Usually I get my flu shot in October. But doctors are warning that the flu season is starting early this year and are urging everyone (but especially “Senior Citizens”) to get their flu shots RIGHT NOW!
For those of you over 65, you should request the “high dose vaccine” which is designed specifically for people 65 and older and contains 4 times the amount of antigen as the regular flu shot. The adjuvanted flu vaccine, Fluad, is made with MF59 adjuvant which is designed to help create a stronger immune response to vaccination if you’re older.
My flu shot cost me nothing (insurance paid 100%). Most health insurance will cover part or all of the cost of a flu shot. I got my flu shot at my neighborhood Rite-Aid. Have you gotten your flu shot yet? Do you plan to get a flu shot?
I have a routine visit with my sexy doctor on the 2nd! I’ll get one then.
Bob, you and Stilwell know how to pick’em.
Got mine already. Need tom get my pneumonia one as well. When I was in the hospital fall of 2015 I got double pneumonia while there as well as a mercer infection. Was there 3 months. Being in the hospital was more unhealthy than being home.
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Steve, several of my friends got sicker in the hospital just as you did. Too many viruses and cooties! Diane and I got both the pneumonia shot and the booster.
I usually get mine during early October: we have a staff work day (no students) at the end of the first quarter and generally the schools will arrange with the local Walgreens to come on campus and provide the flu shots free. I always get one. Also, I’ll be 60 in a couple of weeks, so will also be getting a shingles shot (insurance doesn’t cover it until you’re 60, so I’ve just been hiding my time and hoping I don’t have an attack until I can get the shot).
Deb, those shingles commercials freaked Diane and me out! We both got the shingles shot. One of Diane’s friends, a former teacher, has gotten shingles THREE TIMES! Yet her crappy insurance won’t pay for the shot!
We will get it at the doctor. Last year we also got pneumonia shots and the shingles vaccine, though the doctor ran out of the latter after Jackie got hers and I had to get mine at Walgreen’s. My mother had shingles twice in her life and had a bad time. Like George and Diane, Jackie was freaked out by the commercials.
Then, of course, we went to Florida and Jackie supposedly got pneumonia anyway, though our doctor (and both of us) was pretty sure it was really bronchitis, something she is prone to getting. It cleared up way too fast to have been pneumonia, and the symptoms were typical of bronchitis.
We also had tetanus shots last year, for the first time in decades.
Jeff, I think I’m due for a tetanus shot the next time I see my internist in early December.
Nice picture, by the way. It looks like one of Stilwell’s cardiac nurses.
Jeff, I wish Art Scott and Steve Stilwell were coming to the BOUCHERON in Toronto.
Next week.
Patti, my shoulder hurt for a day after my flu shot. Diane told me she was in “low gear” for a day or so after her flu shot. So, there are side-effects.
George, we have flu shots too but I don’t know of anyone who takes it, which explains the annual flu/viral fever of epidemic proportions. In fact, the flu is nothing compared to the wide prevalence of dengue and malaria during four months of the Indian monsoon. I usually treat my flu with rest, home remedies, and homoeopathy.
Prashant, I try to ward off the flu, pneumonia, shingles, etc. with vaccinations. So far, this approached has worked. I haven’t gotten shots for dengue fever or malaria yet.
I get my flu shot every year. I remember years ago, I got sick from the shot, almost as bad as getting the flu. They are much better now. I’ve also gotten the shingles vaccine (mine was free but a friend of mine had to pay about $300 for it). I think I’ve had the pneumonia vaccine, but will need to check.
I also had the test for hep c, and was clear
OT: the crowd at the USC /UT game was bigger than the crowds at the Rams & chargers games combined. The SDSU game against Stanford had almost double the crowd as the chargers game.
Maggie, ESPN reported that the attendance at the Rams and Chargers games was “dismal.”
My doctor told me this summer to wait on my flu sit until early November, as it’s expected the season may last longer (as opposed to start sooner). I’m checking with him again. I get the high-potency shot at Walgreens. Medicare pays for it. I got the Shingles shot last year. The pneumonia shot is a 3 year, not an annual.
Rick, I wonder if there will be shortages of the flu vaccine in the months ahead.
George, thanks for reminding me – though my doc will probably ask me too when I visit him in October to get my pills for the next quarter.
I’ve taken the flu shot regularly during the last 10 years at least on his recommendation – he administers it and the social insurance in Germany of course pays for it.
PS:
“Shingles” I had to look up – in German that is “Gürtelrose” which I’ve never had luckily and afaik shots for it aren’t usually done in Europe as a prevention, but I’ll ask my doc.
PPS:
My wife doesn’t like these shots – she has often fainted when getting a shot it seems, but they say that if all your family has had it shots then you’re almost safe …
Wolf, anyone who has had chicken pox will have the shingles virus lurking in their bodies. Older people are more prone to shingles.
What we “regularly” get is Herpes on the lips – my wife has it at least once a year under stress and after maybe eating soomething wrong…
I’m kind of lucky, get it about once every five years, often with/after a severe cold.
But in both cases it’s more a kind of irritant, gone after a week!
I was the first one to reply and did it last night but it’s still “awaiting moderation!” I’d prefer you let my remarks go without the moderation from now on. If the phony Cap’n shows up zap him with a death ray.
Bob, sorry for the delay. WORDPRESS puts your comments in the “awaiting moderation” queue automatically. I’ll try to liberate your comments more quickly in the future!