

Incidentally, Kuci got the flu this week. He didn't get his flu shot.

edit: my bad, actually I was in for my leg, not my shoulder. I had a bunch of crap wrong with me in the fall and it blurs together a little.

Just cos you're a hypochondriac crybaby who had to call daddy to go to A&E because you gave yourself a little cut one time...

What did you do to your shoulder, accidentally brush into a wall...?

[Lorizael]

These aren't my rules - these are the NHS's rules!

If only you'd said this earlier, MOBIUS. We didn't realize that being a nasty, contrarian **** who ridicules the manliness of others because they're being responsible, health-minded members of the community was in the NHS rules. OK, you're off the hook.

*cough*

[rah]

Ming and rah, are you guys really that old..

And screw you too

[I AM MOBIUS]

If only you'd said this earlier, MOBIUS. We didn't realize that being a nasty, contrarian **** who ridicules the manliness of others because they're being responsible, health-minded members of the community was in the NHS rules. OK, you're off the hook.

*cough*

What is interesting to me is the massive disconnect in the health advice between the two countries.

Why is that, why isn't it deemed necessary in the UK unless you are at risk? Maybe because it's actually not needed, but the privitised medical companies in the US that means that your country has the most expensive and least effective healthcare in a survey of major developed nations have a vested in making sure everyone takes their medicine like good little sheep/drones...?

Ours is #1: guess whose advice I'm taking!?

Anyway, I'm off to play football in the cold outdoors tonight and the forecast is heavy rain, maybe you can all wish for a dose of flu for me?

[Lorizael]

I've no particular interest in defending the US healthcare system, but saying that it is the "least effective healthcare in the world" is blatantly false and not supported by the link you provide. Additionally, you'd have to show evidence that vaccine manufacturers (basically just your run-of-the-mill pharmaceutical giants like Merck and GSK), who are just as "privatized" in the UK as they are in the US, would have any more influence on the CDC than they would on the NHS. Btw, go any further down this route, and you'll start to sound like some Big Pharma conspiracy nut.

[I AM MOBIUS]

Yeah, that was clearly an unintentional mistake on my part - in that survey - but it certainly seems like it sometimes given the vast amount of money wasted for such a relatively poor service...

You know, somehow I think they might do? In the UK the NHS has a duty of care wrt the money it spends as it is public money, whereas in the US, they don't have to worry about that and only need to get their public to swallow whatever they say...

I hardly think I'm being a conspiracy theorist in suspecting that.

Besides, you avoided my main point in the argument: if it is apparently so important to vaccine everyone for the flu - why is it you think that the NHS thinks virtually the opposite?

[Lorizael]

The NHS is the same organization that, up until recently when it caved to pressure from scientists and doctors, used public money to fund homeopathic hospitals and medicine. I'm not sure why I should trust their conclusions about (a) how to use public money or (b) what makes good medical practice.

[I AM MOBIUS]

Wow, channeling Ben much there, Lori?

You're still avoiding my point, again like Ben.

[Lorizael]

I honestly don't have a clue as to why the NHS has different guidelines than the CDC, and I'm not inclined to engage in idle speculation as to why. (Oh, wait! Maybe it's because you have evil socialist medicine that rations care, so of course you're not going to recommend that everybody gets the flu shot, because then you wouldn't be rationing!) Different organizations have different recommendations about the flu vaccine (Canada recommends everyone 2 to 64 gets it), and I don't see any compelling evidence to suggest that the CDC is more susceptible to untoward industry influence than others.

[Lorizael]

In general, the actual advice I've seen is that there are at-risk groups which should definitely get the vaccine (so if you have limited resources, prioritize those groups), but that the ratio of benefit to cost is so high (mostly because the cost (by which I mean actual monetary cost as well as risk of harm) is so low) that it's not a bad idea for everyone to get it, and doing so will of course help with herd immunity.

That kind of advice is compatible with both NHS recommendations (people at-risk should definitely get it) and CDC recommendations (everybody should get it, but especially those at-risk).