What are the risks of getting the flu shot?

Should you still get the flu shot if you’re sick? “Typically someone with a mild illness can be given a flu shot, but if it’s a moderate or severe illness, vaccination is postponed until the person recovers.” If you’re the type to put off getting your shot, don’t let the sniffles be another excuse.

Can You Reduce Pain or Swelling After Vaccines?

Make sure to move your arm around after the vaccine.

Take a pain reliever for one or two days after receiving vaccination to help with soreness and swelling.

Rotate a warm pack on and off the injection site.

Other reactions following the flu shot are usually mild and can include a low grade fever and aches. If these reactions occur, they usually begin soon after the shot and last 1-2 days. The most common reactions people have to flu vaccine are considerably less severe than the symptoms caused by actual flu illness.

Most of the symptoms that are caused by the flu virus could also just as easily be the result of a cold virus infection, according to the CDC. Some differences: the flu virus is more likely to cause fever — and a higher fever, at that. Some flu sufferers also have intestinal symptoms, such as vomiting or diarrhea.

A common misconception is that the flu shot can cause the flu, but that’s not true – you cannot get the flu from a flu shot. The risk of a flu shot causing serious harm or death is extremely small. However, a vaccine, like any medicine, may rarely cause serious problems, such as severe allergic reactions.

According to the CDC, mild side effects from the flu shot include soreness, redness or swelling at the injection site, low-grade fever and aches. Only about 1 percent to 2 percent of people who get a flu shot will have fever as a side effect, Schaffner said.

Common side effects from the flu shot include:

Soreness, redness, and/or swelling from the shot.

Headache.

Fever.

Nausea.

Muscle aches.

The CDC recommends annual influenza vaccinations for everyone age 6 months or older. Vaccination is especially important for people at high risk of influenza complications, including: Pregnant women. Older adults.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which conducts studies annually to gauge the vaccine’s protective ability, has found immunization reduces the risk of flu illness by 40 percent to 60 percent during seasons when most circulating flu viruses are well-matched to the flu vaccine.

Single dose-shots of the flu vaccine and the flu vaccine nasal sprays do not contain any mercury compounds. The multi-dose flu shot does contain a preservative called thimerosal, which breaks down into 49% ethylmercury and used to prevent bacterial contamination of the vaccine container.

If you’re sick with a cold or other mild illness (respiratory or otherwise) and you don’t have a fever, you can absolutely get your flu vaccine. If you have a fever (temp over 99.5ish), the general consensus has always been that you should hold off on getting the flu vaccine until it breaks.

Influenza vaccines, also known as flu shots or flu jabs, are vaccines that protect against infection by Influenza viruses. A new version of the vaccine is developed twice a year, as the Influenza virus rapidly changes.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll find in the flu vaccine:

Egg protein. Many flu vaccines are made by growing the viruses inside fertilized chicken eggs.

Preservatives. Vaccine manufacturers add the preservative thimerosal to multidose vaccine vials.

Stabilizers.

Antibiotics.

Polysorbate 80.

Formaldehyde.

Flu season runs from October to May, with most cases happening from late December to early March. But the flu vaccine is usually offered from September until mid-November. Even as late as January, there are still a few months left in the flu season, so it’s still a good idea to get protected.

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare disorder in which a person’s own immune system damages their nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis. Many things can cause GBS, although you chances of developing GBS may increase after getting a flu shot or other vaccination.

about two weeks

The following list looks at seven ingredients in vaccines, including flu shots, and why vaccines need them:

Influenza viruses. The flu vaccine contains tiny amounts of the viruses it protects against.

Formaldehyde.

Aluminum Salts.

Thimerosal.

Chicken egg proteins.

Gelatin.

Antibiotics.

Factors that may increase your risk of developing influenza or its complications include:

Age. Seasonal influenza tends to target young children and older adults.

Living or working conditions.

Weakened immune system.

Chronic illnesses.

Pregnancy.

Obesity.

Thimerosal is an ethyl mercury-based preservative used in vials that contain more than one dose of a vaccine (multi-dose vials) to prevent germs, bacteria and/or fungi from contaminating the vaccine.

For most flu vaccines, the strains of the viruses are grown in hens’ eggs. The viruses are then killed (deactivated) and purified before being made into the vaccine. Because the injected flu vaccine is a killed vaccine, it cannot cause flu.

Originally posted 2022-03-31 02:09:20.