Vaccinations

[Meg O'Ryan 266444]

Be it the flu vaccine, the vacation vaccine...how do you feel about them?

 

I have a drs appt Monday for a physical and I know she will insist on a flu vaccine and once I tell her about my trip down south, I am sure she will insist on the cocktail travel vaccine. Should I?

[Redline 953]

As one of the few who does get the flu from the flu vaccines I stay away from that one now.

 

Travel ones I generally will get as the places I have gone can have exotic things that are better not to get if you can avoid so those ones I would always say get.

[Kathryn Bardot 99339]

It is not possible to get the flu from a flu vaccine; it is a dead virus, although for some individuals, some of the side effects of the vaccine can be similar to symptoms of the flu itself.

Getting the vaccine or not is really a personal decision, although I highly recommend getting accurate information (I recall a flu vaccine debate a couple years ago here with some pretty out-there links!) and weighing the pros and cons. I personally have gotten most of the ones out there including the Hep A/B Twinrix, HPV, and the yearly flu shot. I figure it's better to be safe than sorry, especially with this line of work and my own personal work and travels.

[Meg O'Ryan 266444]

I have had the hep vaccines but heard they are effective for a certain amount of time so that is a no brainer. Did the flu shot and agree, it does not cause the flu. I am now reading about yellow fever and...can't remember.

My thought is do vaccines eventually reduce your natural ability to fight infection?

[Guest N***he**Ont**y]

In previous seasons they have added an immune booster to stimulate your system.On a personal note the one year I skipped the flu shot I developed pneumonia and was off work for four weeks. I now get one every year because once you have had pneumonia you can get it again very easily.

[Pink Kitty Escorts 6195]

http://www.informedchoice.info/cocktail.html

 

Heres a link of whats in the most common vaccines..

 

Call me crazy, but I am not convinced that billion dollar drug companies have my personal best interest in mind when they are trying sell me on the idea of having antifreeze , fermeldahide, aluminum along with other well known neurotoxins.. And then using scare tactics and public fear to pressure uninformed people into believing that they need their drugs..

[canuckhooker 19203]

http://www.informedchoice.info/cocktail.html

 

Heres a link of whats in the most common vaccines..

 

Call me crazy, but I am not convinced that billion dollar drug companies have my personal best interest in mind when they are trying sell me on the idea of having antifreeze , fermeldahide, aluminum along with other well known neurotoxins.. And then using scare tactics and public fear to pressure uninformed people into believing that they need their drugs..

 

Firstly I can't believe you actually read the list. Aspartame? MSG? It may give you a headache, (based on anecdotal evidence), but a one time shot causing long term effects? Not happening.

 

Another great website from conspiracy theorists and crackpots who corrupt real science. Did you notice the reference to Small pox vaccine in that list? They couldn't get an adequate sample because it is not used anymore. Why? Because the vaccine basically eradicated what was a very contagious and virulent disease. Too bad these companies didn't have your best interests in mind.

[Kathryn Bardot 99339]

Ah, here we go, again.

Jason, we got into this two years ago and I am not about to rehash the argument. If you want to believe whatever is out there on the internet, that's your choice. However that website lists very little documentation to support its claims, and it still lists the MMR vaccine as having a link to autism. Not the most scientifically accurate source of information.

[Pink Kitty Escorts 6195]

http://thinktwice.com/ploys.htm

 

I wasn't worried about the the msg or aspartame. The list was just stating what was in the vaccines. I don't think it was being judgmental. I believe that list is originally from The CDC. I can find that official CDC list and then nobody can have a problem with the source itself.

 

Here's the problem, many of those ingredients are ok to take into the body orally, because our digestive system can process them. But when administered directly into the blood stream it bypasses our natural filters and it has a completely different effect.

 

I guess my question is, do you really believe that your health, is what big brother, and big pharmaceutical companies take into consideration when faced with the trillions they stand to lose if you are healthy? Sick people make them money, healthy people don't.

 

I won't engage in a big debate on this either. I do worry about people who just roll up their sleeves and naively take these shots, or worse subject their children to the battery of vaccinations when they don't even have a say in the matter. At least do a bit of thinking outside the box, because the pharmaceutical industry is corrupt, and so is our Government. To believe otherwise is sticking our heads in the sand.

 

 

 

 

 

Firstly I can't believe you actually read the list. Aspartame? MSG? It may give you a headache, (based on anecdotal evidence), but a one time shot causing long term effects? Not happening.

 

Another great website from conspiracy theorists and crackpots who corrupt real science. Did you notice the reference to Small pox vaccine in that list? They couldn't get an adequate sample because it is not used anymore. Why? Because the vaccine basically eradicated what was a very contagious and virulent disease. Too bad these companies didn't have your best interests in mind.

