Flu shot facts

[Shotzie]

We care for a large population of patients of various kinds in our practice and we encourage everyone to get a flu shot. We also encourage the staff to get a flu shot since we are exposed to all the various kinds of "germies" that are out there in the winter months.

So now that we are talking about the flu shot we are already hearing all the crap and misinformation from the public about the shot...but even worse, some of our healthcare "professionals" are also saying stuff that is wrong, false or just in error. Usually I don't get to the point of pulling my hair out over hearing all this misinformation until late October but this year I am already gritting my teeth. So for everyones general information, here are the FACTS about the influenza vaccine:

FLU- is influenza. It is not a cold, it is not a stomach virus that lasts 24-48 hours and consists of nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.

Flu is a serious illness that consists of severe body aches and fatigue, chills, fever, sore throat, dry cough, nasal congestion, and sometimes, mild nausea or diarrhea. The average American who gets the flu misses 4 or more days of work and feels badly for another 5 days.

The influenza vaccine is 70-90% effective in preventing the flu in young, healthy adults. It can reduce influenza-related death in the elderly by as much as 80%

Palache AM, "Influenza vaccines: a reappraisal of their use.", Drugs 54:841-56, 1997

FLU is a dangerous illness. Millions of people in the United States-about 5% to 20% of U.S. residents-will get influenza each year. An average of about 36,000 people per year in the United States DIE from influenza, and 114,000 per year have to be admitted to the hospital as a result of influenza.

U.S.Center for Disease Control 2004

The FLU shot REALLY works-Those who take the flu shot can expect to have 25% fewer episodes of the flu and other upper respiratory infections, take 43% fewer absences due to illness and have 44% fewer visits to the doctor during the flu season.

New England Journal of Medicine 1995

The FLU shot WILL NOT CAUSE YOU TO GET THE FLU!!!

I don't care what you have heard, I don't care what you have experienced. The viruses in the vaccine ARE DEAD. It cannot give you the flu. If you got a flu shot and then came down with cold symptoms, it wasn't because of the flu shot...it was coincidence, not cause and effect. It takes 2 weeks to develop full immunity to the flu after you get the shot. That's why you take it in early October and flu doesn't have it's greatest activity until December (usually).

Also, it is possible that you might take a shot and still get the flu. But you will feel like you have a cold instead of being on your butt for 2 weeks. That's because a flu shot will still offer partial protection even if you are infected with a completely different strain of flu than is in the vaccine this year.

CDC, 12/03

The FLU shot is very safe- It is so safe it is even being recommended for pregnant women, nursing mothers and babies.

"Vaccines in pregnancy". Munoz FM - Infect Dis Clin North Am

It's better to take the Flu Shot than to wait until you have the disease and take antivirals. The flu shot is about $20.00 from commercial flu clinics, is usually free when taken at work and costs only your copay when you go to your doctor. The antivirals only work if you start them within 48 hours after the onset of symptoms, you will still miss a day or so of work because the meds only shorten the flu, not eliminate it. The antivirals only work against the A strain of flu virus, they are very expensive (approx. $75 to $150 per RX, depending upon how long you are on it).

Get your FLU shot-your heart will thank you!- Two studies suggest that a flu shot might protect you not only against the misery of the flu, but against a heart attack or stroke as well.

Harvard Heart Letter | October 2002

Sorry this was so long!

Now with that said, PLEASE be responsible in what you say both at work and to your friends and neighbors. People listen to you because they know you are a nurse and they trust your judgement. My 80 year old neighbor would never get a flu shot because her 55 year old LVN dtr told her she would get the flu if she took it. Last year she did get the flu, she ended up in the hospital with pneumonia, a UTI, a decubitus and confusion. And she never came home. She had been living on her own and doing well. Now she is in a nursing home and her dtr gripes about how much it cost to keep her there...a $20.00 flu shot and a $40.00 pneumonia shot would have prevented it.

What a shame!!!

[nurseygrrl, LPN]

Hi there...

You just reminded me that flu shot season is almost upon us and my whole facility will have to be vaccinated and charted on and I'll be responsible for my unit...ugh! :chuckle

I will never get another flu shot, nor will I recommend one to anybody. I had never had one until last season when my infection control nurse stalked me until I finally gave in. Hours afterward I got a headache like I've never had before. It was on one side of my head and seemed to travel along a nerve path...well that headache lasted for about 3 1/2 months. I can't prove that the flu shot caused it, but I can't rule it out either. It seems like a pretty big coincidence if you ask me. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I'll roll the dice with the flu!

[Jo Dirt]

Well, thanks for the rant. But I think you are the one spreading misinformation (parroting what the PR firms-or advertising agencies- that the drug companies hire say does not mean you are stating the facts). The pharma companies are in the business to sell their drugs and make money. Period.

Also, there is no flu vaccine for the flu that is active at this time. What you get is a shot for last year's strain of flu, and in many cases victims get reactions from these shots.

Anytime you induce the body to create antibodies you weaken the immune system and subject yourself to serious health complications, the government even acknowledges this though a public database.

Same thing with the hepatitis B vaccine. Total farce. As a matter of fact, most doctors I know would not take that shot.

It does sound like you should consider a job as a lobbyist for one of the drug companies.

[lsyorke, RN]

Getting the flu shot is a choice! No one should be badgered into getting it. It should be explained for what it is, a best guess by the CDC on what the strain of flu will be for this year. Sometimes they are right on, other times they have been off. That said I have never nor will ever get a flu shot. I don't chose to expose my immune system to a vaccine against a disease that might happen or might not. That is MY choice!!

