Does the flu jab work?

[Val_2]

I just wondered because there seems to be a lot of elderly people being hospitalised and/or dying from the flu. Our Parisien friend lost his 84 year old mum on Friday night about an hour after she last phoned him to say she felt ill and had difficulty breathing. She had her flu jab well before the winter,so why didn't it protect her or is this particular bronchial strain too powerfull. Friends here have had it very bad too after getting jabbed well before last November.

[Patter]

in england i always had the flu jab, also have had the jab for pnemonia. i have not had flu when i have had the injection. i was advised to have because i have asthma. this winter, maybe because it is my first year hear, i forgot to have my injection, luckily as yet i haven had flu or even a cold (i had several bad bouts of cold in england). when new strains of flu are around the jab does not always protect you. i am on the understanding that if you have the flu virus when you have the jab, then the jab does not protect you. i have all faith in the jab, and have already made a reminder in my diary to have one at the end of this year.

tricia b

[Dave&Olive]

flu jabs work for the strain of flu that they think is ripe at the time mother goes for hers every year 88 this time and fit as a fiddle  but it gives her a mild dose

              history shows in 1917 more people died of the asian flu than killed in ww1 and it only hit the fittest people. young and old  not affected

               life is a lottery out there

                        dave

[Ron Avery]

I had the flu jab in the UK courtesy of my employer the last two years I was at work, and I had no time off with the flu at all.  Well worth getting if you can

[IAN_S]

From memory when I was in the UK the flu jab is generally about 50% effective, so whilst not total protection is still worth getting.

[Jon 1]

As was said they project ahead to anticipate what the possible strain will be.  However, even if they get it right the flu bug can mutate/evolve in the interval before you are exposed to it.

[GRT17]

[quote]I just wondered because there seems to be a lot of elderly people being hospitalised and/or dying from the flu. Our Parisien friend lost his 84 year old mum on Friday night about an hour after she las...[/quote]

"Our Parisien friend lost his 84 year old mum on Friday night about an hour after she last phoned him to say she felt ill and had difficulty breathing. She had her flu jab well before the winter,so why didn't it protect her or is this particular bronchial strain too powerfull"

 

Val, did the death certificate say that she died of flu' ? perhaps it was bronchitis, pneumonia or other causes. At 84 it doesn't take much to knock the elderly and there could well have been other causes. My MIL has just died aged 85 not from flu' but bronchitis, serious breathing problems and many other complications, yes she had been given a flu and pneumonia jab last autumn.

I am believer in flu' jabs, I have been given one every year and so far have found them effective. (no I am not in my 80s!)

One point, there are a lot of people who will say they have got a touch of flu' when actually they may only be suffering from a severe cold.

 

Stay healthy everyone and take care.

 

Gill

[chirpy]

my docter said if i am genarally fit and well not to have the jab.i am 67 and although had a bad cold last week  i suppose in france it is more easily transmitted as all my locals kiss you on both cheeks (the face) and i suppose if you get it this way it is bad!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sprogster]

Having Doctors in the family I am led to believe that one of the most safe, effective and worthwhile vaccinations is for bacterial Pneumonia, which is a growing problem. (I believe increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics is not helping.)

Apparently,some countries such as the USA are now vaccinating all children for this, and recommending it to all adults. Why children you ask? Well apparently to protect the older population. As many children carry the bacteria with minimal or no symptoms, but pass it on to loving parents and grandparents, who are more susceptible! As a result death rates for pneumonia have dropped significantly in the US.

In the UK I believe, more due to cost considerations, it is only at the moment given to people with medical risk conditions such as Asthma, and even then not always. However, I understand this could change and will probably become a standard vaccination at some point in the future.

So for those who need a Flu jab, ask your Doctor about the pneumonia vaccination as well.

[Happy Expat]

Works for me - had the jab for the past five years and no flu! As others have said it is only effective against certain strains but better some protection than none at all IMHO

 

Bob

[Gyn_Paul]

The 'flu we westerners get is usually Asian flu. It not infrequently migrates from the porcine or avian populations, apparently, and takes a number of months to travel from one hemisphere to another. The vaccine is developed from the prevailing 'flu virus over there at the time, and relies on the fact that even though the bug is continuously mutating, the odds are that its 'shape' will still roughly match those that our antibodies (generated by exposure to the vaccine) are expecting to find.

The more mutated, the less efficient the antibodies are and the more it hits us.

We will have another pandemic just like 1918, with consequences just as serious; the only question is when.

Horrid eh?

paul

[Sprogster]

By coincidence some of the papers today published a story about the first medical study that has been carried out to monitor the benefits of the flu vaccine on the elderly.

Surprisingly, this study in the USA has shown no major improvements in the mortality rate amongst those immunised, compared to those who were not.

Apparently, a number of scientists are now saying that the elderly would be better protected by vaccinating school children against flu.

It is on this basis I believe school children are being immunised against pneumonia in the USA. More to protect the elderly than the children themselves, who have stronger immune systems and can be carriers but show minor or no symptoms.