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Original poster

To ask if the flu jab actually does anything?

140 replies

itwasnevermine · 03/10/2024 11:31

Started getting the flu jab last year because my work pays for it, it's kind of expected that we do get it.

I've never had the flu (I'm 25), and spent all of last winter with pretty heavy colds anyway. 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?

OP posts:
EBearhug · 03/10/2024 11:47

Flu can be asymptomatic or like a cold - so you could have had it without knowing. You just don't know how it will be next time, and the jab should help lessen symptoms and prevent you from dieing from it.

Precipice · 03/10/2024 11:46

You don't know you haven't had it. The symptoms of colds and flu overlap, while the severity of both varies. You might get a mild case of flu; you might get a cold that knocks you down flat. If you're ill, you don't typically get tested for influenza, but are just left to treat the symptoms regardless of what it is.

gamerchick · 03/10/2024 11:45

itwasnevermine · 03/10/2024 11:33

But I've never had flu in the 23 years before I started getting it, I just find it odd because is flu actually that widespread?

Happy to get it but I've just realised that I don’t know anyone who's ever had flu 😭

Show quote history

Im a kick arse off 50 and have had flu twice in my life. Both times I prayed for death. Think yourself lucky you haven't had to crawl to the toilet OP. Flu can kill you.

I get that you're ignorant but just get the vaccine and thank that there is one

Cobblersorchard · 03/10/2024 11:43

Having the vaccine also helps stop you spreading it to the vulnerable. I get exposed to
it because I work in a uni (goes around like wildfire in freshers) and also have a young child. DD also vets the vaccine. Both of us are unlikely to get seriously ill with it but we could, so it protects us but also protects others.

Original poster
itwasnevermine · 03/10/2024 11:43

Fair enough! Totally not bashing it, just realised I don't actually know why I get it, other than work paying for it - I imagine they pay for it because it's cheaper than having a load of staff going off sick

OP posts:
Alicana · 03/10/2024 11:42

I remember a man who worked with my mum died of flu. He was 50, and otherwise fit and healthy. I always get mine now, and definitely for children!

KrisAkabusi · 03/10/2024 11:42

You and your friends may not have got it because others have got it. Herd immunity helps everyone.

SickOfThisSht · 03/10/2024 11:40

Also to add that the jab can help those around you by reducing the risk of passing it on.

RubaiyatOfAnyone · 03/10/2024 11:37

I should have added - the fact that you (and I) didn’t get it for 20 odd other years doesn’t raise or lower our chances of getting it tomorrow - it just shows humans generally have a poor understanding of probability and risk.

RubaiyatOfAnyone · 03/10/2024 11:35

I had flu once as a fresher at uni.
i did not have the jab for about 10 years after because i was young, strong, healthy, and poor, but since i had kids i have it religiously because i couldn’t look after them with flu. I’ll never forget how ill i was. It was a completely different thing to a heavy cold. If you can have it, the jab is worth it.

SickOfThisSht · 03/10/2024 11:35

The flu jab isn’t necessarily to stop you getting the flu at all, it’s to give your body a head start on fighting it off and saving you from the potential worst effects of it like not ravaging your immune system to the point of causing pneumonia or such like. At least that’s my understanding of it.

You said you had pretty heavy colds last year. What’s not to say it wasn’t the beginning of flu but thankfully you only experienced it as a heavy cold?

tinydynamine · 03/10/2024 11:34

I'm 55, had it every year since turning 45. The one year I didn't have it was 2018/2019. I had the most awful bout of flu, basically bedridden for a couple of weeks, 6 weeks off work.

Original poster
itwasnevermine · 03/10/2024 11:33

SpinninandReelin · 03/10/2024 11:32

You’re getting it to prevent flu - a cold is not flu.

But I've never had flu in the 23 years before I started getting it, I just find it odd because is flu actually that widespread?

Happy to get it but I've just realised that I don’t know anyone who's ever had flu 😭

OP posts:
MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 03/10/2024 11:33

Heavy colds aren't flu so it won't help with them. I get it every year without fail, flu is hideous.

SpinninandReelin · 03/10/2024 11:32

You’re getting it to prevent flu - a cold is not flu.

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