To urge you to get your flu jab…

[sundriftwanderer]

i got flu over Christmas and it’s genuinely been the most poorly I’ve ever been. It hit me out of nowhere on Monday night and I’ve been so unwell. Night sweats, fevers, diarrhoea, the most horrendous cough, sinus congestion, a three day headache. I tested positive on Wednesday (I only tested because my dad had it), but I knew before that I had it.

Im at the point now where I slept until 11am today, had a bath at 7pm and I could go back to bed now and probably do another fifteen hours. It’s been horrendous. I’m hoping I’ve turned a bit of a corner, but I can’t imagine how it would be if I hadn’t been vaccinated.

My dad tested positive on Monday and had to have an ambulance today, thankfully he’s not gone in to hospital but he’s been asleep for pretty much five days now. He’s also vaccinated and I dread to think what would’ve happened if he wasn’t. I think we could’ve lost him.

It’s been awful. Please get your vaccine, it could’ve been a lot lot worse.

The vaccine isn't available where I live. I have tried booking with Boots, Tesco pharmacy, and 2 local independents. They have no slots at all.

Yeah this is true. However a person could catch any strain and be very unwell.

If you say you are an “unpaid carer” of an elderly or disabled person you will be able to get the jab - they won’t ask you to prove it - just say it’s your 90 year old granny or whatever.

don’t feel guilty about lying - I work in this area and I can absolutely guarantee that they will be chucking vaccines in the bin on a regular basis as they’ve been out the fridge too long. It happens in every clinic I do because they bring some out at 5pm and the later appointments are very poorly attended.

I feel your pain OP. I came down with it on Boxing Day and it’s the worst I’ve ever felt. Was sent to hospital yesterday by my GP and found out I’ve now got pneumonia - totally healthy 37 year old who has never even had a chest infection before. It’s brutal.

I hope you start to feel better soon! I’ve never had the flu before and I can’t believe just how bad it’s made me feel. I’m lightheaded pretty much all the time. I think this is the first time in three days that I’ve not had a fever, but it keeps dying down a little and then rebounding back on me

Same here. Dh got it as he is eligible on the NHS. No private slots available locally though.

My dd has had it for almost 2 weeks, she’s 19 and severely autistic, she’s not vaccinated for flu or covid because I can’t physically make her and she has reacted to previous vaccines. She’s had a miserable Christmas, she had already lost a lot of weight due to other medical issues which we are waiting for investigations for. She’s barely eaten for 2 weeks, luckily today she has started eating a few small things. Having a bath seemed to help her a little too but the congestion, fever and cough has been relentless. No one else in the house has caught it (yet) but I am exhausted from looking after dd. I feel so sorry for her, she looks so unwell and it’s going to take a while for her to recover.

Ds was offered it at work (panto cast & crew) but it was a bit late as he got flu in his first week.

Already have as has alot of people I know including all elderly relatives . However be warned...my dm who had the jab has been very ill with flu over Christmas... different strain this year it seems

Pages 19 and 20 of the Flu chapter in the Green Book aka vaccination bible, show eligibility criteria - for asthma, it includes regular use of a steroid inhaler. Just tell them you use a steroid inhaler once a day (eg becotide/the brown one) - in the public vaccinations clinics they don’t have access to your medical records and we are told not to “over screen” ie delve too deep. Nobody I have ever worked with (and I must have done several hundred shifts with 10-15 staff per shift) would really care. We just write “patient states they use steroid inhaler regularly” and that’s it.

to be honest, I don’t know why they are not just giving it to anyone that wants it this year.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6838317b5150d70c85aafab9/Green-book-chapter-19-influenza-28May2025.pdf

I used to use be pride but havnt for about 15 years now. My asthma is much improved, it only bothers me when I do get a cold or flu.

i don’t think we’ve got public vaccination clinics locally. They do the jabs at the surgery or town hall & you get an invite from your GP.

I normally get mine through work but qualified on the NHS this year for both flu and Covid vaccines (and pneumococcal one too) as immunocompromised due to chemo. I could probably qualify other years because I’m a carer to disabled DS but I’ve never pursued it because I get it through work anyway. DH paid for his at Tesco to further reduce risk. Kids got theirs through school. I’ve never (knowingly) had flu and would quite like to keep it that way!

