'flu jab'

[L CC]

Flu is bloody miserable, even if you aren't in an at-risk group.  Seems daft not to...

It's never occurred to me to get the jab. Flu's nasty, but if you're fit & healthy it's ('just') another bug. Measles, whooping cough, campylobacter, e coli, salmonella, rotovirus etc etc didn't kill me, I doubt flu will.

No, but you could pass it on to someone more at risk than you, eg. someone who is immuno-compromised. Vaccine refusers never seem to pay regard to the risks to the wider community. Vaccination isn't all about you.

Like who? My fit & healthy children? My (2) fit & healthy colleagues? My fit & healthy boyfriend?

If I worked in a school, or at a doctors, yes, for definite. If I worked in a shop, I could see your point. As it is, I don't actually have contact with many people.

[Nelson Longflap]

I've had proper flu twice in the last forty-odd years.  Very horrible, can't get out of bed, never again nasty. Like most respondents here flu jabs during the last few years have had no discernible effects on me. The only problem is my GP surgery wanting to jab me when I want to go cycling 

[Feline]

I have mine next week (I usually get it at my winter asthma check). I've felt a bit crap after it some years. Maybe I would have felt crap anyway. I will almost definitely feel crap after it this year because I'm working the night shift straight after I get it!

[Kim]

I will almost definitely feel crap after it this year because I'm working the night shift straight after I get it!

My GP seems to synchronise their flu vaccination sessions with the Fridays calendar for some reason...

[Feline]

I will almost definitely feel crap after it this year because I'm working the night shift straight after I get it!

My GP seems to synchronise their flu vaccination sessions with the Fridays calendar for some reason...

They are trying to disguise the feeling-shitness they cause with how you will feel by morning anyway!

[clarion]

No.

[marcusjb]

Never had flu in my life - hopefully that means I'll be alright for another flu season. 

[Basil]

I don't think that we are in herd immunity territory here.  You'd need to be targeting a minimum of 95% of the population for that.  (That's a guess.  Someone will be able to give us the correct figure)
There is probably not nearly enough in stock for that.
The object is to reduce pressure on the health service by protecting the "at risk" groups.

[citoyen]

Flu is bloody miserable, even if you aren't in an at-risk group.  Seems daft not to...

I passed on the opportunity for the jab last year, then got flu and was bedridden for nearly a week, so on balance I'd have to agree that the jab is probably worth any side effects.

d.

[mrcharly-YHT]

In the past I have refused the jab (well, not bothered having it). But now anything that affects chest and lungs turns into a semi-serious illness affecting breathing. Not being able to breath is a real bummer.


No fever from jab, but the (previously invisible) needle mark is now red, slightly swollen with a 1" square of reddened flesh and swollen lymph gland in armpit.

Well at least I know the 'jab' isn't just some distilled water . . .

[frankly frankie]

The object is to reduce pressure on the health service by protecting the "at risk" groups.

Which - judging by this thread - seems to include   yacf   

[clarion]

A disproportionate number of cyclists have long-term conditions.

[mcshroom]

I wonder if that is because cycling is a hobby many people get into for structured exercise after developing health conditions though.

I can't remember ever having a flu jab, I may have had one in school. I've never had the flu either. Unless you really go for a full vaccination of the country then the herd effect is not going to be particularly effective.

I think my exposure to the sewage of the whole Thames Valley for four years probably did more for my immune system than anything else though. It always amazed the HR people at Thames that the waste water labs had the lowest sickness rate of the company and well under a quater of the rate for the office staff in head office.

[mrcharly-YHT]

I work in an office with closed-cycle aircon. No open windows. We moved here from an old converted warehouse; windows open all the time to keep temp bearable, dirty dusty brick walls etc.

The sickness rate went up threefold when we moved to the new office.

[Wowbagger]

I've booked mine for next Tues. We are an "at risk" group: Dez & I are on immunosuppressant and we don't want to infect each other.

[nobby]

no problems here  . had the jab 2 weeks ago no problems 

Had mine yesterday. Herself had flu in the 70's - it was quite impressive - I decided I don't want it so I try to have the jab every year.
As somebody suggested earlier, 'man flu is mush worse' but I can't avoid that and I have it now 

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I think I've had proper flu once, but it might have been a very fluey nasty cold. I was ill for two weeks and unable to get out of bed for the first three or four days. I just lay there, wishing I was dead. But I've had several very bad colds over the years when I've been unable to do anything except lie in bed for the first couple of days which definitely weren't flu.

I don't bother with the flu jag. I react badly to intramuscular injections - the muscle swells up to two or three times its size and visibly throbs and is very painful for a couple of days. It's happened on both occasions I had the flu jag, and it happened with all my Hep B jags. I don't seem to be prone to catching flu, and as there's no guarantee that the strains of flu going around will be the ones the vaccine protects against, I'd rather take my chances than have the definite pain of the reaction to the jag.

[Kim]

The object is to reduce pressure on the health service by protecting the "at risk" groups.

Which - judging by this thread - seems to include   yacf   

A disproportionate number of cyclists have long-term conditions.

It also seems likely that those cyclists are more likely to be the kind who gravitate to YACF and/or Audax.


As an asthmatic with a dodgy knee, the only forms of aerobic exercise I've ever been any good at are swimming and cycling.  They're both well suited to controlling your breathing / power level.  But more importantly, unless you're really careless, they're the good side of the line (well, more of a chasm) that separates 'fun' from 'PE'. 

[Notsototalnewbie]

I just lay there, wishing I was dead.

That pretty much sums up my experience of the one and only time I had proper flu. At points I thought I might actually die, so clogged was my chest.

This year my employer has someone coming into the office to give it to those of us who want it, which is so ridiculously convenient (and free) that I might as well give it a go, despite not being in a vulnerable group.

[clarion]

As a serious asthmatic, I was never really able to take part in organised sport, because my team-mates would not be able to rely on my lungs.

I was advised to take up walking, swimming or cycling, as gentle, aerobic exercise which I could pause when necessary.  I was a keen walker, never got good enough at swimming to enjoy it, and I quite like cycling.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Two days later and shoulder is still slowly swelling. Good for one, these flu jabs

[SandyV]

I have it (free through work).

This year the nurse was incredibly rough - I'm not good with needles at the best of times and nearly went through the roof.

Still better than getting the flu though.

[clifftaylor]

It's never occurred to me to get the jab. Flu's nasty, but if you're fit & healthy it's ('just') another bug. Measles, whooping cough, campylobacter, e coli, salmonella, rotovirus etc etc didn't kill me, I doubt flu will.

The flu pandemic in 1918 killed about 40 million people worldwide, and young fit people were the worst affected......

[Crumbling Nick]

I have had the jab as an asthmatic for several years. Oddly I had not considered cycling to be gentle exercise until I was recovering from the hip replacement.

The nurse said that this year's vaccine had produced much bigger side-effects than usual, e.g. may make it impossible to sleep on that side. I certainly found my left arm more tender than in previous years, but not actually that much worse.

[mrcharly-YHT]

It took 4 days for the swelling and soreness to go this time.

This year's jab has definitely produced more reactions than previous jabs.