May 2, 2009 -- 1:20PM, Mlyons619 wrote:

There is currently no vaccine for H1N1 (formerly swine) flu virus, so getting a flu shot would serve no purpose.

Yeah, I think here we're talking about what we would do if an H1N1 vaccine became available, drawing upon our (and others') past experiences with prior seasonal flu vaccines and with the 1976 swine flu vaccine. 

May 1, 2009 -- 12:28PM, Stardove wrote:

I have only had one flu shot in my lifetime.  After the shot I got ill and remained so for about 2 months.  Since then I have said no thank you.  People like my mother get flu shots every year without side effects.  It is a puzzle.

I have somewhat the same experience.  As a kid, I got flu shots every year.  As an adult, though, I've only gotten the one flu vaccine and that was the 1976 swine flu vaccine.  I've not had a flu shot since, and I rarely get the flu (although I get a cold or other upper respiratory infection once a year -- always in the spring, go figure :-).  But, like you, I know a lot of people who get flu shots every year (my mother included) and they do just fine in terms of both an absence of negative vaccine side effects and not getting the flu.

So I think folks need to make reasoned, informed decisions for themselves.  I don't advocate that no one get a flu shot just because I decline to do so for myself. 

I would be skeptical of an H1N1 vaccine developed in six months; I'm not sure that a safe vaccine can be developed in so short a time span.  But, again, if and when it becomes available, I would be proactive about informing myself and I would carefully weigh the risks and benefits.

I have only had one flu shot in my lifetime.  After the shot I got ill and remained so for about 2 months.  Since then I have said no thank you.  People like my mother get flu shots every year without side effects.  It is a puzzle.

Once a nurse asked me at the VA Clinic, have you had your flu shot (no); do you want one?  I asked her if she had taken the flu shot.  She had not.  I basically said you work with people who are sick and don't take the flu shot, so why would I want to?  This is after the challenges of my only flu shot.

I do believe those with a good or healthy immune systems are most likely not to get the current flu. After being at a meeting at MHMR yesterday, I washed my hands really good before leaving.  I also get a paper towel to turn off the water knobs off, rather than use my clean hands.  Hopefully the trash is also close enough to the door to be able to open the door with a paper towel and then throw it in the trash.  If we wash our hand in a public restroom then touch the facet handles or door knobs, what is the point?

Does anyone remember when a cloth towels as hand dryer were used?  The towel would just circle in the machine.  I cannot imagine that the towels were very good as far as hygiene goes.

I did read this morning on Yahoo where a flu vaccine will probably be available in 6 months for this particular strain of flu.

Edit:  I correct pff was off, and a do needed a does. And I think I proof read.  *rolls eyes*