The Flu is Miserable; Get Your Shot

By J. Gelband, 10-22-07

Three cheers for the flu shot. Since Idaho’s first confirmed case of influenza this season has been reported, health officials are once again on the urge to get us common folk vaccinated.

In addition to health officials’s public suggestion, I also recommend people get the flu shot. I recommend that everyone who lives near me, breathes near me, shops at the same stores, and goes to the same gas station get the flu shot. Because I don’t want to get the flu.

I had it a couple of years ago, and make no mistake, the flu is not just a “bad cold.” It is the worst. There’s fever, headache, fatigue, and it knocked the wind out of me for 14 days of serious agony, not to mention that it caused severe boredom with cable-free daytime television options.

And it made understandable the stats that every year the flu contributes to the deaths of 36,000 people in the United States.

The first cases of the flu often show up this time of year – in Idaho the first case was already reported in southeast Idaho.

Sure, shots are threatening, especially for needlephobes, but it lasts a nanosecond, and the two-day-sore arm is nothing compared to the two weeks of aching everything. Officials this year are offering a record number of flu shots so pretty much everyone who wants to receive the vaccine can, especially young children, pregnant women, adults 50 and older, people with chronic medical conditions, people living in care facilities, healthcare workers, and people who live with or care for those who are high risk.

Contrary to popular belief, you won’t likely get a mild flu with the flu shot; it is a dead virus vaccine and often doesn’t have side effects – though you shouldn’t get the flu shot if you are allergic to egg shells or vegan, evidently the viruses used in the shots are grown in chicken eggs.

Here’s the problem with the flu shot, the nurse administering my shot told me: It only creates antibodies for the three most popular strains of influenza from last year – but there are a gazillion strains possibly out there.
“Why don’t they put more dead strains in there?” I asked.

“They just don’t,” she said. “But the ones they choose are the ones they think are going to be the most likely to spread everywhere.”

She added that it takes two weeks for the vaccine to really get through the body to protect, so it won’t work if you are exposed to the flu shortly after your shot. 

All of it is a small gamble to take if it means not getting the flu. Take my word for it and take my advice: Resist it if you can!

Talk to your doctor or local public health districts about getting the shot. Even Costco offers flu shot clinics for just a few Hamiltons. Click here or here.