Can the flu vaccine/shot give you the flu?

new article on PT, here is a summary, feel free to discuss!

When to get vaccinated?
The flu vaccine is available in September and vaccination can take place through the winter months. Peak influenza activity is usually in January or February.

Is the flu vaccine safe?
Yes! The flu vaccine is very safe and effective. Flu vaccine does not cause the flu. People with a severe egg allergy to chicken eggs and those who have had a severe reaction to the flu vaccine in the past should not get vaccinated.

What is the nasal spray vaccine?
Vaccination via nasal spray flu vaccine is an option for healthy people ages 2-49 years old.

Link

Fri. Oct 17, 10:37am

I have been in the USAF for over 7 years now and every single year we HAVE to get the flu shot or flu mist (nasal), they don't give us a choice, which I absolutely HATE! I get sick every friggin year after I get that stupid thing!

...Although this is just me..there are some people I talk to who say the shot does nothing to them. It just seems like more people say it actually does get them sick.

~Jax~

Friday, October 17, 2008, 2:39 PM

I used to get the flu shot when I was little and always always ended up with the flu. Once I was old enough to say no I have been flu free.

Friday, October 17, 2008, 2:43 PM

I don' understand how anybody can get the flu from the flu shot. They inject you with dead virus cells, just so your immune system will acknowledge them and build up immunity against the live version.

Maybe you were already exposed to the flu at the time you got the shot. Or maybe you have an allergy to the ingredients in the shot. Or maybe you got a different version of the flu -- the viruses mutate frequently. Or maybe you just got another respiratory virus and assumed it was the flu. There are tons of viruses out there.

I used to get the flu just about every winter until I started getting the shot in October. Since 2002 I've been getting the shots, and I haven't had the flu (thankfully).

Saturday, October 18, 2008, 3:44 AM

I've never had a flu shot in my life

Sometimes I wonder if it's just a cultural thing, and only certain social groups do it.

Anyway, it's been YEARS since I (or my senior parents who also never had flu shots) had any sort of flu.

*knocks on wood* (which is probably just as good, if not better, than a flu shot!)

Saturday, October 18, 2008, 5:17 AM

flu shot can give you the flu.

check: www.cdc.gov for more info on all the vaccines you have questions on!

Saturday, October 18, 2008, 6:29 AM

According to every doc and nurse I have talked too- it SPECIFICALLY can't make you sick, but if you were already kind of sick or had it in your body it can't help you then.

Saturday, October 18, 2008, 8:10 AM

To the pp who said yes you can get flu from the flu shot, then said check the CDC website, here's the link. It specifically says NO you CANNOT get flu from the flu shot. But explains why you may experience flu-like symptoms after getting the shot.

Link

Saturday, October 18, 2008, 9:23 AM

I am a nurse and have not had the flu shot in over 10 years. It took quite awhile but I finally realized I was getting sick within 24 hours of getting the vaccine every year. I would get stomach cramps, diarrhea and fever. I am very healthy; rarely get sick but this would happen each time I got the flu shot. It may not happen to everyone but it certainly happens to me. I started taking a Chinese herb preparation called Jade Screen...take it from Sept til I no longer see flu at work (mid-spring). Though I am around flu every year as a nurse, I don't get sick. Don't get respiratory infections either which I see people suffer with who do get vaccinated.

Monday, October 20, 2008, 9:29 AM

This is 2:43 from Friday. I don't know if you can or cannot get the flu from the shot. But let me expand on my comment earlier. I never ended up with flu like symptoms within days of the shot or anything. I would end up getting the flu later on in the winter. I finally stopped getting the shot since it didn't seem to be working and since then have been flu free.

Monday, October 20, 2008, 9:57 AM

Last year's flu shot just plain didn't work! Each year they have to guess at the strains that will spread, and last year they guessed wrong. This sounds like what happened to 9:57; later on in the winter one gets a different strain.

I get the shot every year because I'm exposed to all kinds of people in my job. I will say that last year's shot, as well as being totally ineffective, was a particularly painful one. Everyone at work noticed this. Not sure why it hurts more some years than others, but we were all sore for a couple of days.

Monday, October 20, 2008, 10:12 AM

With the annual flu shot, they give you the vaccine for three different strains -- the one that was the most prevalent in the previous season (since that usually is the second or third most prevalent in the following season); one of the lesser strains from the previous season that they think is going to return (perhaps even more widespread) this year based on who and where it was the previous season; and then the third is not much better than a wild guess.

First of all, if you are meticulous about washing your hands and not touching your mouth, nose, or eyes unless you have recently washed your hands, the likelihood of your getting the flus is very low (except for those of you with kids climbing all over you and putting their hands on your face). Second, the likelihood that any given flu virus you are exposed to is one of the three in the vaccine you will be given is decent, but not high at all.

Those of you who don't like shots or the hassle, keep those hands cleaned, stop touching your face in general, eat well, drink lots of water, exercise regularly, and maintain a postive outlook on life (and get a pet). Those are all more effective. The government has seriously considered doing away wiht the vaccine, as it is not really cost-effective, but decided that it IS important for seniors and children, who are more likely to suffer other complications if they get infected (and the kids are more likely to pass it on to others).

The CDC is pretty funnny. The vaccine cannnot cause the flu, but you might suffer flu-like symptoms? So someone concerned with getting the flu -- um, perhaps because they don't want to suffer from its symptoms -- shouldn't worry about it? I love it when scientists try to be logical, because they often end up sounding the opposite. Just like economists, they spend so much time with experiments and theories, they can forget how real people act and feel.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008, 4:19 AM

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