Wonder how bad the flu season will be? I've already heard, on a news network that covers America, that 12 American Airline passengers, flying to PA from both Munich and Paris, had "flu like" symptoms. Wife and I haven't got our Senior shot yet and wonder if we should get it earlier than we did last year. Last year, she got hers late in Oct and I got mine in the middle of Nov. Since I have an upcoming cataract eye surgery on Oct 3rd, don't know if I should get one now or wait until I recover from both my left and right eye surgeries. The end of that recovery time, hopefully, would be at the end of Nov, at the latest. But, just don't know how bad this flu season will be and absolutely want to be covered by the shot. What do you think?
Can't ask my Dr.. She, my PCP, who is my VA doctor, went on vacation for a month on the 4th of this month and won't be back until after my surgery. I don't have a doctor with my Medicare B. I've read that, if a Senior, for some reason, has to get the shot in Sept., it's ok, but the preferred time is the end of Oct into Nov.
Then get it now...you still have two weeks before surgery. Ive heard a few ladies at Curves say they got their shot. Or ask your eye dr about it.....
My friend , Evelyn, already got her flu shot. I had taken her to Kroger to pick up her medications, and she said that they were giving flu shots at the pharmacy department, so she sat and waited until they could give her the vaccination . Possibly, you could just ask the pharmacy, or wherever else you go to get your shot, @Cody Fousnaugh , and they can advise you the best time to have yours , due to the surgery.
@Cody Fousnaugh, I believe the airline passenger quarantine was due to fear of a specific influenza strain common in the Middle East. I don't think it amounted to anything, but was a precaution, just as SARS was a scare a number of years ago. There is a fear that there will one day be a worldwide flu epidemic like the 1918 virus. Something like that would kill many more now than the 20 million or so that were killed then due to widespread air travel. The problem with that virus however, is that the vaccine may make the epidemic worse as it killed through cytokine activation (I believe), therefore the young and healthy were more susceptible due to having better immune systems.
Funny, but the CDC states that a Senior can get the shot early, as in Sept. and the effectiveness will stay for the length of flu season, but there are doctors that totally disagree. Some doctors state that Seniors should get the shot in later Oct into Nov. I think I will contact my OD, the doctor that referred me to my eye surgeon. I may also ask the Pharmacist I know at local Walmart. I just want to make sure I'm covered for the length of the flu season. If I get it now, it could be too early and the effectiveness won't be as good as it would be if I got it after I completely recover from my second cataract surgery. Biggest thing I have to be concerned about is...…..if someone comes to work where my wife works with the flu and she brings it home while I'm recovering from my surgeries.
I always figure it's a bad flu season if I get the flu. My PCP believes in waiting until October/November and I will get one on my next visit in November. I still get mild cases of what feels like the flu every few years but it tends to pass quickly and I attribute that to the flu shot. Since I've retired and lead a more secluded life it seems like I only get sick after attending a large event with hundreds of people.
My husband and I got our flu shots last Thursday. Here in our City we have already had some confirmed cases of the flu and with our new grandchild about to be born and my help needed for both new baby and mom...I don't want to take a chance of catching the flu during this time. Also last year we got our vaccines almost at the end of flu season and I didn't want to do that this time. I have a tendency when I do get the flu for it to go into pneumonia and the last time that happened it threw my heart into irregular beats. I don't want to go through that again either and at our age we have higher chances of catching both the flu and pneumonia...so we are doing what we can to offset these higher chances.
We both got our flu shot towards the end of Sept. Decided it was better to get it before my cataract surgery than after. I want to be at least somewhat protected during the recovery time from both eye surgeries. Now, I don't have to worry about it.
We get our flu shot every year for the past 40 years or so.. never caught the flu.. This year we are getting ours next week at the local medical clinic.. As a senior, the flu is NO JOKE.. it could be severely problematic getting sick like that..
I think I'll chance another year without a flu shot. I am pretty sure that I had the flu once as a child, but I was young and my mom would have been the one to diagnose it. I remember it lasting a long time and I was apparently pretty sick. Except for my mom bringing me stuff, I was left alone in a bedroom that I usually shared with another brother for maybe a week or so, I'm not sure. I kind of liked the method vaporizer though, as the whole room was a haze of menthol steam. My books were dampened by it. As someone who has eaten Hall's cough drops as candy, I didn't mind that part. Much later, I had a flu shot in the 1990s and was sick for three or four days afterward. Although it was legally required, as a paramedic, I ducked my flu shot every year after that. A few years ago, I got the flu. I was pretty sick but it lasted only a day or two longer than my previous reaction to a flu shot so that doesn't sound like a good tradeoff to me. I still feel like I am volunteering for 4-5 days of being sick to avoid a slim possibility of 5-7 days of being sick.
I can remember having what they called the “Asian Flu” , and it seems like I was in 7-8th grade at the time, maybe younger, not sure anymore. All of the schools were closed because so many of the students and teachers had this flu, and it lasted at least a week, maybe longer. I think that I was probably as sick back then as at any other time in my life. And I can remember being in kind of a feverish delirium for days. I was in my bed, and only got up to go to the bathroom, and my mom had all of the shades drawn because she was concerned that it would affect my eyes, so she kept it dark. I was way too sick to read or do anything anyway, so being in the dark was probably as good as anything. I think that it swept across the country, so it might have been the same thing that you were so sick with when you were young, @Ken Anderson . I would not be surprised if more of us here had not had that flu when we were kids, and I think that it must have been around 1957-58 when the epidemic happened.
That fits the time frame. I know that I had some very strange dreams while I was sick in bed, but some of them were kind of interesting at least, in the way that watching a good horror movie can be interesting. I barely knew when it was daytime and when it was nighttime so it's quite possible that the windows were covered. I don't recall that specifically but I do know that I didn't know if it was day or night. So I probably caught it from you. My attorneys will be in touch with you.