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Flu shot
Once a year, I needle you about getting a flu shot, and I always
sincerely hope that for once, my reminder will serve as a booster
for the many of you who often have latent plans to get a flu shot
but who generally don't act on those plans. In other words, I hope
you won't mind being jabbed by this reminder and that perhaps you
will use it as a shot in the arm for your determination to get a
flu vaccine this year.
Anyway, that awful humour aside, this is a serious issue, folks.
Way too few of you get flu shots every year for one or more of the
following reasons:
1. Because you're lazy.
2. Because the flu is not serious, it's "just an infection,
man, sort of like a cold."
3. Because you don't think you're at risk of catching the flu.
4. Because you think the flu vaccine makes you sick.
5. Because you don't think the vaccine works.
6. Because the flu shot costs money.
7. Because "I got a flu shot last year, man, so I don't need
one this year."
8. Because the flu shot is dangerous.
So let's tackle those concerns one at a time.
1. Because you're lazy.
The sad reality is that many of us are simply too lazy to get to a
doctor or health clinic to get a flu shot, and by the time you do
get around to thinking about getting the vaccine, usually around
the time the flu is sweeping through your office or place of work
or play, it's probably too late for the vaccine to work for you,
so you often just get sick instead. These are the people, of
course, who, like me, still own Nortel stock. Hey! It's going to
rebound one day, isn't it? So listen up, folks: it takes about 2
weeks for antibody levels from a flu vaccine to reach the levels
where they can protect you, so this year, try to get ahead of this
one, Jack.
2. Because the flu is not serious, it's "just an infection,
man, sort of like a cold."
Yes, the flu is a viral infection, and it is "sort of like a
cold," but unlike colds, the flu produces much worse
symptoms, such as fever and aches and pains (especially in men, of
course: "Oh, Martha, no one has ever been sick like this
before"), leading to much time lost from work or school. Most
important, the flu can and does kill, usually by producing
complications such as pneumonia. In fact, the flu kills thousands
of North Americans per year.
3. Because you don't think you're at risk of catching the flu.
This is the most nonsensical excuse of the lot: we are all at risk
of getting the flu (unless, of course, you spend the winter in a
hermit-like state), although, as stated earlier, some of us are
clearly more at risk of complications from the flu than are
others. Among those at highest risk of flu complications are those
over the age of 65, the very young (babies between the ages of 6
months and 23 months), pregnant women who will be in their second
or third trimesters during flu season, people with immune system
disorders, people with chronic illnesses such as asthma, diabetes,
kidney disease, and cancer, and children receiving ASA regularly.
Anyone who belongs to one of these high-risk groups is strongly
urged to get a flu shot as soon as they can. By the way, the US
feds are now advising young babies to get a flu shot because there
is now strong evidence available that infants are as prone to
serious flu-related complications as seniors are.
Also, some people who come down with the flu are much more likely
than others to infect either vulnerable individuals or simply lots
of other people. This includes people who work in nursing homes,
health care personnel, and anyone who deals with the public, such
as teachers, so anyone who belongs to those groups should also
strongly consider getting immunized, as should anyone who lives
with high-risk individuals.
4. Because you think the flu vaccine makes you sick.
I take back what I said in the previous paragraph. This is
actually the most nonsensical argument about why one shouldn't get
a flu shot. The flu vaccine cannot and does not infect. Yes, a
small number of people will get sick in the days after getting a
flu shot, but then the same percentage of people get sick after
having sex, and the last I checked, there are no antisex groups
out there advising us to forego sex (well, yes, there are, but
they do it for other reasons, not because you might get the flu
from sex). The truth is that during flu and cold season, a small
number of people get sick every day no matter what they did the
day before - them's just the odds of being alive, I'm afraid.
5. Because you don't think the vaccine works.
Yes, the shot works - it does prevent the flu, although as with
everything else in life, it's not 100% effective. Thus a certain
percentage of people - perhaps up to 20% - will get the flu anyway
despite having had the shot, but the great thing is that these
people will be much less likely to develop life-threatening
complications from their infection because of the protection
afforded them by their vaccine, and they are much less likely,
too, to suffer the worst complication of all, namely death.
6. Because the flu shot costs money.
Yes, you may have to pay money for your shot if you're not a
high-risk individual (criteria for eligibility for free flu shots
may vary from province to province), although many business
organizations have found that giving flu shots to their employees
leads to much less absenteeism from work, so they offer free flu
shots to their employees. But hey! what's ten or fifteen bucks for
a flu shot compared to all the money you'll have to spend on
tissues and meds and chicken soup (or if you're a vegetarian like
my wife, veggie broth) once you get sick? It would be a bargain at
5 times the price.
7. Because "I got a flu last year, man, so I don't need one
this year."
You need a new flu shot every year because unfortunately, the flu
virus is a very smart bug and it mutates from year to year.
8. Because the flu shot is dangerous.
In fact, adverse reactions as well as allergic reactions to the
flu vaccine are rare, although soreness at the site of injection
(and soreness at the person giving the injection) is common, of
course.
Art Hister, MD
in association with the MediResource Clinical Team
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