To ask if the flu jab actually does anything?

I didn't get it because I'm scared of needles. Then I got flu. I get it every year now, without fail.

If you'd had flu you wouldn't hesitate having the vaccine in future. You feel like you're dying. It's not a cold.
Every year the vaccine is made to target the most likely strain of flu to cause an epidemic that year.
It's not just yourself you protect, but also more vulnerable people you might come into contact with.

I had flu for the first time when I was 29. It's nothing like a cold, and it's so much worse. When I eventually had it, I understood how people can die from flu. Just take the jab, because flu is horrific.

We don't see nearly as much flu as there used to be when I was young and I presume its down to the jab. I haven't had flu for years and I'm happy to never have it again . I honestly would have been happy to die and it took weeks to really recover and I was young and fit then .

It might stop you or a loved one dying! Do you know that people die from it every year don't you???

We have paid for DH to have it privately in predicted bad years - as house full of asthmatics.

Unfortunately our GP never been great with kids and flu vaccinations - it was a relief when schools started doing them - but when they hit 16-17 years old they are not at school but college and our attempts to get them done at local chemists have been hit and miss - they need extra training to give injections in that age range and even making it clear when booking several times got there and the staff member who can do it isn't there.

Flu is awful. My mum had it the only year she didn't have the jab. You can't physically stand, are sick and literally bed bound for 2 weeks. I noticed she never missed the jab and hasn't had it again. I make sure I had it too.

I also get flu jabs through work. One year I didn't get it because I was on maternity leave and I caught the flu. Spent 3 days unable to get out of bed.

The flu vaccine ‘works’ against the specific strain it is developed for. It will not be effective against a ‘cold’ virus, still less reduce the effect of any influenza you have contracted. When it works , it stops you getting that strain of flu.

The nonsense promulgated about the Covid vaccine somehow ‘reducing the effect’ (how would anyone know how ‘bad’ it would have been?) has a lot to answer for.

Most people who are infected with flu are asymptomatic. The jab will help lessen your symptoms should they develop and will help protect others. Have it or don’t have it - lots of good reasons to do it, but obviously it’s a matter only for you.

Like a lot of posters I started getting a flu jab after having flu one year. It came on so fast that I was fine at lunchtime and by half way through lesson 3 which was approx 40 minutes later I had the shivers by the time I got home I just managed to get into bed before I passed out.
I'm not surprised that other sufferers thought about dying, I was so ill I lost whole days.
Only time in my life I was too ill to phone in sick to work.
Every year lots of people die in the UK from flu. I myself prefer not to dice with death.
I work with lots of young people who don't have vaccinations, I notice their sickness rates are higher than mine.

I believe I have only had flu once (not tested) and that was about 30 years ago. It was horrendous and I would hope to avoid it again if I possibly can, or minimise the possibility of it being so bad.

These last few years due to medical issues I have been entitled to free flu (and now Covid) vaccines annually. I have them both booked for this Friday. DH gets his paid for by his employer, or if not then he pays for himself at the local pharmacy.

I would say that the flu jab works. Perhaps you haven't had flu because the vaccine has stopped or reduced to asymptomatic?

So does it actually do anything? I don’t know anyone who's had true flu, I'll get it cos it's free but what am I actually getting it for?

It might stop you or a loved one dying! Do you know that people die from it every year don't you???

www.gov.uk/government/news/18000-flu-related-deaths-in-past-2-winters-as-jab-uptake-falls

I've had flu three in my life. I'm 50.

The first two times were pretty awful and I remember them distinctly.

The last time - 2017 - I couldn't get out of bed for 4 weeks and had to be carried to the toilet.

I lost my hearing and only partially recovered it and have had to wear hearing aids since.

I've had the flu jag every year since with gratitude as I never won't to go through that again.

The jag decreases my likelihood of contracting flu, and reduces the impact if I do.

The flu is not a heavy cold. It's an entirely different virus.