[spud271 47779]

The one and only time I was hospitalized with the flu, was the year I got the flu vaccine!!! Ever since then I have not bothered getting them and have not had anything as bad as that one since.

[backrubman 64800]

Be it the flu vaccine, the vacation vaccine...how do you feel about them?

 

I have a drs appt Monday for a physical and I know she will insist on a flu vaccine and once I tell her about my trip down south, I am sure she will insist on the cocktail travel vaccine. Should I?

 

Well I don't know about the value of the flue vaccine, already known to make some people sick. But depending on what part of the South you are going to, and how soon along with what is endemic to that region your Doctor might recommend something like Twinrix (for Hep. A & B - and after enough booster shots is good for 15 years) or even Dukoral (for E.coli and Cholera). There are also treatments that can prevent Malaria and Dengue Fever but not often prescribed due to the side effects and low risk of contracting the disease.

[Frank7 3939]

For real dangerous diseases, i'll get the shots. Hep A/B or if you go to another country where there's really different diseases.

 

For flu, i don't bother. It's better to just let your immune systeme fight it off. It will be better prepared for when something big comes along.

 

Same thing for the H1N1 shot. Specialy considering it was released in a hurry. Didn't get the shot. I'm pretty sure i did get H1N1, it was the "worst" flu i had, lasted 2 weeks i think. But it didn't stop me from doing anything i'd normaly do, just went to school like normal.

 

However, if you have a really weak immune systeme (usually elderly or complications from another disease), better to get it. Cause those are the people that can actually die from flu.

[Boomer 33202]

I have taken the flue vaccine for 8 years now and strongly recommend doings so. The reason I started was because I was caring for someone with an immune deficiency. Since that time I have carried on for several reasons, one that I volunteer and have contact with many frail and vulnerable people and I believe we have a duty to protect others we come in contact with. I think that if you are in this industry you are quite exposed to infections, and should take all opportunities to protect yourself. If taken ill you stand to loose business if you have to take time off.

 

As far as travel, I've taken it all. The best way to go here is to pay to visit a travel clinic, they are best informed about what you need depending on your destination. The one med I do take along every trip is a prescription for diarrhea, sometimes you can get in a situation where the Imodium may not be enough. If it's a very hot climate I will take along some hydration pills I can put in my water bottle, they come in orange and lemon flavours.

 

I've done the Malaria pills a few times, but I would contradict BRM on Denge shots. The best thing to do there is to know the risk and practice prevention, use of screens and proper use of Deet at the certain time of the day.

[mrrnice2 157005]

The use of vaccines is clearly one of the primary means of maintaining a high standard of public health.

 

For those of us who are older that small scar on our arm that we got when being vaccinated for smallpox when we were younger is a badge of proof of what vaccines can do. Smallpox virtually does not exist any longer and is considered to have been eradicated by the World Health Organization.

 

There are many anecdotal stories about things such as a flu vaccine causing the flu or about immunizations being related to autism, but the statistical proof is simply not there. My anecdotal story says that as a teacher, I got the flu every single year until I began with the vaccines twenty years ago or more. I have not had the flu since.

 

Yes there are stories of government and drug company collusion but the facts speak for themselves.

 

Vaccines are one of the underpinnings of our public health system and it is one of our personal responsibilities to keep our vaccines up to date.

[oldblueeyez 15475]

For real dangerous diseases, i'll get the shots. Hep A/B or if you go to another country where there's really different diseases.

 

For flu, i don't bother. It's better to just let your immune systeme fight it off. It will be better prepared for when something big comes along.

 

Same thing for the H1N1 shot. Specialy considering it was released in a hurry. Didn't get the shot. I'm pretty sure i did get H1N1, it was the "worst" flu i had, lasted 2 weeks i think. But it didn't stop me from doing anything i'd normaly do, just went to school like normal.

 

However, if you have a really weak immune systeme (usually elderly or complications from another disease), better to get it. Cause those are the people that can actually die from flu.

 

 

 

Exactly my thoughts, Frank!

 

Check out this story:

 

Flu shot linked to higher incidence of flu in pandemic year

 

Maybe the immune system is like our muscles or brain; it needs to be regularly exercised so that it's ready to tackle the big stuff when it comes along. I don't get sick very often, but when I do I just tough it out.

[Tallguy007 4172]

My workplace has a vaccine day every year, and we just go and get it. I'm guessing they figured they recoup the investment in saved sick days.

 

Considering how few sick days I take in a year, I'm guessing out does do some good.

