POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => Living With HIV => Topic started by: J.R.E. on September 19, 2007, 08:23:18 pm
-
We've been notified at work, that the employees will be receiving their flu shots,( employees option) right after the residents receive theirs.
Whose planning on getting a flu shot this year. I've been getting the flu shot for the past 15 years ( except for that one year , when there was a shortage).
Ray
-
http://www.thebody.com/content/art6124.html
-
I always get one too, Ray.
Given our seasons are arse end up, I had mine months ago. Now, I'm nost sure if the flu strain we had this year is heading your way, or if you guys gave it to us, but whatever it was it was pretty bad down here this year and has been knocking people out of action for a week or two at a time. I'd highly recommend getting a shot if you can.
-
Absolutely. Lady Jane (Matty the Damned's long suffering GP) always attacks him in May/June with the good old FluVax.
It's important to note the distinction between a common cold and influenza. Most people call a head cold "the 'flu" when in fact influenza is a terribly debilitating disease which will at least lay you flat for two weeks and in some cases can kill if secondary pneumonia sets in.
Happy winter! :)
MtD
-
I get a flu shot every year at our local health department.
-
Three times in the last 20 yrs I've gotten the flu shot,
and three times I've gotten the flu afterwards. :o
Sounds like it's that time of year again, and I'll have to "explain" this again to my doc on my visit the first part of Oct. ::) He worries about me so. LOL
mikie
(who doesn't do Sustiva or flu shots ;D)
-
Mikie,
You can't get the flu from the flu shot. Perhaps you have a reaction to albumen or something else in the shot.
-
The flu shot each year only contains stuff geared toward a handful of expectant strains, not EVERY strain. It means nothing if you get the flu after a flu shot -- that's just an urban myth or something. It's horribly foolhardy to have HIV, low lab numbers, and not get a flu shot.
It also takes 2 weeks after the shot for antibodies to develop.
At certain points in my diagnosis I actually would get a flu shot in September and another in March or something as I was riding the subway everyday and was convinced I needed the extra protection with all the nasty germs passed around in close quarters where everyone is holding on to the same railing. My doctor didn't bat an eye at my request, and said all of the flight attendants he had as patients did the same thing.
-
Philly,
I took it as Mikie saying he got the flu from the shot. However, you are correct in that a flu shot only gives protection against certain strains they anticipate will be active that year - i think there were 3 in this years shot. I've read somewhere that it only gives about 70-90% protection, depending on how close the strain of flu that people actually get that year is to the strain in the shot. And, there was an article -either here or in my doctors surgery about the flu shot being even less effective in people with HIV.
I have a +ve friend who refuses flatly each year to have a shot becuase of the misguided belief that he once got the flu from a flu shot. Seems like he much prefers to get his flu through 'natural' means, as he's been bunged up in bed for the last week.
-
Will definitely get the shot this year. Hopefully it will make a difference ths time since my numbers are a bit better.
-
I have a +ve friend who refuses flatly each year to have a shot becuase of the misguided belief that he once got the flu from a flu shot. Seems like he much prefers to get his flu through 'natural' means, as he's been bunged up in bed for the last week.
Oh, I have one of those friends too. He also believe that his yearly jaunts to an Ecuadorian mountain shamen props up his lab numbers. He's also the least med adherent person I've met yet has never developed any resistance. He also mistakes his degree from the Beauticians Academy for a medical diploma.
Fortunately since he's my best friend I can just tell him to STFU.
-
Took the flu shot twice in the past 5 years, caught the flu both times I took it.
I'm one of the unlucky ones I guess.
My doc dosen't flinch anymore when I say "no thanks" and says well I offered it to you in case you change your mind.
Never had the flu before taking the shots and none after stopping them.
Guess I am one of the lucky ones there.
-
I get the flu shot every year, and every year I don't get the flu. ;)
Thanks for the reminder, Ray. I'll call my clinic today and see if they are giving them yet.
Daniel
-
I didn't mean to imply that I got the flu from the shot. I just find it an odd coincidence. ;) I was remiss in not stating that better. By all means, I think most poz people probably should get the recommended flu shot.
As to the prior 25 yrs of my life, I have only had the flu twice (and have no clue as to whether I had flu shots as a kid or not). I haven't had strep throat again since my tonsils were removed when I was 14. The only other health problems I've ever had were HIV-related (PCP and thrush), with <300 tcells for the last 15 yrs.
