I am no pro-vaccine cheerleader.  I think vaccines are great, and I get my flu shot every year, L is up-to-date on her shots, and so on, but all you have to do is read the CDC informational sheet to realize that vaccines can have serious side effects.  I think the benefit outweighs the risk significantly, and we act accordingly.

However.  It blows my mind that some people think that the flu vaccine actually increases your chance of getting the flu.  I get really tired of the stories about how so-and-so got a flu vaccine for the first time and got the flu that year and never had it any other year.  Is there any possible scientific basis for this on a large scale?  If there is, I can’t think of what it might be.

My sister got H1N1 this year.  She hadn’t gotten the vaccine, and it was quite rough.  She ran  a fever which hit 104 repeatedly for several days.  If one is pregnant, in particular, a fever of 104 is a serious problem, especially since Ibuprofen is off limits.