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Post by PG on Jan 13, 2018 13:46:53 GMT
Having flu jabs is all over the news at the moment, as the annual "we're all about to die from flu and the NHS has no beds" crisis kicks off. Having had full blown flu at Christmas 2016 (10 days in bed with a temperature over 100 all that time, touching 104 at peaks), this year we both went to Boots, paid our £10 and had the jabs. So far, so good.... We've had colds, but nothing worse.
The restrictions for who can get a jab on the NHS are quite restrictive and £10 is not really that much in the great scheme of things so maybe this is an area where a private approach is right (shock horror....)?
So, who has had a jab?
When I worked for a medical computing company in London (1990), one of the founders was an ex GP. He gave (financially and literally) everyone in the company (200 people) a free flu jab every year. And if you refused, there went your bonus if you went off sick with flu. But I see that some NHS trusts have really poor flu jab rates amongst staff. Is it too much to ask that all critical staff have a flu jab as part of their job? I don't think so.
If you are healthy and reasonably fit, flu should not kill you - well unless we get a 1918 style pandemic that killed more people than the 1914-18 war - but having had it, I would not recommend it to anyone. And you can quite see how it kills the young, old or infirm.
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Post by johnc on Jan 13, 2018 14:44:08 GMT
I get it every year. January is 7 day a week working and I can't afford to be sick or pass anything else around the office. I tend to live off adrenalin for the whole month and then get a cold and feel lousy just as we get in to February as I relax!
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Post by Boxer6 on Jan 13, 2018 14:45:37 GMT
Having flu jabs is all over the news at the moment, as the annual "we're all about to die from flu and the NHS has no beds" crisis kicks off. Having had full blown flu at Christmas 2016 (10 days in bed with a temperature over 100 all that time, touching 104 at peaks), this year we both went to Boots, paid our £10 and had the jabs. So far, so good.... We've had colds, but nothing worse. The restrictions for who can get a jab on the NHS are quite restrictive and £10 is not really that much in the great scheme of things so maybe this is an area where a private approach is right (shock horror....)? So, who has had a jab? When I worked for a medical computing company in London (1990), one of the founders was an ex GP. He gave (financially and literally) everyone in the company (200 people) a free flu jab every year. And if you refused, there went your bonus if you went off sick with flu. But I see that some NHS trusts have really poor flu jab rates amongst staff. Is it too much to ask that all critical staff have a flu jab as part of their job? I don't think so. If you are healthy and reasonably fit, flu should not kill you - well unless we get a 1918 style pandemic that killed more people than the 1914-18 war - but having had it, I would not recommend it to anyone. And you can quite see how it kills the young, old or infirm. Obviously I can speak only for my own wee bit of the NHS, but in our case (Greater Glasgow & Clyde) the take-up rate this year was somewhere around 38%. I believe they broke the stats down further, e.g. admin, nursing, medics, management etc, and the poorest take-up was front line staff. In other words, the people who do the actual hands-on caring. On the day I went for mine, (taking a brand-new colleague with me, so he would know where to go next time - ha!) 14 people turned up for their jags, but the team administering them had run out! At least one nurse there said she'd essentially given up her lunch break to traverse the hospital site in order to get this done, but she said she probably wouldn't do that again. Can't really say I blame her. In the end, we went to another hospital about 10 days later, but that meant there were two nurses effectively out of action for about 2 hours - hardly "effective and efficient working *", is it? * = latest management buzzwords round here. |
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Post by LandieMark on Jan 13, 2018 16:14:51 GMT
I’m in the “at risk” group so get it every year free of charge. I’ve taken every time too. Not had the full blown flu, but I’ve had all the symptoms other than a fever over the Christmas period. 😡
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Flu jabs
Jan 13, 2018 17:06:26 GMT
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Post by michael on Jan 13, 2018 17:06:26 GMT
The NHS really needs a major rethink into the way it’s funded and things like a flu jab being delivered by private providers at a direct cost are fine with me. People tend to have more respect for a service when they have to pay for it which is likely one of the reasons some people phone 999 for plasters.
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Post by LandieMark on Jan 13, 2018 17:13:24 GMT
The NHS really needs a major rethink into the way it’s funded and things like a flu jab being delivered by private providers at a direct cost are fine with me. People tend to have more respect for a service when they have to pay for it which is likely one of the reasons some people phone 999 for plasters. I would quite happily pay for it TBH. |
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Post by johnc on Jan 13, 2018 17:38:13 GMT
It cost us about £17 each I think, at Boots.