I've just always been super-sensitive to meds in general and have had some sort of side-effect to most meds (Hives or throwing up mainly). I'm hard pressed to even take Tylenol (which I take because I'm deadly allergic to aspirin). This is the reason adherence to HIV meds has always been so hard for me. Barfing every day is not what I call "quality of life". As it is now, my doctor has worked with me to get a regimen on which I only puke about once a week, so I've been able to finally stick to this batch of meds for three yrs. ;D
mikie
(who suffers with some hay fever occassionaly, rather than trade those symptoms for Hives from the antihistimines)
-
My GP at the Social Security is obsessed with giving me vaccines. I am being re vaccinated for Hep A and B (second dose) , tetanus, and flu the 3rd of October.
-
My GP at the Social Security is obsessed with giving me vaccines. I am being re vaccinated for Hep A and B (second dose) , tetanus, and flu the 3rd of October.
That's not "obsessive" honey, that's standard. Everyone should ALREADY have had some of those regardless of HIV status. If not, you should have gotten them when you were first diagnosed.
Your GP should also monitor the Hep A and B stuff later on as sometimes the vaccination needs to be redone/boosted. I think tetanus last 10 years but I'm too lazy to look it up.
People with HIV should also receive a yearly tuberculosis skin test. There's also a pneumonia shot that I believe is given once and then maybe a 2nd time several years later. I'd ask about that one too. Maybe someone here can weight in.
-
Every year I get that jab... I still get worried with all the tourists that come out here and sneeze in my face etc, other staff who I asked, who did not get the shots, usually get sick at least once during the winter. Not me, not yet...
Eric
-
Thanks for the reminder Ray, is it really a year since my last jab?
Cant believe how fast this year has gone!!!
-
There's also a pneumonia shot that I believe is given once and then maybe a 2nd time several years later. I'd ask about that one too. Maybe someone here can weight in.
I believe you are referring to the Pneumovax vaccine that should be given every 5 yrs to HIV+ folks.
I will definately be getting my flu shot -- as soon as I find a clinic.
Mike
-
I believe you are referring to the Pneumovax vaccine that should be given every 5 yrs to HIV+ folks.
Now there's a shot I'll have to talk to my doc about. ;) Thanks for that info!
Since my tcells have never gone over 300, I have religiously taken my Bactrim, regardless of the itchiness I live with everyday (it orginally gave me full blown hives for 15 days the hot swealtery Aug. I first started taking it) because after one bout of pneumonia and one bout of PCP, I NEVER want to be hospitalized with that again. It was so bad the second time that I checked out AMA to go home to die. But, lo and behold, I'm still here TEN years after the last bout of pneumonia! ;D
mikie
(who's way more afraid of PCP than the flu - afraid enough to risk side effects from that shot ;))
-
Got mine today! My arm is a little sore...hehe. There is an abundance this year so no one should have to go without...
-
Well . . .
I called my clinic yesterday and they said, "Um no. We don't give those until November."
Duh! I should have remembered that. :-\
-
Is there still a bit of controversy over getting a TB skin test every year for HIV folks?
Used to be we would give everyone a TB Mantoux skin test in the left forearm and a Canddida skin test in the right forearm (with the understanding that most folks would react to the Candida skin test). If they didn't react, we would assume that the TB test wasn't really accurate due to an anergic reaction.
At our hospital we don't do that anymore....we just give the TB skin test and sometimes give a new Quantiferon blood test also.
In any case...for the flu vaccine, if you feel sick afterwards, it's not really the flu...it's most likely an inflammatory response to the vaccine itself.
John
-
Is there still a bit of controversy over getting a TB skin test every year for HIV folks?
I still get my TB mantoux skin test every year, at work. It's mandatory. No pay raise until it's done..
Ray
-
Yep, I'm scheduled to get the annual flu "poke" in a couple weeks ::)
-
I'll get mine next month. Make sure you aren't given the live virus shot. Us poor folks with low CD4s need the dead vaccine.
-
There are so many places here that give them ( drugstores, Wal- Mart, local agencies and buses that appear in shopping mall lots) that it is hard to forget.....plus my Dr sends reminders and has a clerk call if you don't respond within a few weeks.......I suppose being on Medicare has something to do with it.....no charge to me !!! He also tracks the Pneumonia shot....I had one two years ago.......I will ask about the TB thing ...he hasn't mentioned that recently...and I have forgotten when I last got the Hep shots....
Nick
-
UGH. Needles.
I've been getting one every year and I haven't had the flu since I was 14. Apparently it's working. My dad had the flu last year and I was convinced I was going to get it because we live in such a small space, but I managed to evade it. I've had a cold for the past couple weeks though that sucks.
-
Well . . .
I called my clinic yesterday and they said, "Um no. We don't give those until November."
Duh! I should have remembered that. :-\
I thought it seemed early too. Maybe its the fault of this damn socialized medicine that the Republicans keep talking about ;D
-
Thanks for the reminder.
Get mine done at the GPs with all the old biddies.
