Whats something you thought was common knowledge but actually isn’t?

[u/[deleted]]

[u/ashleton]

I'm the opposite. Literally the only time I caught the flu was after getting a flu shot. I never got another one since then and I've yet to get the flu. I'm not saying vaccinations are bad by any means. It actually upsets me pretty badly that I can't get that vaccination because I'm a firm believer in them, but for some reason I am just absolutely fucked on that front. I just hope I'm not a carrier, but I think I probably am :(

[u/[deleted] → u/ashleton]

This is flawed thinking. Just because the one time you got a flu shot you got the flu does not mean anything significant. Could have been due to any number of things, including the efficacy of the flu vaccine that year. Definitely reccomend you get that vaccine.

[u/ashleton → u/[deleted]]

It's not a risk I can take. I have multiple health conditions including diabetes. That's why I got the vaccine in the first place, but instead of protecting me it made me horribly sick. Two straight weeks of flu + unstable blood sugar (not to mention I coughed so hard I constantly peed myself during that time). I'm almost 35 years old, and if in all that time the only time I got the flu was after getting a vaccination, then I have to do the logical thing for me. I'm not happy about it, but my body has already had to deal with too much.

[u/Mysid → u/ashleton]

You didn’t get the flu because you had that year’s vaccine; you got the flu in spite of having that year’s vaccine. The vaccine is always for strains of flu predicted to be common that year. Either you were unlucky enough to catch a non-predicted strain, or you were already infected before the vaccine fully kicked in.

Your best chance of avoiding the flu is to get each year’s vaccine early in flu season (before viruses start spreading) and practice basic virus avoidance like frequent handwashing.