Want to make a doctor's head explode? Confidently assert that you won't get the flu shot because it gives you the flu. Or complain that it gave you or your kids a cold, a stomach bug, or pretty much anything else.
Here's the deal, folks: The flu shot does not give you the flu. End of story, done, over, amen. If you get sick afterward, you had already been exposed to whatever it is you have.
Old flu vaccines sometimes had side effects that felt like mild flu symptoms, but that's not the case for today's flu vaccine. At worst you'll have a sore arm. If you get the shot today and get sick tomorrow or the next day, you had those germs working their evil magic well before you got the shot.
Flu vaccines, after all, protect you against one thing: The flu. It's not a magic bullet that wards off all disease.
You can't get the flu from a flu shot because it uses dead virus cells, which are, well, dead, so they can't harm you. Your body still forms antibodies to the virus, but the virus itself can't grow and cause its oh-so-fun symptoms.
The nasal mist vaccine uses live virus, but it's been genetically engineered in such a way that it won't make you sick, either.
It is true that if vaccine makers guessed wrong, and a different strain of the flu than those included in that year's vaccine gets around (like H1N1 did) you can get that strain of the flu. And some people with compromised immune systems don't get full immunity from the flu shot; however, they'll have far fewer complications if they get vaccinated.
It's true that healthy young adults will likely recover from the flu just fine, but I certainly don't have time or inclination to be laid up feeling terrible for a week. I can't imagine that you do either.
Have you had your flu shot yet?
Image via USACE Europe District/Flickr
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Comments 89
Actually I have never heard that it gives you the flu, but rather that it is far less likely to protect against the current strain of flu going aroundbecause the virus mutates. In essence I don't get it because I feel it is pretty useless.
Totally agree with ethans momma. We practice really great hygiene in my house and rely on other things to up our immune systems. My DD hasn't had the flu as of yet, and my DBF and I haven't had the flu in years.
So if the flu mist has been "engineered" to not pass the flu on to other people, why the heck were all the CNA's at the hospital wearing masks when my daughter and I were there after she was born?
Good thing I don't like doctors. I giggle from making their heads explode. How do you explain everyone in my husband's squadron coming down with the flu only AFTER the shots? If it doesn't give you the flu and it isn't protective worth crap then maybe we can look into the fact that it actually hinders the body's immune system.
"At most you'll have a sore arm."
I'm sorry, but have you actually read the vaccine insert? It can and does cause a whole lot more than a sore arm. No, there is nothing that could convince me to risk my family's health by giving them a flu vaccine.
I would go through a whole year at times without becoming ill...but my work mandates us now (starting last year) to get the flu shot which is now combined with H1N1 vaccine I have had the flu and the runs! I am ill and feel like I'm dying for about three weeks before it lets loose...then I have the runs for about a week...So the flu shot and H1N1 shot need to disappear because they do more harm than good. And if it's a dead virus then what's the point in giving it to people anyway. I'm sure our bodies can detect the flu virus by now.
Hmmm, the flu is fever and achiness, right? From the CDC website, side effects include:
And the flu mist has a longer list, including, but not limited to: (this first one is for children)
And in adults:
Those symptoms sound suspiciously like FLU symptoms, to me. That, combined wtih the fact that each seasons' flu vaccine is an absolute crap shoot as to whether it's the correct strain, AND the fact that the H1N1 was much ado about nothing... My family won't be getting the shot, either.
You can read the information at the CDC website: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm
LOVE this post. Thank you. I have been trying to tell people forever that the flu shot is made of attenuated (weakened or completely dead) virus cells for YEARS and that you CANNOT get the flu if you get the shot. Duh. People who say, Yeah I got the shot, but then got the flu.... you got something else. There is NOTHING wrong with the flu shot. Get over it, be freaking responsible, and get a shot! Especially your kids!
My daughter, my husband and I have all gotten out flu shots this year (as we do every year). And as usual, we had sore arms. And not much else. But with everything she's bringing home from kindergarten, it's nice to have extra protection that will keep he and I from missing work because we're down with something that was entirely preventable!