Should You Get A Flu Shot?

My gf got a flu shot the other day and has been feeling very punk ever since. No headache or fever, but she feels terrible and has been both sad and irritable. So naturally I had to web surf and check out what happened.

Click on the title of this post for some comments on the Injury Board. The health column in the Washington Post has some interesting comments. Quite a variety of symptoms are reported by people. As usual, there are some kooky comments, too, but the possibility of getting a shot that doesn't contain the preservative Thimeserol is worth investigating. The fact that the new vaccines use dead virus is encouraging.

The CDC publishes a map showing where flu is most prevalent in the US. Looks like states that voted for Obama have the most flu cases at the moment. :-)

I have never had a flu shot and don't plan to get one. I've never had the flu, either. Nor do I find myself in crowds very often except when I travel. My theory has been that since my immune system is working well, I don't want to give it something else to tackle.

Reading about it on the web, I discovered that the vaccine isn't very effective on people over 70, so that about cinches the deal; no flu shots for me. Of course, the vaccine may not be effective because the immune system in older folks tends to be weaker. So I may yet wind up with the flu some day.

And yes, some of my other physical capacities are in decline, too. Have you noticed the large type font I use here? :-)

PS: Google has unveiled a new service called Flu Trends. They discovered that there is a close correlation between people searching for words related to the flu and cases of the flu in their area. At the moment (11/11), Texas and Nevada are the only states reported with "minimal" flu.