I’ve had flu several times and it’s horrendous. Vaccination is well worth it to me. Yes I’ll still get colds, which are caused by completely different viruses, and yes it’s possible that there will be a flu strain this year that isn’t covered by the current vaccine. But it’s still worth it, because I can reduce my risk of being really quite ill by having one jab.

Dh had flu when he was in his mid-20s. Incredibly fit, ran marathons, never caught colds. It floored him completely, he had such a high temperature at one point he was hallucinating and needed an inhaler for months afterwards. The flu isn't just a bad cold, it's its own terrible virus.

Flu can make you horrifically ill at any age. The worst I experienced was when I was 19.

So you get a jab and you don't get flu, and you're wondering if you should stop the jab? I mean the logic here...

Flu is much more likely to kill at older ages than in healthy 20s - in fact does kill many every winter and in fact all year round.

Full blow flu is unpleasant at any age but how serious it is likely to be is massively affected by age.

Age is irrelevant

It's not - it why the NHS gives free flu vaccinations to people over 50 (I think now) and with underlying health condition because flu is more serious in them.

Flu can be unpleasant at any age but age and underlying condition make hospital admission more likely.

They've recently started to give school kids flu vaccinations because they were a huge transmitting vector in population - ie vaccinating them reduced overall rates of flu and it can be unpleasant enough most parents think it worth trying to avoid.

She is in her 20s much more likely to shake flu off quicker and avoid complications - not guaranteed but her immune system is at peak condition so for flu around currently and her likely exposure in past it is much more a nice thing to have than for older people.

Fact she being offered it for free and she is run down suggest having may be best for but it's not as clear cut as it is for someone over 65 where it is very clearly in their best interests.

I was 22 when pregnant, we were both 32 when DH infected the household with flu 🙃age is irrelevant

I had flu once when I was pregnant with my DS and I couldn't remember a lot of the week I spent hooked up to an IV in our local hospital.
The second time I got it was after my DH did (from work). He ended up developing complications (ended up hospitalised), luckily I wasn't as bad (I had received my jab that year). Both times were worse than covid.
I get quite a lot of infections. Flu is by far the worst thing I've caught.

Age is irrelevant. I had real flu at 22 and it's still the worst illness I've ever had. I'm now in my 70s. I really wanted to die. I was unable to look after myself at all and couldn't get to the loo except by crawling on the floor. Telling OP that it won't be bad because of her age is totally wrong.

A cold is NOT just mild flu! People who seem to keep insisting it is are bloody ridiculous.
You cannot contract flu but only experience a cold. That's not a thing.

Yes it is. You can contract flu and experience everything from being completely asymptomatic through mild symptoms to severe symptoms to death (same as covid in thst way.) I have never knowingly had flu, but I have a fairly strong immune system, so I could easily have had it unknowingly. (When I had glandular fever, I had it far more mildly than two friends who had I at the same time.)

A cold is not just one disease - it might be a rhinovirus or a coronavirus.

Most people won't know exactly which disease they have without testing and generally, we don't test for flu.

Many, many diseases start with "flu-like symptoms" - if it's only mild symptoms, you're unlikely to find out exactly what, unless there is other relevant information, like having recently travelled in the tropics, which probably will inspire more medical attention, or if you are clinically vulnerable and it's worsening.

I've never had flu and I'm 43! I have had the flu jab when I was pregnant and when work paid for it though.
I just think you might as well protect yourself, just because you haven't had flu it doesn't mean you won't get it.
It's unlikely to make you very ill at your age but it's not exactly pleasant and the more people are vaccinated the less older people will end up getting it and dying

I've been getting jab since late 20s. Never had flu. The one year I cancelled my appointment to do something else and never got round to rebooking I got flu and it was horrendous. Could hardly eat. Was in bed for 2 weeks then weak afterwards for weeks. I'm self employed so lost loads of money. I make sure I book it early every year now. And yes I sometimes get a bit of a reaction - it's not a live vaccine but provokes your immune system to respond. Other years I've had a dead arm for a few days but anything is better than the year I got flu.