The first thing to clear up with this myth is the difference between the two types of flu vaccinations, according to the CDC:
- The "flu shot" — an inactivated vaccine (containing killed virus) that is given with a needle, usually in the arm. The flu shot is approved for use in people older than 6 months, including healthy people and people with chronic medical conditions.
- The nasal-spray flu vaccine — a vaccine made with live, weakened flu viruses that do not cause the flu (sometimes called LAIV for "live attenuated influenza vaccine" or FluMist®). LAIV (FluMist®) is approved for use in healthy* people 2-49 years of age who are not pregnant.
So, it is possible (although not likely) to get the flu from the nasal-spray vaccine. Since the viruses are weakened they are supposed to only live in the nose (so the body will develop antibodies) and not be able to survive in the respiratory system.
A flu shot, on the other hand, does not contain a live virus so it is not possible to get the flu from it. According to Health.com, it is possible to have reactions to the shot, and these are "thought to be your immune system’s way of gearing up after the exposure to dead virus particles in the vaccine." Discovery Health lists the common side effects as:
- primarily a low grade fever for 8 to 24 hours after you receive the shot.
- a swollen, red, tender area around the vaccination spot.
- and a few people, especially children, may develop slight chills or a headache within 24 hours, but the symptoms go away within a day or so.
It takes about 2 weeks for the shot to become effective, so it is possible to catch the flu after getting the shot but before developing the antibodies. It is also possible to get sick due to a weakened immune system from the shot. The CDC also recommends that people with a "moderate to severe illness with a fever" wait to get the flu shot until they recover.
Another common confusion comes from the definition of "flu". Often, people claiming to have caught the flu from the shot report upset stomach, nausea, etc. This is the "stomach flu" and is not what the flu shot is for. The flu shot is to prevent influenza, a respiratory illness. Stomach symptoms are possible with influenza, but are most common in children. More common are a high fever, dry cough, sore throat, extreme tiredness, stuffy nose, and muscle aches.
If not already sick, or allergic to eggs, most everyone should probably get a flu shot. The usual side effects are much better than actually getting influenza
For more info: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Flu shot side effects, Health.com, Symptoms of Influenza, Egg allergies and the Flu Vaccine, Flu clinic locator
Comments
To trust anything from this present Government is foolish. Just take a look at whose running these programs and you will be disturb to find there Nazi blood lines.
In rhetoric, America is the land of the free and the generous, enjoying the fused blessings of a free market tempered by and joined to accelerating social welfare, bountifully distributing its unstinting largesse to the less fortunate in the world. In actual practice, the free economy is virtually gone, replaced by an imperial corporate-state Leviathan that organizes, commands, exploits the rest of society and, indeed, the rest of the world, for its own power and pelf. -Murray
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