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Flu Shot, Yes or No?

© Traute Klein, biogardener

Should you get a flu shot or not? Let's look at the background so we can make an informed decision.

The Question of Flu Shots

In November 2003, someone posted the following question in this topic:

I just got my very first flu shot ever and I have felt horrible ever since. I have the worst body aches imaginable, fever, and chills. My glands are swollen and my throat is sore. No nausea at all. My appetite is fine, but I am very, very achy. It's getting worse before it gets better. When I tell people that I think I got sick from the flu shot, they say that it is all in my head. My sister has gotten sick two years in a row after the vaccine. Am I crazy or is this just a coincidence? Keep in mind that I am never sick and had the flu only once in my entire life. I don't think it is a coincidence. If there is anyone out there in the same boat I'm in, I would love to hear from you.

I have added the original question to the discussion of this article. It is the first message. You can link to the discussion from the bottom of this page.

This article is my answer to the posted question. It is based on my personal experience with flu shots as well as on what I my family doctor has told me and what I have heard and read over the years. I am not a health care professional and look at the subject strictly from the point of view of an informed end user.

My Answer

Yes, a flu shot can make you very sick, because you are actually getting a light case of the flu. You are subjected to this light case of the disease to encourage your body to produce antibodies so that you won't be bowled over when that same flu strain hits you later on. In my case, this reaction to a flu diminished in severity from year to year. The first time, I was quite sick for 4 days.

Flu Vaccine Theory

Each flu vaccine starts getting developed three years before it will be administered. The labs which are doing the work have to guess which three flu strains will pop up in three years. Unfortunately, their three guesses have only occasionally produced one correct result. The whole work therefore has almost invariably been useless.

Remember the terrible Asian flu which hit the world with a vengeance a few years ago? Well, many of the people who got very sick, including myself, had been vaccinated that autumn. That vaccination was of no value. We were vaccinated against three strains, none of which were the Asian flu.