Flu shot

How does it affect UC, or the flu in general. Apparently the states got a bad one from Australia that affects the intestinal Tract.

Everyone keeps saying the flu shot gives you the flu, it's scaring
Me off it :(

Thanks. I never get it but apparently a bad one is heading over to Australia

The flu vaccine we got was a good match, but apparently didn't work well for people over age 65. I don't know why. It worked well for my family.

Does the rest of your family monitor their blood levels of vitamin D the way you do?

I think I'm more worried because I never get it, I don't want to tempt fate but I could do that not getting it :/

about the vitamin D - my kids haven't had their levels tested and I'm not sure about DH, so no, they aren't monitoring their vitamin D like I am.

I would say, Petah, that if you are not going to have a lot of exposure to school-aged kids, or the general public in crowded places, then maybe you are not at high risk for getting the flu.

On the other hand, the flu is absolutely horrible (5-7 days of awful pain and misery, plus coughing for weeks afterward) and could come with the benefit of a post-flu bacterial infection (sinusitis, bronchitis, pneumonia) that will require you to treat with antibiotics, thus leading directly to a flare of your UC. So yeah, I get the flu shot.

flu is influenza. it's RESPIRATORY....not gastro.
And while some influenza can have some with mild gastro symptoms, it's not what most people think of as the flu...which I repeat, is NOT gastro.

The flu shot will not protect from anything gastro. The highly contagious gastro virus that's been sweeping north america is a new strain of the Norovirus.
I feel like I'm in that New Kraft Habanero Heat Shredded Cheese commercial....

Make sure you wash hands often, keep them from around or in your mouth without washing, take a higher dosage probiotics, etc., don't share towels or use the hand blowers in public washrooms, etc

If anyone gets it and recovers...note that it stays active in the gut for a longer period of time...can for up to 3 weeks.

Stay well...
q

i've been reading a lot of studies done on flu vaccines and whether it's worth getting. in most studies, it's not. the flu vaccine (around me at least) only protects against 3 strains and there are more flu strains that that. so you can still get the flu if it's not the correct strain in the vaccine.

bovine colostrum has been shown to be more effective at protecting against the flu than the flu vaccine.