Flu Shot Complications

Every fall and winter people brace themselves for the flu season. Stuffy noses, sore throats and fevers lead to increasing numbers of absences from work and school. Everyone knows to avoid sharing germs by washing hands and avoiding sick people, but there is an even more effective way to prevent the flu. A flu vaccine is available every year and is recommended for most people.

Misconceptions

• One common misconception about the flu shot is that it can actually cause the flu. Some people actually avoid getting the vaccine because they believe this. They may think this because the vaccine contains the flu virus. However, the virus is dead and incapable of infecting you. The only way that the vaccine can actually cause you to become sick is if you develop an allergic reaction to it. Allergic reactions to the vaccine are extremely rare but can cause symptoms like fever and achiness, which may be mistaken for the flu.

Benefits

• According to the Centers for Disease Control, the benefits of the flu vaccine far outweigh the very minimal risks. The vaccine provides a far-reaching benefit. Not only are you protecting yourself against the disease but you are also preventing anyone you would have spread it to from getting it. In healthy people, the flu is usually a harmless annoyance. But in children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems, serious complications can be avoided by getting the vaccine. In healthy people, the flu vaccine is capable of preventing 70 to 90 percent of strains of influenza that closely match the ones in the vaccine. The vaccine is also 80 percent effective at preventing elderly nursing home patients from dying from the flu.

Who Should

• Though most people can benefit from the flu vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control strongly recommends it for certain groups of people. These are people who are at high risk for contracting complications from the disease and those who work in a field that exposes them to these high risk people. These people include children over the age of six months, pregnant women, people over 50, anyone with a serious medical condition and people living in care facilities. Others who should get the flu vaccine are people who work in health care or live with a high-risk person, including infants who are too young to be vaccinated.

Who Shouldn't

• There is a small group of people for whom the vaccine is not recommended. They may be able to get the vaccine but should talk to their doctors first. These people include anyone who is allergic to eggs or has Guillain-Barre Syndrome. This is a rare disease that attacks the nerve cells and is triggered by infections and sometimes vaccines. Anyone who has a fever at the time they want to get vaccinated should instead wait until they are well. However, if you are sick with a mild illness with no fever present, it is perfectly safe to get the flu shot.

Percieved Complications

• Some people who get the flu vaccine may still get flu-like symptoms. This does not necessarily mean that the vaccine has failed or caused complications. It takes about two weeks for the body to develop protection against the flu. So it is very possible that the person can contract the flu in this time period, or right before being vaccinated. Unfortunately, not all strains of the flu are protected against in the seasonal vaccine. Different strains, like H1N1, require an additional vaccine, which just recently became available. Persons with weak immune systems may not be fully protected from the flu, but the vaccine is almost always effective at reducing severity.