-
Get mine done at the GPs with all the old biddies.
Heehee, me too.
Just got my call up letter yesterday and booked in for the 4th Oct.
I last had flu about 10 years ago and it took me about two months before I was rid of all the secondary infections - never again if I can help it thank you.
John.
-
I had my annual physical yesterday.
Big Sign: Get Your Flu Shot
I got mine.
Slept the rest of the day.
-
I had my 3 mo.'s doctor's appointment yesterday and totally forgot to get a flu shot, but I guess my doctor forgot too. I suppose I'll ring them up and dash in there sometime in the next month, as the CDC recommends October and November as the best months to have it done -- it DOES wear off at a certain point and I'd rather be protected at the height of winter.
There was an interesting finding published Monday in The Lancet about flu shots. Not sure what, if anything, this means for our little group:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/09/25/MN3RSD8KP.DTL&tsp=1
Study finds flu shots do little to help most vulnerable elderly
A team of National Institutes of Health researchers has concluded that the often-touted benefits of flu shots to people over the age of 70 are highly exaggerated - there is no real proof they provide protection to the frail elderly.
The conclusion published Monday in an online edition of the British journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases is unwelcome news for public health officials in the United States who are preparing to launch the annual flu shot campaign.
This season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hopes that a record 132 million doses of flu vaccine will be manufactured for the U.S. market, but the federal agency has been having a hard time boosting the number of Americans who line up for the shots.
Last year, at least 18 million doses of flu vaccine went to waste.
Clearly worried that a study casting doubt on the value of the vaccine might undo years of efforts to boost immunization rates, both the study authors and top U.S. health officials said the elderly still should seek out the shots. The authors confirmed a strong consensus that the flu shots are effective for people under 65.
"There absolutely should be no change in the recommendations," said Dr. Tony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where part of the latest study was carried out. The study's lead author, Lone Simonsen, is a former epidemiologist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and is now a professor at George Washington University. She and her colleagues stressed in their study that "even a partly effective vaccine would be better than no vaccine at all."
Nevertheless, the report underscores growing doubts about how useful the current flu vaccines are for the elderly and provides ammunition to those who argue that more powerful shots need to be developed for the most vulnerable age group.
-
Getting mine tomorrow @ 9AM. My GP is having Flu jab day.
The BBC reported yesterday that the flu shot doesn't work for the elderly. Not too encouraging...
Nov. seems a bit late to start immunizing people.
-
Physicians warned on need for flu vaccine and treatment in HIV-positive patients (http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/308A1741-D997-4091-9F6C-F1F742CA72C8.asp)
Oh read this jabbers:
"Many HIV-infected people will develop influenza during a flu season, even if they have been vaccinated against the disease, say Canadian researchers." etc
- matt
-
I've often wondered if I should attempt to store up some Tamiflu in my rather famous Treasure Chest of Meds in the case of a flu pandemic. You never know about these things.
Plus it's another great way to appease the Gods of Greater Paranoia.
-
Time flies
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080924/ap_on_he_me/flu_season
-
Time flies
Flies by toooo fast. I will be getting mine in the next week or two, through work again this year.
Ray
-
I suppose I should make an appointment to go get one. I can't believe it's time for that again. :P
-
Next month is when the vaccines start here.
-
I'm ussually one of the first ones to get one at work. For the past 5 years I've shown up at the Employee Health clinic within 15 minutes of them sending out the email. I totally endorse the flu shot!
-
sorry. forgot to not post. apologies.
-
People with HIV should also receive a yearly tuberculosis skin test. There's also a pneumonia shot that I believe is given once and then maybe a 2nd time several years later. I'd ask about that one too. Maybe someone here can weight in.
Oh shit.
I knew I forgot something. I was supposed to have a TB test done because three of my clients are have been diagnosed with TB
I am getting bad about keeping up with my pokes and prods.
HUGS,
Mark
-
I swear Jeromy and I just had the flu the last two weeks. It came out of nowhere and hit hard making us both bed ridden/chills/fever/unable to breathe and headaches.
We both have doc appointments on Monday though so I'll be asking about both the shot and the tamiflu just in case.
-
Well the flu shot is not if? its when? My office is scheduled to have their annual flu shot in 2 weeks... I reccommend them to anyone who wants to ward off and or make the possible flu less severe... 20 years... still taking the shot annually...
-
had mine 3 weeks ago when i had my last docs appointment, my doc said it was more important this year as the strains which are active are radically different to last years, so fearless could have a point
-
Got mine.. Dr office is setup so no appointment needed.. just sign in and wait a few minutes..Nurse gives shots.... in and out of the office in ten minutes....DONE....My Dr is aware of the study Matt posted...he has a supply of Tamiflu ready if needed..
Nick