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Post by Boxer6 on Jan 13, 2018 17:44:19 GMT
I’m in the “at risk” group so get it every year free of charge. I’ve taken every time too. Not had the full blown flu, but I’ve had all the symptoms other than a fever over the Christmas period. 😡 Likewise. My consultant told me my immune system would be below par for the rest of my life due to the chemo and recommended the annual flu jag, which I've had every year bar one; and got the flu, albeit a relatively mild case. This year, I started with flu-like symptoms on NYE, and it's been with me ever since. So bad in that first week (everything bar fever, as you say) I took the 3 days after New Year off sick! Main issue now (and for Herself as well, who's had it even longer than me!) is a persistent tickly cough; thought it was on its' way yesterday actually, but it's back with a vengeance this evening.  |
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Post by LandieMark on Jan 13, 2018 17:47:26 GMT
I’m in the “at risk” group so get it every year free of charge. I’ve taken every time too. Not had the full blown flu, but I’ve had all the symptoms other than a fever over the Christmas period. 😡 Likewise. My consultant told me my immune system would be below par for the rest of my life due to the chemo and recommended the annual flu jag, which I've had every year bar one; and got the flu, albeit a relatively mild case. This year, I started with flu-like symptoms on NYE, and it's been with me ever since. So bad in that first week (everything bar fever, as you say) I took the 3 days after New Year off sick! Main issue now (and for Herself as well, who's had it even longer than me!) is a persistent tickly cough; thought it was on its' way yesterday actually, but it's back with a vengeance this evening. Half the village have had it. It’s been a nasty one, for sure. We’ve had it on and off for a month. I feel a lot better, but not 100%. Stuffy sinuses and a persistent cough still lingering. It’s the tiredness that was the worst though. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2018 20:51:10 GMT
I get it every year. January is 7 day a week working and I can't afford to be sick or pass anything else around the office. I tend to live off adrenalin for the whole month and then get a cold and feel lousy just as we get in to February as I relax!  Haha! That's the same for me. I don't get sick until I have some leave booked.....it's almost as if I keep going till I know I can relax.....and then get ill! Anyway, no flu so far, fingers crossed. |
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Post by Roadrunner on Jan 13, 2018 21:00:02 GMT
Eleanor is officially 'at risk' so she, as well as the rest of the household, all get a jab free of charge.
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Post by Alex on Jan 14, 2018 9:51:03 GMT
I had it a few years ago and due to my mild asthma I can get it for free, I just haven’t got round to it since. I’ve had it bad before though and would very much like to avoid a repeat so I’m tempted to pop over to the surgery tomorrow morning to see if I’m still eligible.
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Flu jabs
Jan 14, 2018 10:14:16 GMT
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Post by michael on Jan 14, 2018 10:14:16 GMT
I’ve heard it can affect asthma. I know someone who hadn’t had an asthma attack for five years and ended up in hospital for the best part of a week when the flu triggered it.
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Post by Alex on Jan 14, 2018 10:33:39 GMT
My asthma is so mild it was probably a misdiagnosis by a doctor that just assumed all kids with a tickly throat needed an inhaler.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Jan 14, 2018 11:13:36 GMT
I went to get the jab early December but was told it was really too late for it to take effect before the flu season and should have come in earlier. As it happens this years jab only has a 30% effectiveness anyway.
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Post by johnc on Jan 14, 2018 12:28:07 GMT
I went to get the jab early December but was told it was really too late for it to take effect before the flu season and should have come in earlier. As it happens this years jab only has a 30% effectiveness anyway. Sounds like you got a jobs worth! We were told it could take up to 2 weeks to be fully effective so by mid December you would be protected. I've never had flu since I started getting the jab so with a 100% record on a 1 in 3 bet I am off to put some money on the lottery! |
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Post by chipbutty on Jan 14, 2018 15:52:06 GMT
I get a jab for free
I have no idea why, the last two years I ignored the doctor’s letter, but this year after 2 letters and a text, I had it done.
I assumed they had done all the old people and they had some going spare.
