I think there are a bunch of different strains included. The number thirteen comes to mind.
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Many years the flu shot is not very effective. You have to weigh the risk of the shot against the risk of you not surviving the flu. I think kids need to be vaccinated and most of those provide lifetime protection. We are way over vaccinating our pets and the rabies vaccine cause cancer. We do all puppy shots and then titer. They give a 3lb dog the same amount of rabies medication that they give to a 150lb dog. Some vets give this shot in the tail so if the dog gets cancer they can amputate the tail.
I have never gotten the shot and I probably won't.
I expect the first time I get true real flu I'll probably die. The same way I think if I ever have to have surgery I'll die. I'm into avoidance.
Yes, I'm getting the shot.
I had the flu once and really thought I WOULD die. Horrible.
I get the flu about once every 10 years.
I’ve gotten one for 30 years +. Will continue to do so.
Three strains and stronger than normal (which means more chance for things to go wrong to me):
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-...e/faq-20058032
I started getting them about five years ago. Before then, I got the flu frequently. Now, virtually never. I think I was laid low for about a day and a half about three years ago, but it was nothing compared to the 10-day, income-losing nightmarish flu bugs I used to have. Even if this year's flu vaccine doesn't hit the mark, I don't mind taking a chance--I know what I felt like when I got the flu when I wasn't getting the shot!
That feeling that "I'm going to die and really that might be a good thing given how yucky I feel" is how I tell the flu from a cold.
I get the flu shot, mostly because I have a nephew who has a compromised respiratorysystem. Even a cold can sentence him to having to stay home, hooked up to a ventilator. He hates that, and I can't blame him. And I do not want to be the person who makes him sick enough to be hospitalized. Don't think I could live with myself.
I do have to track down a version of the vaccine that is egg-free. The flu shot is how I discovered that I'm allergic to eggs! I don't like eggs--they have always been the one food I simply could not force myself to eat and after Nephew was born and I got my first flu shot and had a horrible reaction at the injection site, I learned that I have a very strong egg allergy. Although oddly, I can eat eggs that are in things like cookies and brownies and cake. The place I got the shot last year has changed which vaccine they are using, so I have to call around and find someplace else.