Philip J. Goscienski, M.D.
February 2010
"I won't ever take the flu vaccine again! The last time I did I got the flu anyway!"
Having heard statements like that several times during my medical career I found them hard to ignore. In this case, perception and reality are quite different. For those readers who vehemently disagree with me, consider the following.
The injectable influenza vaccine consists of killed virus. The likelihood that a live particle will somehow slip by today's quality control testing to cause disease is zero. You can be sure that manufacturers' attorneys will insist on a perfectly safe product no matter how much it may cost.
The early vaccines of 60 or so years ago sometimes did cause nasty symptoms but those of recent vintage are quite benign. Some persons experience a little soreness at the injection site, perhaps a low-grade fever. Those are not really side effects; they go with the territory. Soreness is sometimes inevitable when even a small volume of the liquid vaccine disrupts sensitive tissue. That's minimal when compared to an injection of penicillin, for example, which some older folks still remember quite vividly. The "cold-like" symptoms that some persons report are coincidental. After all, the shot is usually given during cold season! A little fever occurs because the body is responding to foreign material, which is what is supposed to happen.
The intranasal vaccine (FluMist) consists of a live but weakened virus. Considering that foreign material is squirted into your nose, it's reasonable to expect some irritation, especially when the vaccine acts like the real thing on a much reduced scale, as it is meant to do.
Older physicians remember patients who developed a serious condition known as Guillain-Barré syndrome after receiving the influenza vaccine. It is rare, occurring about once per million doses. Considering that about 100 persons die every day from ordinary influenza, it is difficult to justify withholding the vaccine in fear of that complication.
Finally, consider that most people go their physician's office to get the vaccine, sitting around in the waiting room with patients who are there because they have the flu! The incubation period of the real disease is shorter than the time that it takes for the vaccine to become effective.
So the next time someone tells you that they got the flu after getting the flu vaccine, you might as well agree with them. They're right, but not for the reason they think.
Philip J. Goscienski, M.D. is the author of Health Secrets of the Stone Age, Better Life Publishers 2005. Contact him at drphil@stoneagedoc.com.