This MSNBC article highlights the risks of this year's flu season, and as part of the immuno-suppressed population, I can't help but have a position on this sometimes controversial issue.
I've seen a lot of information online about how the flu shot isn't effective (or that it can cause the flu), and I'm not a medical expert, so I'm not even going to get into that. But I do feel pretty strongly that we should follow the advice of our medical experts (when it's logical), and my doctors at University of Chicago and Northwestern insisted on the importance of the flu shot.
I am sometimes suspicious of advice from pharmaceutical companies, and I often doubt my doctors and do my own research or seek second opinions. I am a supporter of questioning things that seem like facts. But given the information out there from the CDC--and the unverified research that counters it--this one seems like a no-brainer.
I've known people who have gotten the flu shot and got it anyways. I've read some where that there's a lot of mercury in the flu shot, so I don't understand how they want pregnant women to take it. But I think everyone should do what they feel comfortable with.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, to each her own. But in regards to the mercury, I have to hope that most OB's would administer the thimerosal-free shot (the single dose vials): http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/thimerosal.htm
DeleteDefinitely worth verifying with the doctor! Thanks for the reminder!