a fit healthy guy i work with had it recently (vaccine)and it destoyed him for a week.headache,night sweats etc etc…but he wasnt bad enough to take the time off work as he technically wasnt ill…

So…?

Edit: to expand, I certainly wouldn't let that blokes experience put me off. And technically he was ill, as he was suffering from a virus, albeit a de-activated one.

had it about 3 weeks ago and had the winter flu jab at the same time

apart from a bit of a sore arm for 24 hours i was fine no problems

Most definitely would.

slight sore arm for me, no other side effects.

Wife had it last week – as above, sore arm for a few days and slight headache for a day but that was it.

Had it 7 weeks ago and had no ill effects, arm was a lille sore for the night but nout more 🙂

I had both, one day apart and the regular flu jab hurt more.. sore shoulder .. than the H1N1 jab.

I had the swiners a couple weeks back. Felt like shit, but is wasn't that bad. It is only worth taking if you have any underlying health issues or are partiularly young or old. And even then it only reduced the duration of the symptoms, it does NOT make you better!

Waste of time for most people really

And even then it only reduced the duration of the symptoms, it does NOT make you better!

Waste of time for most people really

Surely the point of the vaccine is to immunise you, so you don't catch swine flu at all?

Are you thinking of Tamiflu, which is being used to treat suspected swine flu?

I wouldn't bother. I had swine flu and it wasn't that bad.
Knocked me on my arse for a couple of days then another couple feeling sketchy. Done.

I suggest your colleague already had a bug and his illness was coincidental rather than as a result of the jab. This happens a lot at this time of year.

I had both seasonal and swine flu jabs together about 4 weeks ago, and other than feeling a bit "virally" for about 24 hours and a sore arm I had no side effects at all.

Crustygoods you must be thinking of Tamiflu.

On thursday I revieved a letter (dated 26th November!) telling me I could get one on Saturday morning and an open surgery at my doctors.

I had a ride planned for the following day, so I didn't bother going.

My bad, I was thinking about the Tamiflu.

The swine flu itself although bad, did not kill me, so I wouldn't take the jab.

as a relatively healthy individual i'd rather just have the swine flu, in fact may have already.

The swine flu itself although bad, did not kill me, so I wouldn't take the jab.

Interesting logic. Would you have taken the jab if the swine flu had killed you?

No way! 1) I've never had flu of any kind 2) the vaccine is too recent to have been adequately tested

Given the recent stats that came out showing that it is no more dangerous than seasonal flu, I don't think I would bother. I suspect I had it last week anyway.

Interesting logic. Would you have taken the jab if the swine flu had killed you?

lol

And why would you take the jab if you've had swine flu?

the vaccine is too recent to have been adequately tested

[rolls arround in tears of laughter]
Please ! stop! your killing me! my sides hurt !
[/rolls arround in tears of laughter]

a) it will have done the same clinical trials as anything else
b) how many hundreds of thousands of doses have been given since?

I've never had flu of any kind

Seeing as you just rubbished lots of scientific research into the vaccine, I hardly think the anecdotlal evidence of you not having had flue is enough to justify no one ever having a vaccine against a strain of it?

a) it will have done the same clinical trials as anything else

has there been time for that ?

b) how many hundreds of thousands of doses have been given since?

and how many have been unreportedly damaged by it and dismissed as some other cause ?

I hardly think the anecdotlal evidence of you not having had flue is enough to justify no one ever having a vaccine against a strain of it?

and I never said that, merely that since I never get ill it would be wasted on me :o)

I had the flu vaccine last Wednesday and then swine flu vaccine on Thursday – was offered it as am asthmatic. Apart from a slightly sore arm, no problems to report 🙂

has there been time for that ?

Yep – it's the same base as the vaccine developed for Bird Flu.

Only change is that the actual virus in it is now swiney H1N1, rather than birdy H5N1. They do a very similar process every year when they produce the seasonal vaccine.

If you are fit and riding your bike often you will not need the jab.

I work for the NHS in the maintainace department at my local hospital so i can have the jab if i wish but dont as i feel if your fairly fit its a waste of time and money its really for the elderly and people who are already ill.

If you are fit and riding your bike often you will not need the jab.

How do you work that one out?

It's not about protecting you, you dimwits!
It's about stopping it spreading through communities, about stopping it actually getting to those who are really vulnerable.
you might be fine, but having seen what it does to pregnant and post partum women, I had it as soon as I could.

It's not about protecting you, you dimwits!

so although I derive little or no benefit from it, or even harm, I should have it to protect unknown 3rd parties ?

offered? try working in frontline nhs and see how far one can stretch the definition of the word 'offer' if worried enough about an epidemic! 👿

Oh FFS.

