Should Your Really Get A Flu Shot?

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by Jacinda Garabito/ Photojournalist Carlos Martinez

Story Created: Oct 23, 2012 at 8:49 PM EDT

Story Updated: Oct 23, 2012 at 10:53 PM EDT

 CHARLOTTE, N.C.- Flu season is here!  Some people are first in line to get the flu shot while others argue it doesn't protect them.  The flu shot isn't just for you, it also stops the flu from spreading to others.

Eric Brown thinks everyone should get the flu shot.  He got one last year and didn't get sick, "This year as you can hear I have some complications going on so I did not get the flu shot."

Katie Queen never gets a flu shot, "I've never really saw the purpose in one.  I get sick but I'm not a medicine person.  I like to let my body's immune system do it's own thing."

Katie says she's also scared of possibly getting sick from the flu shot, "My mother in law actually got the flu shot three weeks ago.  She got really sick after that and she's just now coming back from that."

Dr. Peter Mack of Southpark Family Physicians says people who get sick after the flu shot typically have a common cold, "This is the season that you're going to be getting those and it's the season the flu shot's given. So a lot of times when people get the flu shot and immediately after get sick they blame the flu shot on that."

According to the Mecklenburg County  Health Department there are nearly 1,000 seasonal flu related deaths every single year in North Carolina.  Mainly in young children or adults 65 or older.

Dr. Mack recommends everyone get the flu shot.  He says it protects you and makes it less likely you will spread it to other people, "A patient with a cold may be sitting up on the exam table but if it's the flu they'll generally be laying down on the exam table. One person was laying down on the ground even because they felt so miserable."
 

 

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