The Flu is by far the worst illness I’ve ever had in terms of bg management, including several that are much worse in other respects. I now get the flu shot every year. It isn’t 100% effective, I’ve had it once since I started getting vacinated, but I’ll take it for whatever help it provides. I take the train to work daily and work near several hospitals, so my risk of contracting Flu is very high. You’ll have to weigh the risks and benefits, but for me it is definitely worth it!!!
Hi Lisey – I always get the flu shot for my two girls, who are 14 & 13. The year there was a flu shot shortage and we couldn’t get it, my younger daughter got the flu & it turned into pneumonia. That would be really tough to battle with diabetes, because children don’t feel like eating when they’re that sick. (My 14-year-old was diagnosed Type 1 on Nov 29, 2010–so we’re just learning also). I really don’t have a problem with vaccines: I have gotten my girls the Gardasil vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. I will do whatever I can to protect them. By the time a vaccine gets to the public, it has been tested & tested. The fears people have about medicine I think are mostly related to drugs that have hit the market before being properly studied for side effects. The girls have never had a side effect from a vaccine, and now children can opt to take the inhaled version of the flu vaccine so they don’t even have to worry about a shot.
I share your feelings. I had flue shot for the last 10 years. In 2009 I skipped the additional swine flue shot because it has been rushed to the market. The reason for rushing it was that the swine flue has some genetic similarities with the deadly spanish flue. Thus they were allowed to use some chemicals in the vaccine to amplify the immune reaction. As a result less vaccine per person was needed. The intention was to have more vaccine for more people ready when the infection rate should turn out as similar to the spanish flue. Really a dilemma for the WHO - hope for the best or prepare for the worst. This time they may have rushed it but should we really complain about that? If the WHO experts think we are at risk they should ring the alarm. For this year I am sure they have not used the questionable chemicals with the combined shot. There was no need to rush it this time. Still I could not convince myself to get vaccinated. But in 2011 I will get my shot. I think my immune system is working as it should - and with good glucose control you can expect that too. But one of the scary characteristics of the spanish and the swine flue is that it can circumvent the immune system of healthy individuals more easily than expected. Thus I think it will be benefitial to have some antibodies ready.
If the flu vaccine caused more harm than good to the general population, it would not be routinely administered. The same is true of the other vaccines that are recommended. I think there’s way more risk in injected insulin on a per capita basis than there is in a flu shot. On the other hand, I am all for people making their own decisions on things like vaccines; I think the decision helps nature to select for the ability to think rationally.
It is reasonable to have a dose of skepticism, however the CDC does recognize bad side effects. And even if you don’t believe their assessment of overall safety, they can be a source of where the relative risks lie. In my view, the CDC tends to be more objective than the FDA which is corrupted as a fee for service agency.
clap, clap, clap. Well said! No flu shot here either!
Guilty as charged! Interesting how my healthy as a horse husband had mandatory flu shots for 28 yrs and the only time he ever got sick was within 2 weeks of the shot. Just a coincidence? Hummmmm
We heal slower, and when you have Type 1 our Immune system is already hampered. So I do get a Flu shot. I have gotten then nearly every yr for 39 yrs.
I think its best to protect him, this Diabetes is New to his little body, and the flu is very hard on all of us.
But in the end it is you his Mommy that has to decide. I don’t think the Doctors are wrong, they do see the ones that get the flu, and know the risks.
Mercola lists additives that are NOT in vaccines. It’s made up to scare people. You may have your reasons not to get a flu shot, but Mercola’s fake list of additives should not be one of them.
Some flus are dangerous if ANYONE gets them. (Bird flu, for example) Others seem to target certain age groups – the 1918 flu targeted the 18 - 30 age group. Naysayers notwithstanding, diabetics DO have impaired immune systems, and if this year’s flu happens to hit young ones, the diabetic young one is at more risk than a non-diabetic. First off, flu can lead to pneumonia, which is life-threatening in itself. Then add in DKA, and you have a child in serious trouble.
There is a lot of misinformation raging about vaccinations, most of it from the fraudulent Wakefield paper. And think about “natural” cures: childhood mortality, when all that was available was “natural” cures, was 50% or more from diseases we no longer even hear about today. When I hear the word “natural” I run like the hellfire, because all those people want is your money. Now that the anti-vaxxers have gained some power in England, TEN children have DIED (and many more have become deathly ill) from preventable diseases because their parents wouldn’t vaccinate them. That’s ten lives too many. When only a few children are unvaccinated, they benefit from “herd immunity” because the diseases can’t get a foothold in the population, but if the number of unvaccinated children rises too high, we are going to see deaths, crippled children, retarded children, blind children, deaf children, etc. because of the foolish beliefs of the anti-vaxxers. Your choice.
I would like to re-frase( sp ?) your question without reading the responses ( to stay unbiased, if possible ) "Is the Flu shot necessary and prevent the Flu ? …I am living with diabetes for 28 years and recall having the Flu prior to diagnosis( NO FUN 
…since the diagnosis ( 1983 ) always had a yearly flu shot and plan to continue . Also had a pneumonia shot several years ago and maybe due for a repeat .