I'm reasonably fit (compared to population at large) and ride my bike quite a lot. I'm also asthmatic. I got a bad cold 3 winters ago that became a chest infection which became pneumonia. I couldn't walk upstairs without nearly passing out my lungs were so screwed. I'd love to be offered it if only the local Health Authority's plans weren't so sh*t that I've been excluded and now they've run out.

But the issue isn't just that it might be a severe illness to me and others like me. It's that if you are exposed to it, and catch it, then you might pass it on to several others. Who will pass it on to others, and so it spreads. Until eventually the susceptible individuals get it, with serious consequences.

The point of mass vaccination is to create herd immunity. Otherwise why not just stop once the susceptible ones are done. If you think the only point is to stop yourself suffering a mild form of flu, you've missed the point.

A lad I work with had it (swine flu) a few weeks ago. He's a big lad who does lots of weights & is built like a tank. He was on his arse for a week & lost over a stone in weight, he said he'd have had the jab if he'd known he was gonna be that bad.

No, you're right SFB. As long as you're OK, we'll take our chances.

I LOVE the government rhetoric that says Britain is well-placed to combat/protect its citizens from Swine Flu, but then rolls out an immunisation programme that take weeks and weeks to touch some of the people at highest risk – never mind reaching the categories further down.

Relatives in one province in Canada tell me that the vaccination was extended to the whole population more than a month ago.

What's up with the discrepency, and why do we put up with such poor showing from our government? 😕

so although I derive little or no benefit from it, or even harm, I should have it to protect unknown 3rd parties ?

Essentially, yes.
It protects all of us, and helps to protect those who are really susceptible to the disease.

Harm? what harm will it do to you? You 'never get ill' right?

offered? try working in frontline nhs and see how far one can stretch the definition of the word 'offer' if worried enough about an epidemic!

I do, I was offered and helped arrange clinics nearer my area for my staff and myself. Then I ended doing interviews the day of the clinic, ironically in a room around the corner from our Occy Health so never got mine.

The point of mass vaccination is to create herd immunity. Otherwise why not just stop once the susceptible ones are done.

indeed, and I happily submitted to a smallpox vaccination (admittedly I was only 8 at the time), but I wonder how big the vulnerable section has to be to justify mass vaccination and the risks it imposes?

what harm will it do to you? You 'never get ill' right?

but neither do I submit to injections, so there might be a connection 🙂 Infection is not the same as poisoning. Mercury anyone ?

and helps to protect those who are really susceptible to the disease.

only "helps" ??

Isn't this similar to the widespread circumscision in the USA which is justified as protecting women, who do not have to undergo the procedure ? I'm willing to be altuistic, but only in the face of clearly established danger and not merely unspecified fashion/hysteria/risk.

No, you're right SFB. As long as you're OK, we'll take our chances.

perhaps if I'm not susceptible I am similarly uninfectious, or do you think I might be Swine Flu Mary ?

Relatives in one province in Canada tell me that the vaccination was extended to the whole population more than a month ago.

and how does the incidence in Canada compare with the UK ?

but I wonder how big the vulnerable section has to be to justify mass vaccination and the risks it imposes?

Thankfully, at the moment, it appears that swine flu is not going to be as bad as was predicted…

However, viruses can mutate, and the best way to get viruses to mutate 'in the wild' is to let them have lots of baby viruses in a number of different hosts.

Vaccination of susceptible folk is aimed at reducing their chance of getting a very nasty disease. In the rest of us, it's aimed at reducing the spread of the virus, stopping it replicating, and protecting others who may not be as resistant.

The plans to deal with a full scale epidemic make very, very scary reading; I'm a very experienced ITU nurse, but the thought of me supervising either a group of nurses who don't have any ITU experience who are looking after properly sick people, or me looking after paediatric patients is one that fills me with dread…

In the rest of us, it's aimed at reducing the spread of the virus, stopping it replicating, and protecting others who may not be as resistant.

OK, I understand smallpox was eradicated in this way. Could the same be done with flu, all varieties, bearing in mind the vaccination would appear to have to be extended to many forms of livestock some which sell for less than the cost of the vaccine ?

perhaps if I'm not susceptible I am similarly uninfectious, or do you think I might be Swine Flu Mary ?

There are individuals that 'have' and transmit swine flu without showing swine flu symptoms, or symptoms that are so mild they may not even be recognized. You might just be the biggest threat to the population that we've ever encountered 😉

(please tell me that justifies preventative culling)