I Told You So
Almost exactly one year ago, I wrote this about my refusal to get a flu shot. A new study agrees with me. Ah, I love it when I am right. The Cochrane Collaboration (an international network of individuals and institutions committed to preparing, maintaining, and disseminating systematic reviews on the effects of health care) found that 95% of people who get the flu shot shouldn't even bother because so few people actually get the flu. In fact, a meta-analysis of 12 randomized controlled trials found that a reduction in the spread of the disease was not achieved. There was no reduction in the number of work days lost, and no reduction in deaths or hospitalization.
I worked in a hospital for six years, and the only people for whom the flu shot was recommended were the elderly and those with chronic illnesses, especially kidney and lung diseases. In other words, let's put that $50 million to other uses.
Technorati Tags: flu shot, influenza, public health
16 comments:
Aw, Zydeco. I was all set to be your internet BFF, and then you had to go and say "I told you so".
Sigh.
I guess I screwed that up.
The government wants us to have flu shots, but I don't always do everything the government wants me to do...it's not like they act in my best interest or anything like that..... I've never had a flu shot.
Thank you! I didn't get one!
Most of the people I know who have had a flu shot wind up getting a nastier version of the flu than those of us who don't bother with the shot.
I've heard that the shot only protects against 3 types of flu and there are WAY more varieties out there.
Thanks for this bit of information. I hadn't heard of these risks. I usually get one because of asthma and working with dirty teenagers who don't wash their hands. But here in the USA, there's a lot more hysteria (per usual), rationing, and even in my city someone giving $20 water "flu" shots. Are you even prouder to be a Canadian? :) Anyway, I'll have to do more reading and maybe this year I'll focus on not getting run down and washing my hands vigorously and often.
It’s true. There are researchers who work year round on the flu shot. This is because they can really only protect against three strains, so they need to do a significant amount of analysis and…(drumroll please) guesswork in predicting which will be the most virulent and/or the most common. Finally, I can apply something I learned in that awful Medical Anthro. Class: the body politic—the attempt to control and regulate individual bodies in order to control populations. This includes the production of desired bodies (strength, resistance) and the stigmatization of undesired ones. They’re trying to force us to get shots at work by promising to pay for them. I think that’s crossing a serious line and I won’t do it.
Wow, she's sma-art.
The flu shot is no bueno...
ZF, I'm in the same camp. I don't really believe in flu shots, because I wonder about the longterm effects on my immune system. I'd rather just catch the sucker and let my body build up its own defences.
I agree: she's very smart.
I don't think it's a bad idea, just misguided. They're not targeting the right populations. Obviously, it can be beneficial to the elderly, or the chronically ill, but right now it's marketed toward the general population where it's not doing much good.
We never get it. General hand washing techniques if followed would go along way in preventing many things, that and from what I hear staying out of church during flu season.
I don't personally believe the flu shot is good for me, but for the past couple years I have been getting it anyway because my sister is ill. She has a brain tumour and couldn't take the flu shot herself when she was on chemo. So although I think it would be better for the human race if we didn't take the flu shot; there are definite cases where it is important. I don't want to be unable to visit my sister.
Cooper: I vote for staying out of church during all seasons :-)
Jen: Yes, that is a legitimate reason.
I'm in a similar situation as Jen and alll of us in our immediate family have had a shot for the past several yrs, until last yr, when we couldn't get one, b/c just shy of being "critical enough." We have family members who are immuno-compromised plus other serious health reasons that make some of us in this household "2nd tier" for the vaccine, which is the next list under the critcial one. Still, that does not guarantee us shots w/ the vaccine STILL hard to obtain. We're be standing in line hoping to be there in time at a few places we tracked down.
I understand your personal reasons,z fish. For some of us, it can make the difference between life and death which scares the H out of me, now that the vaccine is so scarce. Last year, I was a wreck....This yr, I'm angry that the promis of enough vaccine in the USA was really a farce. Grrrrrrr.
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