And in case you were avoiding it on the MSM sites, it's on Fark too. Yay!

Be prepared! Flu causes more deaths than any other disease*



*Flu deaths are concentrated among the elderly, those with other health problems including those with compromised immune systems. Flu deaths among healthy individuals are largely due to secondary infections acquired in healthcare institutions.

They inject an RFID implant when you get a flu shot. Remember to change the evil bit from 1 to 0 when you get home. Use a reader/writer conforming to ISO 18000-6C.

Why panic? Just get vaccinated. I did, just yesterday. The flu sucks. You don't want to get the flu and look like this guy:

I got my flu shot days ago. I will live forever.

/there are incidents of the people who survived the Spanish Influenza never got the flu again. lucky lucky poor bastards

Work offers the shots for free. One of our physicians just comes in to offer them to us. Is it worth it?

Hmm, take the flu shot or hope that I don't catch it?

/I HATE NEEDLES

xuanzhiyouxuan: They inject an RFID implant when you get a flu shot. Remember to change the evil bit from 1 to 0 when you get home. Use a reader/writer conforming to ISO 18000-6C.

No, but all the nasty crap they put in there to kill the flu virus in the vaccine isn't all that great for you.

hienekenftw: Hmm, take the flu shot or hope that I don't catch it?

/I HATE NEEDLES

Needles are nothing. Just keep breathing regularly, look away and make small talk.

Or you can vomit and poop for 5 days.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
My snot is green
OMG MANFLU!!!

I've never gotten a flu shot. I maybe get the flu about once a decade? My Dad is the same way. Both of us are slobs and we never get sick.

TheShavingofOccam123: Just keep breathing regularly, look away and make small talk.

Or you can vomit and poop for 5 days.

Can't I do both?

Goimir: Be prepared! Flu causes more deaths than any other disease*



*Flu deaths are concentrated among the elderly, those with other health problems including those with compromised immune systems. Flu deaths among healthy individuals are largely due to secondary infections acquired in healthcare institutions.

Unless the flu is like the Spanish Influenza which killed children and healthy people at much higher rates and quicker than other segments of the population.

If you were young and healthy, you were in serious serious trouble.

And all it took was once carrier. PBS did a program on the Spanish Flu. It talked of a Utah town that did everything right--masks, public education, preparing for quarantine, etc. The forgot one thing...the mailman. He had it and brought it into the town. Killed lots of townspeople.

xuanzhiyouxuan: TheShavingofOccam123: Just keep breathing regularly, look away and make small talk.

Or you can vomit and poop for 5 days.

Can't I do both?

follow your heart.

I've never gotten a flu shot, and haven't gotten the flu in fifteen years. Then again, I'm pretty relaxed about hygiene in general. Don't wash my hands all the time, never use that hand-wash antibacterial stuff, eat food left out, etc.

I think my immune system is wicked strong due to not being wussified.

Then again, it could just be coincidence.

Subby seems to have assumed that my answer was no.

OH NOES!!!

/flu shots are government mind control drugs.
//wimps.

I'm laying in bed with the flu from my flu shot so I'm getting a kick out of this


/fark you student nurses for looking sexy and convincing me to get the shot!

TheShavingofOccam123: *Flu deaths are concentrated among the elderly, those with other health problems including those with compromised immune systems. Flu deaths among healthy individuals are largely due to secondary infections acquired in healthcare institutions.

Unless the flu is like the Spanish Influenza which killed children and healthy people at much higher rates and quicker than other segments of the population.

Flu shots won't help against a spanish influenza type endemic; flu shots offer very selective protection against flu strains that are believed to be prolific this year. As we've not seen an outbreak of killer flu, it's not in the vaccine.

moof: TheShavingofOccam123: *Flu deaths are concentrated among the elderly, those with other health problems including those with compromised immune systems. Flu deaths among healthy individuals are largely due to secondary infections acquired in healthcare institutions.

Unless the flu is like the Spanish Influenza which killed children and healthy people at much higher rates and quicker than other segments of the population.

Flu shots won't help against a spanish influenza type endemic; flu shots offer very selective protection against flu strains that are believed to be prolific this year. As we've not seen an outbreak of killer flu, it's not in the vaccine.