[Guest a**4*]

I have not had a flu shot in a very long time and i have not the flu in a very long time i do have my Immunization shots maybe i should get the flu shot

[Guest *l**e]

You cannot possibly get the flu from the flu vaccine. It is a dead virus. It helps your body make antibodies...all antibodies are good. There is no evidence from any reliable study linking the flu shot to any diseases...period.

 

I am a health care worker. I get my shot every year; not for me, but for all the children and elder people that I may come in contact with.

 

People who spread false truths and quote unreliable sources are irresponsible and harming the health of the weak if they convince even one person to not get the shot.

[Parker 19761]

I think the flu shot is kind of like the HPV shot, it works.. but it's not an 'every strain possible' vaccine. So they have their limitations.

 

If someone wants to take the chance on the flu, fine. Just stay home if/when you get sick. The flu does kill a lot of people, but I've known few who have had it that bad.

 

When it comes to tetanus, rubella, HPV, hepatitis, polio.. and many others -- I'd much rather take my chances with the vaccine than the disease.

If it's incurable or has a high mortality rate, your odds are better with the vaccine anyway.

[oldblueeyez 15475]

Bloodletting was common medical practice for 2000 years up until the late 1800s

(when it was then discovered to be totally useless in all but one or two ailments);

cutting edge treatment at the time. Bwah ha ha! (excuse the pun NOT)

Just sayin.

Drink the damn flu away, that's my advice!

[Pink Kitty Escorts 6195]

Thats the most sensible response in this entire thread..

[Pink Kitty Escorts 6195]

Starting Here http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf

 

A list of the various ingredients of some common vaccines, from the CDC.

 

I guess my questions to you are these..., Do you personally feel that companies like GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Novartis have you and I in their best interest?

 

Do you think they care about us, or rather they pander to the powers that be.

 

How would you explain the DRAMATIC increase in children with autism, and ADD, ADDHD? And to follow that question, the fact that children get an enormously larger viral load put into their systems then they did 25 years ago. Which co-insides with this exponential increase in autism. And that's before we even talk about allergies, both food and environmental that have SKYROCKETTED over the past few decades.

 

Who here 35 and up, remembers going to school with a peanut butter sandwich and actually being allow to eat it? How many kids did you know, or see with autism or addhd compared to now? People are sicker now. Is that really up for debate?

 

It's not just vaccines, it's a whole bunch of things.. Our diets have changed, our foods have changed. Our food system as a whole, with all of the antibotics that are fed to our livestock just to keep them alive long enough to make it to the slaughter house.

 

Here's my return deal to you, I won't roll up my sleeves to put a concoction of mercury, aluminum, antifreeze, aborted fetuses, and monkey lips and asses into my system.. You are actually welcome to my share of that dose.

 

In return, I will not shed a tear when my tax dollars are spent on propping up a medical system that will be taking care of this generation in 30 years when they are too sick to contribute to society because their immune systems are too weak to step outside, or are dying from various forms of cancer.

 

I will have absolute sympathy, because society as a whole has a herd mentality. And they believe everything on main-stream media. ----It must be true, because the GOVT said so----. It's a natural thing to go with the flow.

[backrubman 64800]

... But I've never been vaccinated against cholera, because my understanding is that the vaccine is... better than nothing, but really not worthwhile.

 

I can't and won't disagree with you there. I think it is the E. coli component of Dukoral that really makes a difference (not the alleged protection from Cholera). Making the transition between Canada and the Caribbean at least twice a year, I find a Dukoral booster always produces very positive results and the lack of one has always produced illness. That's just me, I'm sure (in fact I know) lots don't bother with this vaccine and get along just fine. I think if you eat away from the touristy areas and mingle with the locals as I do, you are more likely to be exposed to E. coli and suffer from montezuma's revenge :) While this would almost always get me it has always failed to do so since I started taking Dukoral as a matter of routine, but I do tend to wander a bit and not stick to food for tourists that is more carefully prepared.

[Guest Ed The****]

I am very much in favour of vaccines Meg. I will be having my flu shot this week while at my physician's office as well. I keep all my vaccinations up to date and get the recommended vaccinations for travel when needed.

 

Be it the flu vaccine, the vacation vaccine...how do you feel about them?

 

I have a drs appt Monday for a physical and I know she will insist on a flu vaccine and once I tell her about my trip down south, I am sure she will insist on the cocktail travel vaccine. Should I?

[Phaedrus 209521]

A list of the various ingredients of some common vaccines, from the CDC.

