Wellness

[3cupcakes]

@Shorty2U  Hope your husband feels much better soon & that you fight off getting it too!  

[chrystaltree]

No one ever said the flu shot was 100% effective for everyone, every year. Most people know that. Also, many many people confuse the common cold with the flu. That's actually one of my pet peeves. People get sick with a flu-like symptoms and assume it's the flu. It's usually a cold. I do get a flu shot every year because I'd rather have some protection than no protection.

[Noel7]

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@Shorty2U wrote:

My husband gets the flu shot yearly since hes young b/c he is severely asthmatic. Well guess what? He has the flu, and he has it bad.

@We saw the Dr. b/c in additon to the regular flu symptoms (which are bad enough), he cannot breathe since he also has asthma it is afffecting that. He had to have 3 breathing treatments @ the Doctor just to get him to breathe OK. (and he has a nebulizer at home). Also we had to go in the back door to see the Dr. (as to not spread germs in the waiting room), and were told the flu got a late start this year.

Yes I know the flu shot isnt 100% but this is the 3rd time hes gotten the flu over the years even though he gets the shot. I do not get the flu shot due to a fomer egg allergy. So I expect I will be next. I hope not. I havent had the flu for 10 years and I dont want it!

He is trying to sleep now. (I am upstairs in the next room on my laptop, and I keep checking on him). He is an otherwise healthy guy overall but it scares me when he cant breathe because as a kid he had a collapsed lung due to his asthma and the flu is making the asthma worse as I said.

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@Shorty2U

Were tests taken to determine it was the flu?

I also have asthma and have ended up in the ER from just a cold, but a cold that brought on a severe asthma reaction.

They never know for sure if it's the flu unless a test done.

I hope he gets better soon, he must feel terrible

[Noel7]

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@skuggles wrote:

Did his doctor confirm the Flu diagnosis with the Rapid Flu Test or the swab?

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@skuggles

Thanks for supplying the correct term

I wondered the same thing.

[Stray]

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@chrystaltree wrote:
No one ever said the flu shot was 100% effective for everyone, every year. Most people know that. Also, many many people confuse the common cold with the flu. That's actually one of my pet peeves. People get sick with a flu-like symptoms and assume it's the flu. It's usually a cold. I do get a flu shot every year because I'd rather have some protection than no protection.

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@chrystaltree-my pet peeve as well...often "flu" is used genetically for many sickness i.e. A cold or viral infection.  Unless confirmed by a rapid flu test as another poster ask, it very may well not be the flu.  There is a nasty virus hitting people in my area right now.  

Also, the flu shot efficacy is not 100%....it could be another strain.  This year they are finding the vaccine is more effective.  And, if you do get the flu after receiving the vaccine, the case is supposedly less severe..  

I would continue getting the flu immunization yearly 

[RedTop]

I am very sorry to hear your husband has the flu, and sincerely hope he recovers quickly without sharing the virus with you.   

So many people just do not realize the impact influenza can have on the lungs.  Eight months after my youngest daughter had swine flu, she was diagnosed with asthma because of damage from the viral infection.   

In this area of southern WV, we are encouraged to get our flu shots in October and November, in order to have the strongest protection thru our flu season, which normally hits hardest in February and March.  One year my teacher daughter, who has asthma, was encouraged by her doctor to take the flu shot in August.   The flu hit hard here in early February, and she was given another flu shot that month to boost her protection.   

The year influenza hit hard here in April, many of those who were hospitalized because of their high risk status, had in fact taken the flu shot in the fall.  That is when I learned the vaccine reacts differently within each of us, based on our immune system, and it is possible for some of us to lose our protection from the vaccine, and increase the odds of getting sick.   

[Melania]

Hope your hubby is on the mend soon, Shorty. 

Do you know which shot you all got? The better of them is the Quadrivalent (4)strain. They have 2, 3 and 4 starins...so in the future if he didn't get it, look into it especially because he has such severe asthma.

[Nataliesgramma]

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@HappyDaze wrote:

Since each year the flu shot is based on their best guess as to which strains will be predominate for the year, there is always going to be miscalculations. I believe either last year or the year before it was essentially useless-their predictions were wayyyy off. And just because a family member gets it, you won't necessarily if you take appropriate precautions. I never get the flu shot but I haven't had the flu for 32 years. 

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Same with me......

[debic]

My daughter was a diabetic with other health issues so they encouraged us all to get yearly shots.   My son got the flu every year that we did.   As an adult he hasn't gotten a shot and hasn't been sick since.   

[LilacTree]

I can't get a flu shot because of my autoimmune issues.  However, I can remember only one time I may have gotten the flu because I was very sick . . . and I hadn't had a flu shot in any of the 20 years before that.

I am scrupulous about handwashing, and wear gloves in public.  I always wear a scarf in a doctor's office that I can pull up over my nose and mouth while in the waiting room.