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Has everyone had their Shingles vaccine?

Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: 6 days ago | Replies (37)
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@janiceem

I've never had a flu shot and I'm 70 year old. I think the last time I had the flu was when my kids were little. I once looked at the effectiveness of the flu vaccines and read that they were only 18% effective, so I take my chances. I did have a friend who died from guillain barre syndrome after a flu shot, so that has been a factor in my decision, as well.

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megz | @megz | Jun 24 9:28am

I was surprised to see that influenza vaccine effectiveness in Australia is said to vary between only 30-60% in healthy people and lower than that in older and/or immuno-compromised people - that's us. They measure "effectiveness" by whether or not a person needs to see a doctor when they get the flu, so a healthy young vaccinated person is 30-60% less likely to see a doctor for the flu than an unvaccinated person. Older people like us would be closer to the number you mention (18%), with a much smaller reduction in doctor's visits for the flu after vaccination.
If I sound like I'm against vaccinations, I'm generally not. But some of them don't do anywhere near as much good as most people think they do, and the risks are always underplayed.

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