Hey, don't harsh my placebo effect.

TheShavingofOccam123:
Unless the flu is like the Spanish Influenza which killed children and healthy people at much higher rates and quicker than other segments of the population.

If you were young and healthy, you were in serious serious trouble.

And all it took was once carrier. PBS did a program on the Spanish Flu. It talked of a Utah town that did everything right--masks, public education, preparing for quarantine, etc. The forgot one thing...the mailman. He had it and brought it into the town. Killed lots of townspeople.

Which vaccination isn't going to help against anyway. The vaccines are based against the top 3 strains they think are going to cause problems. Turnaround times are in the range of months. If there's another 1918 type flu that spreads that quickly, by the time they isolate it and create a vaccine against it, it'll have largely run its course.

Did you get your plague vaccine this year? How about cholera?

InternationalShoe: I'm laying in bed with the flu from my flu shot so I'm getting a kick out of this


/fark you student nurses for looking sexy and convincing me to get the shot!

This is a big misconception about the flu shot. You can not get the flu from the vaccine, it is a dead virus, there's nothing there which can cause infection. Now, what may happen is that some people have a generalized systemic reaction to the vaccine, with some fevers and aches which may last a few days as your body fights what it "thinks" is the flu. This is not "getting the flu from the flu shot". There's also a latent period of about 2-3 weeks between when you get the shot and when you become immune to the strains in the flu shot. So if you get infected in that window, you could still get sick. This is why we recommend people get immunized as early as possible, so that they'll be immune before flu season enters its peak.

TheShavingofOccam123: hienekenftw: Hmm, take the flu shot or hope that I don't catch it?

/I HATE NEEDLES

Needles are nothing. Just keep breathing regularly, look away and make small talk.

Or you can vomit and poop for 5 days.

I had my wisdom teeth pulled two months ago.

And I was more afraid of the IV needle than the rest of the procedure

Of course, as soon as he put the oxygen mask on my face, I was so euphoric I didn't care about anything.

The problem is though, if I don't look, I don't see it coming, so the suspense kills me. If I do look, I see it coming and it creeps me out. Catch-22.

I agree, it doesn't really hurt. It just bothers the fark out of me.

I watched my mom get sick as a dog for several days following her flu shot - every. freaking. year. And every year, her doctor would tell her that it had nothing to do with the flu shot. Riiiiight.

No thanks! I'll take my chances. I've never had a flu shot and have never had the flu.

hienekenftw: TheShavingofOccam123: hienekenftw: Hmm, take the flu shot or hope that I don't catch it?

/I HATE NEEDLES

Needles are nothing. Just keep breathing regularly, look away and make small talk.

Or you can vomit and poop for 5 days.

I had my wisdom teeth pulled two months ago.

And I was more afraid of the IV needle than the rest of the procedure

Of course, as soon as he put the oxygen mask on my face, I was so euphoric I didn't care about anything.

The problem is though, if I don't look, I don't see it coming, so the suspense kills me. If I do look, I see it coming and it creeps me out. Catch-22.

I agree, it doesn't really hurt. It just bothers the fark out of me.

You got IV drugs to have your wisdom teath removed? Wussy... Local all the way... you get to hear them grinding thier metal tools against your teeth. Much more fun

Anyway, I'm sick and tired of all the germaphobe doctors... I'd rather take my chances with the flue and give my immune system something to do. Besides, if everyone else gets vacinated, they will protect me! My school has this great policy of not excusing absences, so if I do get it, I wont be able to stay home, and will end up spreading it around. Excellent policy there...

little miss: No thanks! I'll take my chances. I've never had a flu shot and have never had the flu.

The same for me. In fact, I haven't been sick, period, in almost five years. Guess by working in a school I've built up an immunity to most of what's out there.

Last year was my first time getting a flue shot in years(required as I had 6 month old cousins I would be seeing during the holidays) It was through my job and so I ended up getting it at the start of my shift and ended up with feeling achy and feverish for the rest of my 10 hout shift. I'm thinking this year if I get the shot again I might just take my last sick day and go home afterwards.

whammer: Meh. What's a 60% mortality, anyway? Shrug it off.