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Post by Blarno on Jan 14, 2018 19:57:43 GMT
I had it done once, 20 years back when I went to uni. Never bothered since. Jo gets hers yearly for free because she works in healthcare.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Jan 14, 2018 22:34:53 GMT
I went to get the jab early December but was told it was really too late for it to take effect before the flu season and should have come in earlier. As it happens this years jab only has a 30% effectiveness anyway. . I've never had flu since I started getting the jab so with a 100% record on a 1 in 3 bet I am off to put some money on the lottery! It's this year in particular that the effectiveness has been so low due to the particular strain of flu we're experiencing. It's not the case for every year. |
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Post by Blarno on Jan 14, 2018 23:19:59 GMT
I don't think I've ever actually had the flu.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2018 7:16:36 GMT
Never had one. Only ever had man flu, as far as I can remember.
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Post by ChrisM on Jan 15, 2018 8:48:40 GMT
Never had the jab, had the flu in autumn 1999 and not had it since (fingers crossed).... 5 days in bed with high temperature and feeling unable to move.
I thought that the current push for jabs may be because there are millions of unused doses from poor take-up, maybe due to the mild weather?
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Post by michael on Jan 15, 2018 8:52:27 GMT
The push is to try to reduce the burden on services that a break out can cause. You only need fraction of the population to require additional NHS resource to bring the service to its knees. I don't think I've had it either.
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Post by racingteatray on Jan 15, 2018 9:48:34 GMT
I think I did once have a flu jab years ago. Touch wood, it's been a while since I've had flu. Colds on the other hand... Just recovering from a nasty one that walloped me in the Alps on New Year's Day and had really only just got over the previous nasty one before Christmas that had developed into bronchitis. But definitely colds rather than flu - didn't have the whole body aches that you get with flu.
Just developed a slight sore throat though so hope that am not about to morph straight from Italian cold to Aussie flu without stopping. That would irk.
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Post by Big Blue on Jan 15, 2018 10:33:57 GMT
I've had proper flu once I think, about a decade ago. This winter, as with most previously, I've been pretty resilient. W2.0 has had coughing and sneezing, a raging sore throat for over a week (now gone I'll hasten to add), headaches and body pain. I got a sore throat one evening last week and it was gone by the next day. Buggeration was it coincided with a league match in squash so having won the previous two I dropped this one on account of my already-lazy style not being backed up by any kind of ability to move to the front corners (for those of you that play the game I'm that arsehole that just stands on the T and watches opponents run around - my league position is determined more by my lack of running than my shot capability).
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Post by Roadrunner on Jan 15, 2018 13:05:55 GMT
Nearly everyone in my office seems to have gone down with the lurgy over the past week and now it is a bit like sitting in a doctor's waiting room. I am eating plenty of oranges and suggesting that all the affected ones move to a meeting room or work from home.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2018 14:28:36 GMT
Proper flu about four or five times but then working in the NHS does bring about a higher risk.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Jan 15, 2018 15:41:53 GMT
I'm not mixing, fastidiously washing my hands and using hand sanitising gel - I've got my hip op next Tues and don't want to postpone that through illness.
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Post by humphreythepug on Jan 15, 2018 16:37:19 GMT
Never had a flu jab, I have been grim though since Christmas eve and even took a day off between Christmas and new year but it wasn't flu, I think it was a mild dose of what has been going around this Christmas, generally I'm very healthy and don't get things.
I have had flu once; well over a decade ago, my god it was horrible, anyone who says "I have flu" and has nothing more than a sniffle and maybe feeling a tad grim, just hasn't a clue what real flu actually is.
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Post by alf on Jan 15, 2018 17:49:23 GMT
I had the jab as I was diagnosed with Asthma this year after becoming increasingly wheezy after cycling or running - I've clearly had it a long time as my breathing has never been this clear at night and so on. I thought wheezing and pain and a blood taste was a standard part of cardio exercise but apparently not!
Anyway I still got this bug that has been going round, nothing like as much of a head cold as I usually get but a cough that stopped me cycling/running for nearly 3 weeks, in December. I was feeling sorry for myself wondering if all my colds would be like this now, but then half the people I know - without Asthma - got it and were much the same, coughing for weeks, and in many cases properly ill with fevers and so on. Lu got it the same as me - light cold, one night of fever, then weeks of cough.
I too have had "proper flu" once and am loathe to call what I had this time "flu" as a result, but perhaps the jab gave me partial immunity. When you read into it, its effectiveness against some strains can be as low as 20-30%, but maybe if your body has seem something close, it helps...
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Haha! That's the same for me. I don't get sick until I have some leave booked.....it's almost as if I keep going till I know I can relax.....and then get ill!
