Flu jabs.

[Katelb]

Has anyone else been contacted by their health centre to have the annual 'flu jab'? we have to go shortly and have ours so I must sign off and get some work done first!!! Kate

[eleanor2]

i dont know if i'd take them up i hate going to the doctors.

[Katelb]

Hi eleanor,not that keen myself but as I used to work in the afore mentioned health centre,and my husband always has one,I get to have one too as I'm over 65.If you have breathing problems,asthma etc, or are prone to chest infections it makes sense to take advantage of the offer. There are no side effects to speak of and REAL flu can be a killer.I say 'real 'because we used to get a lot of patients who said they were 'dying with the flu' but in fact they just had a severe cold---bad enough I agree-- but then they would want' antibiotics' and no amount of telling them would convince them that antibiotics are useless for a virul infection like flu.The amount of stick we got let in for was amazing!! I'm glad I have retired!!!
I hope that you and all our friends here stay free from any illness this winter--and onwards--.

[eleanor2]

i know what you mean kate.overuse of antibiotics is so bad.its good doctors are being more strict.the flu jab is a good thing for people at risk.an old lady was telling me she had hers yesterday.she said it made her false knees ache.i dont know if she was serious or having a joke.she's a lovely fun old lady i met at my over 50's exercise class.i gatecrash i'm not 50 yet.we have a right laugh.

[SummerSkye]

My OH always has one as he is not in the best of health although still under 60. It seems to prevent him catching the flu and no side effects. I have never had one but probably will next winter living in closer proximity to people and germs.
Eleanor2 your exercise class sounds like fun.

[SheepyJames]

Hubby and I are booked in for next week. We both qualify on several counts -one of which, in my case, is living with hubby who is at risk and therefore doesn't need me to catch it and pass it on to him. Perhaps you should have one Summer Skye? Kate

[franbee]

I don't think that the true severity of flu is understood by a lot of people. When they say they have flu they mean a bad cold. Proper flu is a very severe illness and I remember working in a chemist shop during a flu epidemic, was it 1969? People died of the illness, we heard all the dreadful tales. I have never had it myself, but OH has once. He went to the Dr with backache, to be told he had flu and to take 2 weeks off work. He pooh poohed that, but was off for 3 weeks. So have your jab if it's advised, I certainly would if I were at risk. Fran.

[Rosie]

I get the flu injection every year - I am just so scared of getting the flu.
I had chronic fatigue for many years - this is when I started to get the flu jab.

[mrsj]

Chronic fatigue must be very difficult to manage Rosie. One of my sisters-in-law is a sufferer.

[keepersdaughter]

We all have flu shots each year, including my teenagers. I think it especially important if you or someone close to you work in confined spaces or come into contact with a lot of people (my two are in uni. now). Some people say they feel a bit 'fluey' after getting it, but apparently the flu injection is an inactive, dead flu so that shouldn't be possible, though I have felt a little achey once in a while. We did have the spray flu vaccine in the nose a couple years ago when they ran out of the injectable kind. We all had cold type symptoms for a couple of days, but that is a live vaccine and not recommended for anyone over 50 here.

[sheddie]

My daughter is a driving instructor and her partner is a school teacher, at the moment they are both really ill, sickness all night etc. I know I'm probably ignorant but should I advise her to have the flu jab and does it cost if you are 30yrs old?

[Katelb]

Hi sheddie,sorry to hear your daughter and partner are suffering.They are both entitled to flu jabs on the NHS but avaiability is sometimes an issue depending on the number of elderly and vulnerable who have one each year. If either your daughter or her partner are prone to bronchitis,have asthma,or other health problems,then they would ,or should,be contacted to have one.As they both work in constant contact with the general public,it might be worth them approaching their GP and see if they could have one.If they are refused,then they could have it done privately but I have no idea how much it would be,probably not too extortionate. They should both wait until they have recovered from their present illness.Hope this helps.

[lily]

Woud definitely have it if recommended, don't know if the coverage is the same all over the UK? Our practice offer it first to vulnerable- my Mum is first in the queue- 89, just had major surgery for cancer earlier this year and now back to running her own life- shopping, gardening etc. Husband also has it for immuno problems. Neither have any il effects.

[Sandra]

Am I right in thinking the 'flu jab contents are grown on a culture from the last 'flu outbreak? If that's so, and 'flu mutates, how can it work against the next epidemic?

[gothfairy]

I have to have one each year as I am in the 'at risk' category of becoming seriously ill if I catch 'flu. I have never had any after effects, except for last year, when I bled when injected. A few days later a bruise appeared, and do you know, it was there over a month! My husband has one if our surgery has enough so he can pay for it, but often they don't.

[sheddie]

thanks for your interest and input.X

[jazzactivist]

All staff at the university that I work for are offered a free flu jab every year in an attempt to stop staff taking time off sick. It is offered by trainee doctors in the medical faculty to practise their needle skills! If we don't accept this generous offer and then end up having to take time off due to flu, we have to produce a medical certificate for the full length of absence and have a return to work meeting when we get back. How dodgy is that?

[Pippa]

Sounds a bit control freaky to me Jazz. Even if you have the jab it does not give 100 percent guarantee you will not get flu. Pity the faculty have nothing better to think about, people get sick, fact.

[jazzactivist]

Hi Pippa, you know how it is - the university is forever trying to justify saving money, even though they have an excess of it. The latest is that we now have to put all waste paper into separate bins, you would think "good, this is about saving our planet", but No, the justification being given out is that it will save the university money on their waste disposal costs. The flu jab is just one of the many costs saving measures, and the approach doesn't exactly inspire staff members to go for it, the numbers unsurprising drop every year. I think that the jab can be reasuuring for vulnerable people, though, but so can taking lots of vitamin C before winter.