Flu Shot Before Trip???

Should I or shouldn't I? Leaving on Friday 10/16.

Read that it takes 2 weeks to be fully vaccinated.

 

Why wait? Even a partial vaccination is better than nothing. I got mine last week. While it is early in the US for the flu season the flu actually travels around the world at different times and since LV is an international destination you could be in contact with people who are from areas where the flu is in season.

 

isn't that one of those things you either do or don't do every year depending on your belief/preference?

never heard of someone doing it just for a trip.

 

yup..never got a flu shot and never will...
i'll have a shot of blackberry brandy though..or wisnowka

 

I do it every year and do try and make sure I get it at least two weeks before our annual Nov trip. Our new insurance requires me to go to the doctor's office and then the nurse does it. Stupid that I can't just go to Walgreens, but now I have a two week wait to get into the doctor's office.

 

I do get the shot every year. It is usually when my kids get it - Oct or Nov.

For the past few years, I've been going to Vegas in March. But have switched the yearly trip to October for football season. Just was thinking about it with the trip coming up and the tons of people I will be in contact with like Zoo mentioned.

Will probably just get the shot before I leave.

 

Are you susceptible to the flu? Have you had flu shots before?
Here in Alberta, our flu shots are not available until after Oct 20...
Perhaps check with your pharmacist to see if available and if he/she recommends one, based on your health history
and HAVE FUN in Vegas!

lol you replied while I was typing this out!!

 

If you react badly to the flu shot like my g/f does, then you wouldn't want to get it right before a trip. If she wasn't a nurse (required for them), she would never get it. It has made her moderately sick nearly every time. I'm guessing she is an unlucky person with the shot though, because all her co-workers think she's nuts.

 

I concur. The flu shot can lead to some side effects. I had some side effects from the shot this year and probably won't be getting it again. As vaccines go, it's not one of the better ones.

 

Until a had the flu so bad I wished I was dead, I never got the shot, now every year.

 

How long have you been getting the shot? Is this the 1st time you had side effects? What were they?

I've been getting the flu shot the past several years. And have not had any effects - at least from what I remember. Besides the sore arm, etc.

 

I have never had the flu until about 10 years ago when I took a flu shot ..Sickest I have ever been,,Doc told me I had a different strand of flu bug that they gave me the shot for,,NEVER AGAIN,,,

 

Viruses are nasty little buggers. Eventually, with the right antigen shift, we'll get a repeat of the Spanish Flu disaster.

 

I would get the flu shot -- Sickest I have ever been in a long time was 2 years ago Las Vegas October trip. 5 nights 6 days. My husband started feeling sick about 2 days after we got there and spent the last 2 days sick as a dog with fever, cough, chills -- he stayed in bed most of the time. I literally started feeling ill on the way to the airport going home. The next day we both were sick and my husband and i both went to the doctor and got started on antibiotics - The day after that I had to take him to the ER and he was admitted overnight to the hospital for pneumonia. I ended up with a fever of 104 for a couple of days (it went up and down with Tylenol and Motrin)

Neither of us had the flu shot - I normally get one every year - pretty much mandatory at my hospital - but the vaccines were delayed and not out yet. Last year we had to transfer several very ill patients out to the big city for pneumonia and respiratory failure due to influenza -- the common denominator is none had the flu shot in years -- one extremely young man in his 20s never had a vaccine in his life -- because that is the way he was raised -- he later died. We had many people who tested positive for the flu who had the vaccine -- but they did not get as sick as those who had not had the vaccine.

It may not stop you from getting the flu, it can offer you some protection and help you recover faster. I was not a big believer in the vaccine - until the last 2 years. -- It convinced my husband to get the flu shot last year - and he will again this year. I always try to get my flu shot when I will be off for a couple of days. I usually run a low grade fever and get joint pain after -- that is a side effect and not the flu -- The true flu is high fever -- like 102 fever, joint pain everywhere, cough etc. Many mistake a cold or a GI bug for the flu.

 

Same here, never had one in my life and haven't had the flu in a good 20+ years.

 

I get flu shots pretty regularly. I do prefer to not get them right before traveling, though. We already had them through work this year but in the past, if my trip was really close, I would wait til after. Every now and again I may feel achey or have a little headache after a shot, but nothing more serious than that.

 

You're a bit late for immunity by this weekend. Typically it takes about 2-3 weeks for your immune system to build up and until then you're still susceptible.

For many of those so-called side-effects, they can actually be an existing subclinical infection. When you get the flu shot, your immune system shifts its attention to it and what was to that time asymptomatic then flares up. I've heard this is typically far worse with the high-dose "senior" shot, which I'll probably be getting in a few years.

 

Thanks for the opinions. I decided to wait until I get back from Vegas. I normally get the shot late October/early November anyway.