It won't kill 2 billion. One billion, tops.

Mein Fuhrer. I can walk!!!

TheShavingofOccam123: whammer: Meh. What's a 60% mortality, anyway? Shrug it off.

It won't kill 2 billion. One billion, tops.

Mein Fuhrer. I can walk!!!

The flu shot is just another way to introduce a foreign substance into our precious bodily fluids. That's the way your hard-core Commie works.

Ceph: Work offers the shots for free. One of our physicians just comes in to offer them to us. Is it worth it?

Huh? It's free, and you wonder if it's worth it? Worth what? No cost? Shiat, you can get my opinion on a Fark comment thread for nothing too.

Just got mine at CVS. Cost $30. And they didn't bat an eye when I said I had no health insurance, unlike the receptionists at the doctor's office, who ask 5 times, then mumble to each other, "What insurance?" "Mavis, ask him what insurance" "No" "No what" "No insurance" "NO INSURANCE" "Whadda mean no insurance" "Excuse me sir, what is your insurance provider"

If I get a new job soon, I'm going to be the one who doesn't miss work when the flu starts spreading around. Yeah, that's worth it. Might even get a good job, you know, one that provides health insurance.

xuanzhiyouxuan: [TheShavingofOccam123: Just keep breathing regularly, look away and make small talk.

Or you can vomit and poop for 5 days.]

Can't I do both?

I just did a little of both from laughing at that.

/may have sneezed, too

xuanzhiyouxuan: TheShavingofOccam123: Just keep breathing regularly, look away and make small talk.

Or you can vomit and poop for 5 days.

Can't I do both?

follow your heart.

This made me pee a lil, pure gold was this comment.

I'll pass on the vaccine.

The last time I got it was in 2002. A couple weeks later I came down with brachial plexus neuritis in the same shoulder where I received the vaccine. A week or two of excruciating agony while the nerves in my right shoulder died, then numbness, and an inability to lift my arm to shoulder level. It took a year to get to the point where other muscles were almost fully compensating. And 2-3 years to get to the point where the nerves seemed to have fully come back.

No farking way am I going anywhere near the a flu shot after that experience.

whammer Meh. What's a 60% mortality, anyway? Shrug it off.

It won't kill 2 billion. One billion, tops.

Yeah, I think I see where that's going....

I don't trust the flu shot at all. I got it once, and I had hallucinations, sensitivity to heat and cold, and fever for the next day. It was pointless, considering I never get the flu at all.

hienekenftw: And I was more afraid of the IV needle than the rest of the procedure

I agree, it doesn't really hurt. It just bothers the fark out of me.

I was the same way when I had mine out. Except that it does hurt when they miss and have to stick you several times (which is what usually happens with me). The thought of a foreign body piercing my flesh on purpose freaks me out though (in general too, even earrings freak me out). Funny I have little problem with thorns and animal bites past the pain, but make it purposeful instead of accidental. . .

Monty845: You got IV drugs to have your wisdom teath removed? Wussy... Local all the way... you get to hear them grinding thier metal tools against your teeth. Much more fun

Yeah. . . no. I had to have mine cut out, there's no way I'm staying awake for that. Sleeping for three days after was a good distraction from the stitches too.

Litig8r: I'll pass on the vaccine.

The last time I got it was in 2002. A couple weeks later I came down with brachial plexus neuritis in the same shoulder where I received the vaccine. A week or two of excruciating agony while the nerves in my right shoulder died, then numbness, and an inability to lift my arm to shoulder level. It took a year to get to the point where other muscles were almost fully compensating. And 2-3 years to get to the point where the nerves seemed to have fully come back.

No farking way am I going anywhere near the a flu shot after that experience.

You do know they have an inhaled delivery system too, don't you?

The flu shot is only their best guess at what you could catch this season, and it can depress your immune system and make you temporarily more susceptible to catching something. Not something I'd recommend unless your immune system is reasonably strong or you work in a job with a high risk of disease (like say, respiratory doctor).

Already caught the flu once recently (fever, sore throat, sniffles, lung infection), still recovering from that. Hopefully I can escape catching the next one.

