The Flu Shot

Everyone has specific memories from their childhood that are guaranteed to put a smile on their face.  One memory that makes me chuckle every time comes courtesy of my grade 7 teacher, Mr. Tisdale.  Mr. Tisdale was the schools coolest teacher, thus making grade 7, one of the best years of school for me.  Mr. Tisdale turned most lessons into some form of a comedy routine, and I recall a certain vocabulary lesson that may seem kind of corny today, but certainly made the 12 year old me laugh.  The word for the day was Influenza.  And the story was about a young boy named Enza, who kept running away from home.  Well one day, Enza's father caught him on the way out the door, grabbed him by his coat, and tossed him back into the house, and...yep, you guessed it...In Flew Enza!

Now as a medic and first aid instructor, I find myself discussing Influenza, or more specifically, flu season and the flu shot every time I teach a class.  Having taught over 250 first aid courses for the Red Cross, with an average of 12-15 students per class, I've gotten around 3500 first hand opinions of what is a very controversial topic.  When it comes to the flu shot, people's opinions range from very much pro-flu shot to very anti-flu shot to those who believe that the flu shot is a governmental conspiracy which contains a tracking device that will tell Big Brother where you are every hour of every day.  For those of you who are reading this and believe this to be the case, you should know I have hijacked your web cam, and am at this very moment using retinal scans to steal your identity. You no doubt have contingency plans in place for just such an emergency.  You should activate them immediately.  To those of you who get the flu shot every year, or find yourself living a lifestyle that is so healthy that your immune system does a great job protecting you from viruses and infections, give yourselves a pat on the back and read on for entertainment purposes only.  For the rest of you, here are my thoughts on the flu shot.

Firstly, it is important to understand that the flu virus can be a very serious illness.  For most of us, symptoms will include a sore throat, coughing, runny nose, high grade fever, fatigue, headaches and muscle aches.  It is important to know however that the flu virus attacks a person's respiratory system and in some cases, usually for the very young or the elderly, the flu virus can be very serious, leading to pneumonia, respiratory failure and sometimes resulting in death.  

The most common rebuttal I find when discussing this issue is that there is a very high percentage of people that believe that the flu shot will give them the flu.  My response to that is that the flu shot does NOT make you sick.  No matter how many times I say this, there are people in the classroom who vehemently disagree with me, and have first hand knowledge and experience to prove it.  It usually sounds something like this.

"I got the flu shot last year and it gave me the flu.  I was sick for 2 weeks."

So firstly, there ARE certain reactions that one can have to the flu shot. These are mild reactions and can include redness or swelling around the injection area and or a low grade fever and body aches. They will last only 1-2 days, and are much less severe than the flu.  For those who really did get the flu after getting the flu shot, the highest probability is that that you had already contracted the flu prior to getting the flu shot. It is flu season after all. And the flu shot does not cure the flu you already have.  Also, it takes about 15 days for the flu shot to take effect.  It is also important to ask yourself, did you really have the flu.  Not all illnesses are the flu virus.  Perhaps it was a common cold or a bacterial infection that you contracted.  Did the doctor prescribe you antibiotics?  Did they make you feel better?  Probably wasn't the flu then.  What is important to understand here, is that there is no way that anyone can be certain that they got sick from the flu shot.  So listen to the experts.  Group studies have been done whereby placebos have been given to half of a test group and the actual flu shot given to the other half.  In all tests, those who received the flu shot spent flu season much healthier than those that did not.  Listen to your doctor or another health care professional.  Doctors and nurses get the flu shot and stay healthy during flu season.

So other than preventing yourself from getting sick, why should we get the flu shot?  Did you know that in Canada, the flu virus is responsible for $1 Billion in lost productivity and health care costs per year.  The average amount of time off work per person is 3-4 days, totaling 1.5 million work days per year.  Of course there are those places of employment where your boss highly discourages sick days, so instead of calling in sick and dealing with the wrath of your manager, you go in anyways.  With offices being more congested due to the high cost of real estate you are likely sitting in a cubicle or working on a line, coughing and sneezing, spreading the virus to your unsuspecting co-workers.  Every door handle you touch, phone you pick up or elevator button you press spreads the virus.  Your co-workers go home, they kiss their spouses and children, who then bring the virus to their workplace or school.  It spreads quickly, and before you know it, you are talking with your neighbor discussing how "something is going around".  Everyone knows someone who came down with the flu.  

So what can you do?  Well first and foremost, go and get the flu shot.  It's safe, it's effective and will do a great job of protecting you and your family during flu season.  Just as importantly, wash your hands several times a day, and use an antibacterial soap or hand sanitizer.  These practices are especially crucial if you yourself are feeling under the weather.  You don't need to call in sick every time you feel a tickle in your throat, but when you are out in the public, don't go around coughing or sneezing on people.  Practice proper hygiene and do your best to avoid getting others sick.  Lastly, don't believe what you hear about the flu shot.  Do you own research.  You will find that vaccines are a highly effective way of preventing the spread of diseases.  Protect yourself and your loved ones and when in doubt, always ask your doctor.  Most of them are truly there to help.