[Jamesdotter]

Ever had the flu? When I did, I hurt all over--even the little muscles that raised the hairs on my body. That was over 40 years ago, but I NEVER want to go through that again. I have a flu shot every year and I browbeat my COPD spouse into it too!

[RN4NICU, LPN, LVN]

I have gotten the flu shot only twice in my life. Neither time did it prevent me from getting the flu. Nor did it shorten the course of the flu when I got it. I have gotten the flu once when I did not get the shot - same course. I know exactly what the flu is and do not claim to have gotten the flu from the shot but the flu shot did not prevent the flu for me either. I look at it as a choice, as well as a roll of the dice. I have not yet decided what I will do this year.

[Jo Dirt]

I have gotten the flu shot only twice in my life. Neither time did it prevent me from getting the flu. Nor did it shorten the course of the flu when I got it. I have gotten the flu once when I did not get the shot - same course. I know exactly what the flu is and do not claim to have gotten the flu from the shot but the flu shot did not prevent the flu for me either. I look at it as a choice, as well as a roll of the dice. I have not yet decided what I will do this year.

This is anecdotal, but my husband (who is almost 50 yrs. old) states he has not had the flu in over 30 yrs. and has never had a flu shot. Last time he had it was in '70 or '71 (I hadn't even been born then :chuckle )

I have worked the last four years in a nursing home, where many residents are vaccinated whenever flu season rolls around. The flu outbreaks occur soon after everyone has received their vaccinations. In fact, when I was 7 months pregnant my hall was quarantined because there were so many residents who were deathly ill from the flu (in spite of their vaccines). I didn't get sick. Of course, there were some employees who did get the shot who did not get sick either but the only thing this proves to me is that the flu shot does not work, and in fact, only makes the weak weaker.

When a weak person's immune system is stressed by a vaccine they can get very sick. Of course, I don't rally around trying to pursuade people to take the vaccine or not take the vaccine, but some residents have learned from experience. They have told me they would not take another flu shot after their last experience

[rnmi2004]

Anytime you induce the body to create antibodies you weaken the immune system

Last I checked, the immune system was designed to create antibodies. If getting the flu vax weakens a person's immune system, then they already have problems that have nothing to do with getting immunizations.

Thanks for posting this thread, Shotzie. :)

[Shotzie]

I became a nurse because science held great facination for me. Among the list of several jobs I have held in my long career one is critical care and nursing in a large university based medical school. I participated in research and had the privilege of working with several great scientists who were wonderful examples for me, and who are still producing well respected studies to this day.

The most important fact I learned is to trust the science, but only when it can be proven in more than one example.

The efficacy of the flu shot has been proven over and over again in multiple double blind studies by different groups in different settings. Some of those studies are indeed produced by drug companies LPNto RN, but many of them have been supported and funded by groups such as the Center for Disease Control and the NIH--and if you know physicians who do not support the Hep B vaccine, they need to step out of the jungle and into this century. There are approximately 80,000 new cases of hepatitis B infection each year in the United States, many of them among children. The Hep B vaccine is a great reducer of morbidity and mortality. It is well respected among reputable physicians and healthcare organizations.

Isyorke, I never said anyone should force you to take one. I just asked you to consider the total body of evidence from research when you espouse your thoughts and opinions.

It bothers me tremendously to meet nurses who do not keep up with what's new in medicine and what has changed. Most nurses I know and work with are smart and well informed--you can look at this web site to see evidence of this fact. We are primary healthcare providers to our families, friends and the patients at our jobs. People listen to what we say. Let's make sure we are saying the right thing.

[stsdoc]

Anytime you induce the body to create antibodies you weaken the immune system and subject yourself to serious health complications, the government even acknowledges this though a public database.

Don't you know how the immune system works? Have you ever taken immuno? Primary exposure to antigen (ie the flu vaccine) "primes" the immune system and creates proliferation of a memory lymphocytes that cause a stronger and faster attack when you come in contact with the real flu virus. I'd like to see the database you're talking about. For a healthcare professional, you sure don't put much faith in medicine.

[group_theory]

The "hypothesis" that immunization weakens the immune system is interesting, but there is no scientific basis for it. I have yet to see a peer-review article in a reputable journal suggesting this hypothesis.

The posts against immunization so far have listed interesting arguments. It employs a logical fallacy called post hoc ergo propter hoc ("after this, therefore because of this"), which mistakes association for causation.

Right now in medicine, EBM (evidence-based medicine) is stressed. I suspect a similar trend is occuring in the nursing field.

Anyway, interesting reads if you have time

A cohort study of the effectiveness of influenza vaccine in older people, performed using the United Kingdom general practice research database.

J Infect Dis. 2004 Jul 1;190(1):1-10

Acute respiratory illness in patients with COPD and the effectiveness of influenza vaccination: a randomized controlled study.

Chest. 2004 Jun;125(6):2011-20.

Influence of clinical case definitions with differing levels of sensitivity and specificity on estimates of the relative and absolute health benefits of influenza vaccination among healthy working adults and implications for economic analyses.

Virus Res. 2004 Jul;103(1-2):3-8.

[uk_nurse]

2 yrs ago i had the flu jab for the first time....A few days later i was ill and diagnosed with the flu. I was very poorly and was off work for a while. I cant really remember having the flu like that until i had my jab. So i go on my experience, research is not 100% accurate , everyone is different and no the flu jab is not for me! I am 19 weeks pregnant too and been recommended by occupational health doctor not to have it......not as though i was going to any way.

My theory is if in doubt dont do it!