I understand the potential benefits of a flu shot, but I would rather not put myself at risk for no reason. I am 54 years old and perhaps had a bothersome case of the flu 2 or 3 times during my life On the other hand medical treatment especially when not actually needed is pretty risky
From my link above.
Iatrogenesis is a major phenomenon, and a severe risk to patients. A study carried out in 1981 more than one-third of illnesses of patients in a university hospital were iatrogenic, nearly one in ten was considered major, and, in 2% of the patients, the iatrogenic disorder ended in death. Complications were most strongly associated with exposure to drugs and medications.[16] In another study, the main factors leading to problems were inadequate patient evaluation, lack of monitoring and follow-up, and failure to perform necessary tests.[citation needed]
In the United States, figures suggest estimated deaths per year of: [17][18] [19][20]
12,000 due to unnecessary surgery
7,000 due to medication errors in hospitals
20,000 due to other errors in hospitals
80,000 due to nosocomial infections in hospitals
106,000 due to non-error, negative effects of drugs
Based on these figures, iatrogenesis may cause 225,000 deaths per year in the United States (excluding recognizable error).[17]
You have to weigh the risk vs. the benefit for each procedure separately.
For example, the concern of having iatrogenic complications is reasonable if you are contemplating something like undergoing cosmetic surgery without a clear medical need. However, the risk of complication is extremely low with vaccines (of any kind, not just influenza), making vaccination a very reasonable precaution to take against the real risk of illness, permanent complications, and even death from the diseases they prevent.
Even if you are allergic to eggs, there may not be that much risk with flu vaccines. Recent studies have shown that most people with egg allergies tolerate the vaccines well.
The only other complication that is definitively linked to vaccines is slight pain and tenderness at the injection site, lasting a day or so. I've never had this from a flu shot, but I know people who do have that complication. They still get the shot.
Most strains of flu cause higher levels of mortality of young children (because their immune systems are still developing) and elderly people (because the immune system starts to senesce after about age 60). But even healthy adults and teens succumb to the flu. (An exception was the 1918 or "Spanish flu" which killed a disproportionately high number of young adults.) Flu kills directly, and indirectly by leaving you susceptible to bacterial infections. In many cases, you are already carrying around bacterial pathogens; they are unlikely to cause an infection until your immune system is weakened or a cut allows them to penetrate through the skin. You may have had the flu a couple of times and recovered just fine, but that is no guarantee you'll do as well the next time.
This is hard to say, but one of your best precautions against needing hospitalization (with its risk of iatrogenesis) is to avail yourself of available vaccines.