Lots of reactions to the flu vax this year

[TazziRN]

we've given a lot of vaxes through our home health agency and this year we're hearing a lot of minor complaints: feeling achey, low grade temps, etc. last friday monster got hers, and she's been running a fever ever since. unusual for her, she's never run fevers with vaxes before. not low grade, either, i've gotten some readings up to 103 at night.

yesterday dd#1 called me in a total panic at work, monster was running 105. i dropped and ran. took me an hour to get home and it had come down to 103.8. motrin brought it down to 100.6. by the time we got to the doc two hours later it was 99-something. fnp thinks it's just a vax reaction because she can't find anything else, but dang! she's on motrin around the clock for 3 days then we'll try a trial day of nothing to see if it comes back.

funny side note: i have a temporal thermometer. after the temp got down to 100 dd#1 said "her fever broke."

monster started crying and pointing to her forehead: "mama, my fever broke-ded here, can you fix it??"

[CocoaGirl]

We gave flu vaccines at our clinic two weeks ago, several staff and patients (including myself) had complaints of moderate to severe aches, fever and feeling poorly. I have never had this happen before, I don't know if I will be getting one next year. Also, a hospital support person in our local area had a cardiac arrest about 20 mins after getting their shot, they did make a full recovery. She had been receiving the vaccine for years without any problems.

[Dalzac, LPN, LVN, RN]

I have had reactions to flu vaccine every time I get one. Low grade fevers nausea and diarrhea I didn't get one this year since I have retired. But DH always get one since he is a transplant patient. This year he was sick for 3-4 days

[Kinky Slinky RN]

When I got my flu vaccine in October, I had a reaction as well. I got a fever, had body aches, fatigue. I got the flu shot at the beginning of shift and had to work a full 12 hours feeling like that... I had never had a reaction like that to a flu shot before. Also my arm was really sore this time, and I never get sore after a deltoid IM. One of our FIRST YEAR ER residents said its likely that I have had a strain of the flu that is being vaccinated and so even though it is not supposed to be a live virus, my body is reacting as if it has been reinfected with that flu strain...

[jojotoo, RN]

Take them every year. Never had any reaction of any kind.

[CHATSDALE]

i have had terrible experiences with the flu, one year i had reoccurances like every two to three weeks from november to april

since then i have always had the flu shot w/o reactions

i guess that this is an individual thing and people have to make up their own minds about what is best for them

[CyndieRN2007]

Take them every year. Never had any reaction of any kind.

Same here.

[nuangel1, BSN, RN]

same here i have taken them for years .both because i am a hcw in hospital and i have asthma .never had a problem .we did have 2 people who have had them before vacinated at urgent care then come to us with allergic reactions 1 was anaphylactic.same urgent care .

[sharona97, BSN, RN]

nuangel1: was the anaphylactic patient from this year's flu shot?

[vamedic4, EMT-P]

I get one every year, it's a requirement at my employer for bedside personnel. As usual, the arm aches for a few days, but keeping it moving through a range of motion exercise helps. Never felt ill from it, thank goodness.

And as with any chemical that we ingest, put on our skin, or get injected into us, we can have reactions from mild to severe, and for one reason or another, some people are more prone to this than othes. Having had a bad case of the flu several years back, I'll take the vaccine, deal with my sore arm, wash my hands a lot, and get back to work.

vamedic4;)

[rjflyn, ASN, RN]

I was at a conference a couple weeks a go on the pandemic flu and learned a lot about the flu in general.

First one cannot get the flu from a flu shot, it is made from dead virus protein pieces. Second of all the reactions everyone is describing are typical. They just mean one immune system is responding to the vaccine and if that particular strain of flu come around you will have some protection against it. That and any typical reaction is definitely better than having the flu.

To those who say they will never get the flu shot, I say never say never, we had some people at this lecture that were the same way. Most changed their minds when they learned that when the Pan Flu comes, someone close to them will die from it. Sadly we won't have the vaccine for it until we are in the middle of it, and then we won't even know if it will work.

RJ

[iwanna]

I had a mild reaction for the first time. I was extremely tired, sore throat, headache, chills, bodyaches, etc. I was in bed for a day. One day is sure worth it compared to 7 days. I am a flu vaccine advocate. I have a chronic illness - Sarcoidosis. And, I started having symptoms of Sarcoidosis following a bad bout of the flu back in 1987. I have had the flu several times in my life and it was horrible. I am convinced that the flu virus brought on my sarcidosis. I will always get a flu shot. In fact, one year when I was working, nobody could take the time to give me a shot. So, I gave it to myself in the leg.(that's how determined I was and did not want to wait)

[truern]

and people think I'm paranoid for not getting one.....never got one and never plan on it....

Got my first one ever last week....and my arm got a huge red swollen and itchy lump at the injection site plus hurt all danged week.

I won't be getting another one, that's for sure.