@Comefromaway possibly previous years, but you'd be eligible this year if using a regular ICS inhaler or combination inhaler. So basically anything other than a blue inhaler. And if you go to a pharmacy and just tell them you're on an inhaled steroid they'll give it to you no question as can't access your medical records.

To anyone else saying you can't get it, I'm so surprised as it seems to be so widely available at pretty much every pharmacy - big chains like Asda or small independent ones. Keep trying!

Does it mean the current vaccine is useless if the strain of flue circulating now is different? Or does it still offer some protection?
Yes, everyone who wants the vaccine and does not qualify for free vaccination should just go and have it privately and book as early as possible. Around £20 surely is nothing once a year for one's health.
I don't think many people are aware they can book it themselves privately.
I had mine mid November thinking it should, hopefully, be reasonably effective through December and January. No idea if it does anything. I did have to book well in advance, availability wasn't as easy ad previous years.
OP it sounds awful what you've been through and I hope you recover fully really quickly.

I've never ever been so ill as I was when I contracted the flu. Could barely open my eyes for 3 days or even think about parenting my 1 year old. I get the vaccine religiously now.

I just use a blue ventolin inhaler.

This has definitely convinced me to keep getting it every year. This is the third year I’ve had the jab, and it’ll be something I do religiously now as soon as I’m able to.

To anyone querying about the different strain.

Yes, the virus mutated after the vaccine was created. So there is a different strain which the vaccine will not fully protect you from. However, the vaccine will still ensure that you do not get as sick as if you didn't have it at all. The mutated strain is the one causing most issues, but the vaccine is still very very helpful.

Your vaccine didn’t work and you are urging people to get it?

Try private GP.
Ours had them the week before Xmas.

It worked exactly as it’s supposed to. It’s made sure I’m not deathly unwell

You can just tell them you have a steroid brown one.

However, to be honest having asthma doesn't mean you're at greater risk of catching it, but it may mean that if you did you may have an asthma exacerbation.

As an aside, the guidelines in the UK have vastly shifted away from just using blue inhalers now, and patients should be offered an anti-inflammatory plus bronchodilator inhaler instead. This can be taken either as and when needed (same as the blue but with better & longer lasting effect) or as a regular twice daily inhaler.

If you're needing your blue more than a couple of times a month I would really recommend asking for a review.

I didn't get the vaccine, although I was offered it. Big mistake. I'm on day 17 of flu. Still coughing, today is the first day I felt a little interest in getting dressed, I'm exhausted. It has been brutal.

I'm vaccinated but from what I understand it depends on what variety you actually get as to whether it's effective or not. It sounds miserable, hope you are better soon.

Vaccination doesn’t always stop you getting infected. It usually reduces the symptoms. It can mean being hospitalised but not needing the ICU. Or it can mean you’re unwell but don’t need hospitalisation. It also helps protect others by reducing the spread of infections:

“You have a group of 500 people who have been exposed to an outbreak of a rare disease. Of those 500 people, 490 have been vaccinated; 10 have not. Different vaccines provide different rates of protection, but in this case, let's assume that 98 of every 100 people who are vaccinated will successfully develop immunity against the disease.

When exposed to the outbreak, all 10 of the unvaccinated individuals get the disease.

What about the 490 who were vaccinated?
Based on the assumption of 98 of every 100 people developing successful immunity (leaving two of the 100 unprotected), about 10 of the 490 vaccinated individuals will get the disease—the same as the number of unvaccinated individuals.

Those numbers, however, don’t take into account the percentage of vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals who got sick. Of those who fell ill, 10 had been vaccinated and 10 had not. But the 10 who had been vaccinated are only (10 / 490) = 2% of the individuals who had been vaccinated in the population of 500. The 10 who hadn’t been vaccinated are (10 / 10) = 100% of those who weren’t vaccinated.”

https://historyofvaccines.org/vaccines-101/misconceptions-about-vaccines