I'm still recovering from the flu, so I'm getting a huge farking kick out of these damn comments, thank you very farking much.

I got it on Tuesday. I knew I had it before the main symptoms showed when I was taking a shower and coughed up a couple purple lumps of goo from my trachea. It went downhill quickly. On Thursday, I probably couldn't have told you my name, I was so out of it. My fever only broke about 20-ish hours ago. I'm still coughing up neon green balls of phlegm from my lungs and out of my sinuses, with the occasional hard brown lump.

The last time I was this sick was about 8 years ago. I got the flu before going to a job site in a different state, was sick for a week, and then caught a local strain. I was already weak, so that one hit me extra hard. Imagine working for two weeks on an oil spill in the mountains while dizzy, dehydrated, nauseous, and you can barely choke down half a meal a day. I finally gave up, volunteered for an early out, went home and medicated.

If my track record holds, I won't be very sick for another 8 years, but I'll be dead to the world for a week.

One of the big hidden dangers of avian flu is a damnable one -- a nationwide US shortage of ventilators.

The US only has about 105,000 ventilators, that can push oxygen in to your lungs, not just oxygen generators that provide oxygen for people with lung disease to inhale on their own power.

Every *normal* flu season, we need about 100,000 ventilators. Only 5,000 to spare for everybody else.

Doctors in SE Asia have discovered that they can tell with just a chest X-Ray who is going to live and who is going to die with avian flu. But if you're going to live, you *have* to have a ventilator.

This means that a HELL of a lot of Americans who *would* have lived, if they just had access to a ventilator, will die because they can't get one. And we've known about this problem for THREE YEARS, and still haven't ordered extra ventilators.

They cost about $5,000 each. For the price of ONE DAY'S military operations in Iraq, we could purchase 68,600 ventilators. Remember that.

CruJones: I've never gotten a flu shot, and haven't gotten the flu in fifteen years. Then again, I'm pretty relaxed about hygiene in general. Don't wash my hands all the time, never use that hand-wash antibacterial stuff, eat food left out, etc.

I think my immune system is wicked strong due to not being wussified.

Then again, it could just be coincidence.

This.

Most Americans make their health care decisions based on anecdotal evidence.

I wouldn't go near any shot; flu, hepatitis, tetanus, whatever. Individually, you may get away with them. But you start taking multiples (different viruses), and the toxins react with each other in your system. The toxins stay in your flesh (where you got the jab) over many years and leak into your system.

They use very harmful chemicals to hold the vaccine, and those too go into your system. Minute amounts, sure.. but wtf guys, it's still dangerous. Better to be sick for a week than to suffer any number of other health reactions from the shots themselves.

I'm 30 and aint had any shot since I was 6. Only had the flu once. They say I'm protected from all these illnesses due to you Farkers having your shots, so thanks!! :D At least I don't have to risk dying each year; yes, there are cases of people dying from flu shots. Nor do I risk any number of harmful side effects that they've had to admit to; not to mention the ones they don't know about or haven't linked.

I think the funniest thing I heard was a couple who were ordered by the courts to have their kid vaccinated against hepatitis. They fled the police with their child; leaving everything behind. Crazy right; more so because the mother had hepatitis. But that's not the funny part.. it's the people hearing the story and asking "but why.. the shots are good for you". You gotta start to wonder why someone who knows the disease would do so drastic an action to avoid the supposed prevention. Maybe they know something you don't... but then again, maybe they really are crazy, and I am too. *shrugs*

M-O-O-N

/spells flu

Reincarnate: They say I'm protected from all these illnesses due to you Farkers having your shots, so thanks!!

There's so much farked up logic in your post that it makes me weep for humanity, but this takes the cake.

DIAF.

Or, better yet, die from being around other stupid farks who ignore vaccines and destroy our herd immunity.

I do not trust the companies that make flu vaccine any further than I could throw a Buick. Every year they coerce and trick their way into mass media coverage, staging "shortages" and inciting panic to increase demand. They're worse than the Bush White House in their unscrupulous use of fear tactics to manipulate the populace. And I'm sure they rationalize that it's for our own good -- and their own pockets of course.