I take Vit D daily .
I am sure , Mom ,you will make the right choice for your little guy !
I would give him the shot and his siblings too to prevent them from giving it to him. When your diabetic you get awfully bad blood sugars with the flu.
I’ve never had a flu shot & most probably never will. I don’t fear dying from the vaccine, but am concerned about long-term vaccine effects. I don’t like shooting up all the chemicals that are in insulin either, but no choice there.
When I was a kid, there were German measles parties. One kid came down with it & parents brought their kids over to get infected. The rubella vaccine came out a couple years later. My mother’s attitude was that getting sick was the way to have a strong immune system.
I took the flu shot last year and this year. I work with runny-nosed, coughing, come to school SICK kids every day. Some of them had fevers, (probable flu, said the school nurse) They TOUCH me, Rub their little hands on mine ( they love their “speech teacher”) and I hand- sanitize all day.
I have not had the flu, not even a bad cold, in years, but I took the shot anyway . I have seen what these newer strains can do( aches, pains. 3-5 days of lethargy, coughs, congestion, nausea, etc. REALLY gross!! I really do not want that type of sickness, if I can avoid it…
God bless,
Brunetta
Kenx, you thought about running for government office, gee common sense would be something neat to hear about there. Plus, think about this, the flu vaccine is created more than 18 months before they know what strain is going to hit. They have absolutely no idea what should be in the vaccine unless they could see into the future. So what you get is worthless, unless they happen to guess right and then they should also go buy a lotto ticket.
I am 56, I have been “D” for 52 years, I have had two flu shots in my life, both more than 7 or 8 years ago when our company gave them out for free. I had no effects from the shot, good or bad. I have also never had the flu, ever.
Oh, and don’t get me going, but don’t you hate it when people you are with at work are out sick for a day or two and come back and say, “I had the flu”. Wrong, if you actually had the flu you would most likely have been hospitalized or at the least been out of work for more than Thursday & Friday. They had a cold in the winter…gee.
OK, I’m going to lay off the coffee for a while now.
The whole topic of mandatory vaccination and what the laws and rules are is an interesting historical topic. In my county, it is required:
Prior to reporting to school, every student entering the sixth grade in Virginia during the 2007-08 school year is required to receive a booster dose of the tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine—if at least five years have passed since the last dose of tetanus toxoid-containing vaccine (DTP, DTaP, DT, or Td) was administered. Students cannot begin school in the fall without documentation of having had the Tdap booster or having had a tetanus-containing vaccine within the past five years.
Historically, the government has exercised some of it’s right to require vaccinations as a way of protecting the good of society. The polio vaccine was deployed without consent, but since then in most cases, as an individual or parent you can decline. But in the case of things like participation in public schools, travel or employment you can and will be required at times to be vaccinated. And yes, these are strong arm tactics, but eradication of things like polio depend upon everyone being vaccinated, not just some people. You may think you are making an individual decision, but by not being vaccinated you can place everyone at risk.
According to wiki, in 1964-65 there was a german measles pandemic in the US with 12.5 million cases. This led to 11,000 miscarriages or therapeutic abortions and 20,000 cases of congenital rubella syndrome. Of these, 2,100 died as neonates, 12,000 were deaf, 3,580 were blind and 1,800 were mentally retarded. The biggest risk is for pregnant women, but the safest time to vaccinate is as a child. I agree with the idea of a strong immune system, and in fact the vaccine does exactly that, generate an immune response that is sufficient to protect you against infection. The MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine came out in the late 60s. It may have been a practice to get everyone sick before the MMR vaccine, but I doubt you would find anyone recommending such a practice today. It is better to avoid the possible complications of getting sick and instead use an inactivated or dead form of the virus to achieve the same end.
Thank you, bsc!!! If you hadn’t said it, I would have. (But not with such elegance and precise statistics!)
I used to teach the deaf, and there were all these poor little children deafened by rubella – in those days, before the vaccination, it couldn’t be helped, but now, it CAN.
Plus the other concept to be aware of is herd immunity – if 999 out of 1000 children are immunized, then that one hold-out won’t get the disease, because it has no place to get a foothold. But if 900 out of 1000 are immunized, two things happen – first, the disease can get a foothold among the unimmunized, and it can ALSO infect those whose immunizations, for some reason, didn’t take, PLUS those who were too young to be vaccinated. So the anti-vaxxers are putting OTHER people’s children at risk, which has been borne out recently in increased illness and death in England.
As far as chemicals, everything you eat, drink or touch is a chemical – if you want to criticize chemicals, you’ll have to be more specific than that.
Nope, she was able to bypass it for religious reasons.
Hi Lisey,
I think one should take all the opportunities given by the government, especially if it prevents your child from getting the flu.
From experience I dare to say that taking a flu vaccination will definitely protect a lot more than when you don’t take it.
Last year I didn’t get one and was sick almost all winter, this year i got one and (fingers crossed) i haven’t been sick yet.
Anyhow, i Can imagine this is a difficult issue!
I hope you can make the right decision for you and your child!