Winter protection

[Ytmsn]

I enjoy watching y'all go back and forth. Its nearly as entertaining as "which oil should I use" or "which trailer tire I should buy"!

I shake about a million hands a yearand I always imagine it's right after they drag the back of their hand across their snotty nose... So I keep a small bottle of hand sanitizer handy.

Sometimes I get a shot and sometimes I dont. But I hardly ever get sick (knock on wood)

[Lockey14s]

I enjoy watching y'all go back and forth. Its nearly as entertaining as "which oil should I use" or "which trailer tire I should buy"!

I shake about a million hands a yearand I always imagine it's right after they drag the back of their hand across their snotty nose... So I keep a small bottle of hand sanitizer handy.

Sometimes I get a shot and sometimes I dont. But I hardly ever get sick (knock on wood)

im friends with anti-vaxers just for the entertainment

[Kate]

To clarify a few things, flu mutates quite rapidly, and the flu shot is made well in advance of each year's flu season, so some years it's more effective at preventing flu than others. A typical flu shot addresses no more than three or four strains that are predicted most likely to be the ones that spread in the coming year, but offer more limited protection against other strains.

There are two kinds of flu shot - killed virus, and attenuated virus. The attenuated ones are weakened enough to make getting the flu from the shot practically impossible, while the killed ones are simply dead but have enough of their original characteristics intact to provoke an immune response.

If you're old, you can now get a "senior" flu shot that is a higher dose than a regular flu shot, which helps the slowing immune systems of more vulnerable seniors protect against the included strains. Babies don't get a flu shot until six months or so, and kids younger than 8 or so often get two shots to help build their baseline immunity.

You can't get the flu from a flu shot, but it is designed to provoke an immune response and some symptoms are likely. These are usually a sore or warm spot around the injection site, and occasionally a mild fever. Symptoms such as an upset stomach may be an egg allergy reaction to the flu shot, but are more likely a symptom of some secondary illness you've picked up elsewhere. If you know you're getting a flu shot, be vigilant in the days leading up to the shot and for a week or two after the shot to wash your hands often (and always before eating), and avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with dirty hands.

The science is pretty well settled on this. No shot is risk-free, but the odds of you dying of preventable flu are much, much higher than of being injured somehow in getting a flu shot. Do your own research on reputable sites (think CDC, Mayo Clinic, etc., not Facebook) or ask your doctor for more info - they've usually got a handout debunking many of the myths that seem to be picking up steam on social media, along with the research to back it up.

John

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/misconceptions.htm

Well said!