I'm a scientist and public health official. There are virtually no dangers to vaccines and the very small risk is overwhelmed by the benefits to the individual and the society. I am old and remember when preventable diseases were very common and left life-long disabilities in the victims. If I could transport vaccine doubters back to those times in the 1940's and 1950's, they would all be converted. My father and his family survived the 1918 Spanish Flu which usually killed young healthy adults ironically. Visit old graveyards and look for dates of death in 1918. An estimated 675,000 Americans died of the Spanish Flu.

I get a flu shot every year. It is highly recommended for those with chronic medical conditions, such as Type 1 diabetes, which I have had for more than 30 years. I have never had an adverse effect from the flu shot, but have seen the uninnoculated drop like flies around me from the flu while I just motored on. Only once do I remember contracting the flu despite having received the flu shot.

The sickest I have ever been was in 09/2010 when I was attacked by what my physician believes was a virus, but probably not a flu strain (wrong symptoms.) I was out of commission for a week, and didn't regain full strength for a couple of months. I was living alone at the time, and was too ill to haul my ass to the clinic for medical assistance. For three days my fever hovered around 105°F, with one reading of 105.3°F. I didn't have any respiratory symptoms, though.

The puzzling part about it? No-one around me got sick. No-one I knew suffered an illness anything like what I had. I cannot blame it on the flu shot because I had not yet had my annual flu shot when I fell ill. A few days after my fever broke, a layer or two of skin peeled off both of my hands and both of my feet. I've never had that before.

In my doctor's opinion it was not the flu. All I know is if I never get ill like that again it will be too soon.

I would say that having sex with a stranger you would take precaution a condom for example. When you are in public not everyone is hygiene conscious lot of people do not even wash their hands after using the restroom. Unless you have the Howard Hughes syndrome and you never touch money, a keyboard, a keypad,a pen, a door, knob or handle, a toilet flush, shake a hand or give a hug, a grocery cart. You are basically having germ sex without a condom.

I take the flu shot every year and I don't get the flu.

I would say deference to the overwhelming consensus of experts would be more common sense.

And common sense is what actually required. Ask the right questions and take the decision based on facts.

You do need to ask questions to make an educated determination. You also need to know if you could have a specific reaction to anything in any shot one is given. Having said that, then you also need to do some research that isn't gleaned from social media (or friends for that matter) Social media and friends are well meaning most of the time but, they're usually pretty ill informed. The biggest concern that most people have with vaccinations is the mercury in Thimerosal. There are different types of mercury. The type you ingest while eating fish will stay in your body and can make you sick. The type in a vaccine will pass through your system rapidly and will not linger around and rarely has any ill effects. Children's vaccinations now contain no mercury with the exception of the flu shot. And you can ask for a shot that does not contain it.

I've been taking the flu shot all of my life (I'm 57) and I can honestly say that it has on some occasions made me feel bad for a few days afterwards. However I can't determine in those cases if I had already been exposed to the flu and the shot just didn't stave it off since the virus was already active within me.

All of this vaccine panic was started by a study done by Dr. Andrew Wakefield. In his study, he claimed that he showed a link between vaccines and autism. His study was flawed and has since been debunked. But, as a result of how many people read the results and believed them, the panic still exists and continues to spread. And it's still being pushed as though the research was valid by doctors such as Dr Joseph Mercola who practices in a lot of quack science like fasting, aromatherapy and reducing your exposure to EMF's. While none of these practices are harmful if you follow the appropriate guidelines, none are really all that beneficial to your health.

For several years I got sick for weeks on end every winter. It was miserable to say the least. I've been getting my flu shots for about five years now and haven't been sick in that time. I believe in them.

I read one article that said that we get more mercury in a can of tuna than in a flu shot. Didn't get one this year. Too much feedback from friends that indicates that it just doesn't work very well.

All anyone has to do is ask before allowing the shot (of any kind) to be given.
If you don't get an answer, refuse the shot. It's not that hard.