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| quote: | Originally posted by Enraptured
I am basically against the flu shot... for the very old, or in special cases, the very young, it may not be a bad idea. It is true that you can sometimes boost the immune system's chances of fighting of a virus by introducing small amounts of it, this imprints a genetic "code" into your antibodies that "remember" the virus and how to fight it off quickly. That being said, it is difficult to know WHICH viruses people will come into contact with, so a flu shot would be worthless in that case. Also, a high percentage of people who receive the flu shot, actually catch the flu from it! I think that if you are a healthy person, the flu shot is unnecessary. Sooner or later everyone gets the flu. That's just the way it is.
Another huge problem is that people have a tendency to overuse the name "flu"... there is NO SUCH THING as a 24-hour flu. If you are sick, ie: throwing up etc... for only 24 hours, you have FOOD POISONING. [Or you are hungover ] It's a lot more common than people think.
I am interested to hear what other people think of this. Good topic!
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I have to disagree with you on this one (based on my experience). Having a weak immune system and getting lung and sinus infections all the time, this shot that I have been taking for at least 3 years have helped me a lot (especially being breathing the same air than the other 350 people in the plane when I used to work for the airlines). Of course I got a little cold maybe once a year instead of 5 or 6 times, and it never got as bad as it used to! I agree that it is a personal thing...some people have bad side effects following the shot (like my mother who won't take it anymore)...some others don't...The only thing common to everybody who takes it is a soreness in the arm where you got injected for a day or too....How bad can that be !!? We've all had worse.
For people who caught a cold following the injection, I believe there is absolutely no connection...The virus (Influenza which is a really bad flu that can lead to hospitalization)that they inject you is dead, therefore cannot cause any infection but just build up your immune system in case it encounters this virus again. This is my understanding of the whole issue, but correct me if I am wrong.
Make sure not to not mix up the terms FLU and COLD.....they are completely different...
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