Submitted by Jason McKerry, MD, FAAP, Karen I Fryberg Tulalip Health Clinic
The flu shot doesn’t cause the flu. The shot is an entirely dead virus— it’s impossible for it to replicate in your body and cause infection. The nasal spray is a very weakened strain (imagine a sprinter without legs or a bumblebee without wings) that is unable to replicate in the lungs to cause disease.The most common side effects after the shot or nasal spray are fatigue, low-grade fever, and runny nose (from the nasal spray).
You may feel like you “don’t get the flu.” Well, chances are that you do or you might. Research shows that anywhere from 5% to 20% of all adults get influenza every year. Anywhere from 10% to 40% of all children get it annually as well. Sometimes it’s just a mild infection; sometimes it’s far worse. You may not know you’ve had it unless a clinician tests you.
The flu shot doesn’t work. It does work, but like every shot, it’s imperfect. It is possible for someone to still get the flu after a flu shot, but the infection is far less severe when he or she has had the shot. Each year the flu shot can change in effectiveness due to differing strains that are included in the shot and that may circulate in your community. You need a flu shot every year because the influenza virus mutates while moving around the globe.
I’m healthy, so I don’t need a flu shot. We’re lucky that we’re healthy, but don’t let that fool you. Healthy children and adults die from the flu every year. Often about half of the children who die from influenza (usually a couple hundred each season) are healthy infants and children. About 30,000 people die every year from flu in the United States. The flu shot you get now can help protect you.
If you don’t “do” flu shots but you now have a child, you must change. Your children, particularly those younger than 4 years, and those infants too young to get a shot (younger than 6 months) are utterly dependent on you getting a flu shot so you don’t bring influenza home to them.
Source: Mama Doc Medicine: Finding Calm and Confidence in Parenting, Child Health, and Work-Life Balance
Flu Facts
Why get vaccinated?
Influenza (“flu”) is a contagious disease that spreads around the United States every winter, usually between October and May. Flu is caused by influenza viruses, and is spread mainly by coughing, sneezing, and close contact. Anyone can get flu, but the risk of getting flu is highest among children. Symptoms come on suddenly and may last several days. They can include:
- Fever/chills
- Sore throat
- Muscle aches
- Fatigue
- Cough
- Headache
- Runny or stuffy nose
Flu can make some people much sicker than others. These people include young children, people 65 and older, pregnant women, and people with certain health conditions – such as heart, lung or kidney disease, nervous system disorders, or a weakened immune system. Flu vaccination is especially important for these people, and anyone in close contact with them.
Flu can also lead to pneumonia, and make existing medical conditions worse. It can cause diarrhea and seizures in children.
Each year thousands of people in the United States die from flu, and many more are hospitalized.
Flu vaccine is the best protection against flu and its complications. Flu vaccine also helps prevent spreading flu from person to person.
Inactivated and recombinant flu vaccines
The injectable flu vaccine is either an “inactivated” or “recombinant” vaccine. These vaccines do not contain any live influenza virus. They are given by injection with a needle, and often called the “flu shot.”
A different, live, attenuated (weakened) influenza vaccine is sprayed into the nostrils.
Flu vaccination is recommended every year. Some children 6 months through 8 years of age might need two doses during one year.
Flu viruses are always changing. Each year’s flu vaccine is made to protect against 3 or 4 viruses that are likely to cause disease that year. Flu vaccine cannot prevent all cases of flu, but it is the best defense against the disease.
It takes about 2 weeks for protection to develop after the vaccination, and protection lasts several months to a year.
Some illnesses that are not caused by influenza virus are often mistaken for flu. Flu vaccine will not prevent these illnesses. It can only prevent influenza.
Above Flu Facts from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Vaccine Information Statements, 2015. The information contained on this site should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances.