Are Flu Shots -EV?

[ComeOnNine]

see topic

[yellowjack]

see reply topic

[jay_shark]

I've been told that there is a 75% success rate for having an annual flu shot .

[Siegmund]

I tend to think they are +EV only for those few people who are worried about major consequences of catching a full-fledged case of the flu.

They were offered free by my (non-health-industry-related) employer a few years ago. Everyone who got the shot was mildly sick for a few days afterward. Those of us who didn't get the shot, some caught a normal round of the flu that winter, many of us never got sick at all. I, personally, had the impression that for an average healthy person, the symptoms of the shot were very much like catching the flu.

I see why they give it to people whose lives would be endangered by a severe flu case, and why they give it to medical workers who will surely be exposed to the flu each year.

[pococurante]

Flu shots are like playing poker. -EV for most people, +EV for a select few.

[TheCutter]

They're free here, paid by government... Freerolls are +EV.

[Mark1808]

[ QUOTE ]
I tend to think they are +EV only for those few people who are worried about major consequences of catching a full-fledged case of the flu.

They were offered free by my (non-health-industry-related) employer a few years ago. Everyone who got the shot was mildly sick for a few days afterward. Those of us who didn't get the shot, some caught a normal round of the flu that winter, many of us never got sick at all. I, personally, had the impression that for an average healthy person, the symptoms of the shot were very much like catching the flu.

I see why they give it to people whose lives would be endangered by a severe flu case, and why they give it to medical workers who will surely be exposed to the flu each year.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is interesting, I get a flu shot every year and never feel any symptons from the shot. Not getting the flu each year is definately +EV for me and I PAY for the shot.

[Lagtastic]

lol this is a great post

[WhiteKnight]

I elected to get a free flu shot.
And yes, this thread is hilarious.

[Pokerlogist]

Of course its +EV, with a shot your chances of getting the flu are nil..... about the same as finding a whale in the Amazon jungle.

oops
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americ....ap/index.html