 

And did you notice how vague it was? This is entirely deliberate. The tricky thing about making a commercial vaccine is making sure that it remains useful for a reasonable lifetime between the factory and the clinic. Most of those weird-sounding ingredients are preservatives and stabilizers, rather than things that have any biological effect. And some of those ingredients, and the cocktails of them that are used, are jealously-guarded commercial secrets, which is why the CDC don't get to publish (or possibly even know) the details of them.

 

So, to answer the obvious next question: we know they're safe because of the clinical trials that are run. They've been tested in humans under controlled conditions; before that they were thoroughly tested in animals (I know many people don't like the idea, but it's the law) and before anything even gets as far as a lab cockroach it's been extensively tested for effectiveness and toxicity on cell cultures.

 

I guess my questions to you are these..., Do you personally feel that companies like GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Novartis have you and I in their best interest?

 

They don't want to, no. But they have to :)

 

The companies you mention, like all publicly-traded companies, are ultimately responsible to their shareholders. That means they need to make money. And they don't make money by letting their customers die, or by screwing up and producing unsafe products that result in their customers suing them. They make money by selling their customers a product that works, so those customers (that's us, by the way) can survive to buy more of their products in the future.

 

They don't sell us working medical products because they're nice, or altruistic; they do it because that's where their profits come from. They don't invent new drugs out of a sense of social responsibility or charity; they do it because they want to continue to be profitable.

 

How would you explain the DRAMATIC increase in children with autism, and ADD, ADDHD?

 

I wouldn't, because I don't think anything fundamental has changed. What HAS changed is that these things are far more widely recognized and better understood than in the past, and therefore now diagnosed far more often. It's not that more kids have autism or ADHD today; it's just that they're actually being diagnosed with these conditions and helped, rather than just labelled as "a bit weird" or "an absolute little shit". I consider this to be a thoroughly good thing.

 

And since you've raised this in the context of a thread about vaccination, I really must take the time to mention that the link between the MMR vaccine and autism that was publicized a lot in the UK (and elsewhere) has been completely debunked. It's bullshit. It always was, despite the scaremongering. The doctor who kicked the whole shitstorm off has been barred from practicing medicine as a result of his dishonesty. If you genuinely believe that there's any kind of link between the conditions you mentioned above and any vaccine, please do share the evidence. I'd be very interested to see it.

 

And to follow that question, the fact that children get an enormously larger viral load put into their systems then they did 25 years ago.

 

No, they don't. Quite the opposite, in fact. We are all exposed to far fewer viruses and other pathogens than in the past, and one of the big reasons for this is that vaccination exists, and it works. Provided enough people take advantage of it to eliminate the breeding-grounds for disease, of course. A small amount of dead 'flu virus put into your arm is a lot less of a viral load than exposure to someone who's succumbed to the real thing.

 

And that's before we even talk about allergies, both food and environmental that have SKYROCKETTED over the past few decades.

 

The allergies thing is fascinating, and one of the problems with it is that nobody really has a clue what's happening. Yes, allergies seem a lot more common. We don't know why. However, I don't propose to derail this thread to discuss it... but if you start another one I'll see you there :)

 

People are sicker now. Is that really up for debate?

 

No, people are not sicker now... and no, it's not up for debate. Look at the statistics. Look at mortality rates and life expectancies. The numbers don't lie. We are healthier for longer than ever before. Please bear in mind that one of the big reasons so many of us die of cancer or heart disease at eighty is that we didn't die of polio or smallpox at ten, and that's because of vaccination.

 

It's not just vaccines, it's a whole bunch of things..

 

There have certainly been many changes. But they're not all bad.

 

Here's my return deal to you, I won't roll up my sleeves to put a concoction of mercury, aluminum, antifreeze, aborted fetuses, and monkey lips and asses into my system.. You are actually welcome to my share of that dose.

 

As I explained previously, this decision doesn't just affect you personally. It affects the society you live in.

 

Also, if you're really concerned about these things, don't ever read the labels on the food you eat, or the bottles of stuff you put on yourself in the bathroom. Just to return to that CDC list: did you happen to notice how many of those exotic-sounding ingredients are also in your food? Preservatives and stabilizers aren't just useful for keeping vaccines fresh. If you're serious about not putting these things into your body, I'd recommend that you quit modern society and move to a hunter-gatherer or subsistence-farming lifestyle.

 

In return, I will not shed a tear when my tax dollars are spent on propping up a medical system that will be taking care of this generation in 30 years when they are too sick to contribute to society because their immune systems are too weak to step outside, or are dying from various forms of cancer.

 

The problem of how to fund our aging population is undoubtedly a tricky one... and again, a subject for another thread. It has nothing to do with vaccination.