It’s almost flu season, and everyone who is able should get a flu shot.
You might think, “Hey, the flu shot isn’t 100 per cent effective so what’s the point?” Or, “even if I skip the shot and catch a cold, it’s not that big of a deal.” Guess what: You should get it anyway.
Why? First, because you’re wrong — as our health editor Beth Skwarecki writes, “Flu shots work, and are a smart way to reduce the chances that you’ll end up sick this winter.” But secondly, and this is the more important point, this isn’t about you!
If you’re not going to do it for yourself, do it for children and the elderly, as Aaron E. Carroll writes in The New York Times.
Influenza, commonly called the flu, spreads easily. You can catch it from someone who coughs, sneezes or even talks to you from up to six feet away. You can infect others a day before you show any symptoms, and up to a week after becoming sick.
He adds that because the flu is so common, we tend to underestimate its impact.
Now consider this:
There have been a total of 13,189 laboratory confirmed notifications of influenza in Australia for 2019 since the start of March. If you think it’s still too early to be worrying about getting the flu shot, think again.
Getting a flu shot significantly lowers your risk of dying, or passing it on to someone who will die. So if you can’t be bothered to get a flu shot for your own health, then please, think of infants, those with weakened immune systems from illness and the elderly.
“You don’t get immunised just to protect yourself,” writes Carroll. “You also get immunised to protect those who can’t protect themselves.”
In sum, don’t be selfish: Get a flu shot.
Comments
One response to “Hey Arsehole, The Flu Shot Isn’t About You”
Like many things in life, it’s not about you it’s about everyone else. Unfortunately, the current mentality has become one of “me” instead of “we”.
I remember having a colleague comment he no longer turns on flight mode when flying. His justification was that he knew enough about Electronics to know he couldn’t bring the plane down by leaving it on.
I said to him as an Electronics Engineer I always turn my phone off. Not because I’m not confident in my knowledge. But, because I could be missing something, wrong or there is a fault in the plane. But, more importantly, there are 100+ other a^$e#o!es on the plane wanting to get safely to the other end!
To this day, I avoid booking the same flight as him wherever possible.
I work I.T in the medical field, and the amount of people who say “I’m not getting it” or “I always get the flu afterworlds” is mind boggling, especially considering where we work!
Also, this article can translate to ANY vaccination!
I wish people stopped saying “They got the flu afterwards”. The reaction of feeling sick is actually a good sign you have a very active and healthy immune system, as its digesting the vaccine’s anti-bodies it thinks its reacting as though its fighting a flu… so it saps your energy, starts the natural evacuation processes (which is half the symptomns of a cold or flu), then sends the all clear in a few hours. So after a good night sleep your fine and dandy.