""Those that get shots year after year can end up being in a situation where there antibodies will not be as effective because of your body being inundated with so many shots."



That's not science. If you have an antibody to a virus in your system you will be protected if you come in contact with that strain of virus.

And yes Badger... this is not the place to come for medical advice.... talk to a Doctor when it comes to your health.

BTW... I got my shot... I've been getting them since 1988.

In '87 I was finishing up a drawing (pre-computer) for the night, had about 15 minutes left on it but I was feeling a bit rough... I figured I'd complete it in the morning and messenger it out. Turns out I was coming down with the flu and it took me 3 hours the next day to finish it.

A week in bed, a week to to "recover" and a week to feel like myself.

Take it from me... get a flu shot.. in some cases it can save your life.

This has been another evening of Hyperbole Theater! Thank you, and goodnight!

"Doctors don't know everything..."

Everybody should watch this Dara O'Briain video: www.youtube.com/watch

The key line here: "Science knows that it doesn't know everything. Otherwise it would stop. But just because science doesn't know everything that doesn't mean you can go ahead and fill in the gaps with whatever fairy tale appeals to you."

Vaccines have their risks. Sometimes people die of them. The diseases they prevent have even more risks and even more people die of them. Everything is a gamble. Hell, you could get hit by a bus on the way to the doctor's to get the vaccine. However, with this particular gamble, the odds are on the side of the vaccine.

Can we stop with the trian talk. Please?

*mouths obscenity and kicks automatthew over the net*

I WAS asked.

Just be happy I didn't fully elucidate the cdc hand-washing meathod.

But yea, sorry, catching the swine flu will mean that I will finally get to enjoy my childhood dream of becoming Typhoid Mary.

Amazing how different sources have different stats. You are basing your math on an article that said there had been 12 deaths in Mexico. I ran across this article that is dated a month before the one you quote:

<<The death toll from suspected swine flu cases in Mexico, the country at the center of the outbreak spreading into the USA and around the world, surpassed 150, World Health Organization spokesman Gregory Hartl told reporters on Tuesday in Geneva.>>

You may want to do the math again.

Your article:
<<The Mexican government has confirmed 300 cases, but only 12 fatalities. Combine that with the population of Mexico City, and the odds of catching swine flu are about one in 29,000 and the odds of dying from it are one in 736,000.>>

Math based on 150 deaths as opposed to 12:
8,836,045 (pop. of Mexico City) divided by 150 = 58,906
All of a sudden the odds of DYING from it are one in 58,906, while the odds of contracting Guillain-Barre, for example are lower:

<<But the vaccine concern stems from 1976, when 500 cases were reported among the 45 million people vaccinated against that year's swine flu. Scientists never could prove if the vaccine really caused the extra risk. The CDC maintains that if the regular winter flu vaccine is related, the risk is no more than a single case per million vaccinated.>>

45,000,000 divided by 500 = 90,000.
So worst case is one in 90,000 and you probably won't even die from this.

And more fun with math:
<<Mayo's Poland cites a study in Chicago that found the rate of preschoolers being hospitalized for the new H1N1 flu last spring was 2 1/2 times higher than that possible Guillain-Barre risk.>> And that was last spring. Things are much worse now.

You're right, it's simple. Just make sure you start out with correct information.

www.cbsnews.com/stories/20...46050.shtml

>The odds I'm referring to are the ones I posted.
The odds of a side effect from a vaccine are much higher than the odds of getting the virus in the first place.<

Yes, I saw the odds you posted, none included the odds of getting a side effect nor described what type of side effect you are referring to.
And again, I believe the larger issue is the health of everyone. More folks that get vacinated will reduce the odds of infection. for others that are vunerable to the flu.

"I just do the math, and the math says getting vaccinated for some things is more risky to one's health than NOT getting vaccinated."

The math also indicates that in any population there's a usually a relatively high statistical probability that there will always be people who don't know what the fuck they're talking.

The above statement is a perfectly delicious example of that. Evan, I dare the to show me and others citations to valid epidemiological studies indicating that what you just wrote has any basis in reality.

I'm pretty much sold on the idea that it's better to get the shot than not, especially for my 2-year-old son who goes to a busy day care every day. Unless I learn something that changes my mind, he will get a Swine Flu shot and if there are enough to go around, I'll get one too.

My remaining question is whether or not to give Graham a regular flu shot as well. Kids apparently need two doses of each, so he'd be getting what I've seen referred to as an "unprecented" amount of vaccine...