All, got to offer the other side of the story here too, for 25 years as a soldier and leader, did my duty and got the annual flu shot, till Dec 02, when I had an allergic rxn and within 96 hours (when in Rome) was a walking/talking "drunk" was hospitalized in German and US Hospitals in Germany for 10 days. Lost 50% of my voice and 50% of my motor skills...through intensive speech/physical/occupational therapy (last year biweekly speech therapy) am now about 90% recovered (run two miles in 15 min vs 12 min two years ago, still run 5 mile daily, was a USTA 4.5 player, now a 3.O due to slower coordination..and alas, lost my ability to wash dishes :) )...so while I agree the flu shot in general is helpful, there are those of us who do better without one--I can never take another vaccine...or flu shot..r/wes

PS...Marnalou, believe mega doses of Vit C help too (1000-2000grams--per Linus Pauling rec)