The myth of getting the flu from the flu shot
Obama getting his flu vaccination.
As part of my history in medical industry, I used to train sales representatives on new medical products and procedures. Because these sales reps were in hospitals and physicians offices, many medical companies (yes, Big Pharma), a condition of employment was that they were required to be up-to-date on their vaccinations including the seasonal flu vaccine. Not all companies did this, and not all companies made it mandatory, but there was nothing worse than having a large percentage of the sales force out of commission sick with flu, especially if a new product was being launched. And doctor’s offices did not want sales reps walking into their offices sick either, so it was a good business practice. Exemptions were just not given, because it was a job requirement stated clearly in the written job offer, so they had a choice to not take the job.
It was ironic that these well-paid, well-educated mouthpieces for Big Pharma would make up the most silly excuses for not wanting the flu vaccination. The number one reason, that I would hear, is that “the flu shot always gives me the flu.” And that’s just not these sales reps who would make up this claim, but apparently in a 2010 CDC poll, 62% of Americans also believe the flu vaccine can actually cause the flu.
Well, let’s just blow that myth right out of the water:
- According to the CDC, “No, a flu shot cannot cause flu illness. The viruses contained in flu shots are inactivated (killed), which means they cannot cause infection. Flu vaccine manufacturers kill the viruses used in the flu shot during the process of making vaccine, and batches of flu vaccine are tested to make sure they are safe.”
- In a 2000 study on flu vaccine effectiveness, 2.2% of vaccine recipients vs. 4.4% of placebo recipients had laboratory confirmed influenza illness in 1997-1998. During the next flu season, 1% of vaccine recipients and 10% of placebo recipients had influenza illness. So, the risk of getting the flu is much higher in the non-vaccinated group.
- According to the ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices), rare symptoms include fever, muscle pain, and feelings of discomfort or weakness, which may mimic flu symptoms, but last only 1-2 days (as opposed to flu which may last 7-10 days).
So, if you think that the flu vaccine gives you the flu, it really doesn’t. And I’m not the only one saying this:
- Fact vs. Fiction – Families Fighting Flu
- Friday Flu Shot: Myth Busted by MOMmunization « Shot of Prevention
- Myth Buster | MOMmunizations
Get your flu shot. Because, you know, Vaccines Save Lives.
You mentioned….
•According to the ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices), rare symptoms include fever, muscle pain, and feelings of discomfort or weakness, which may mimic flu symptoms, but last only 1-2 days (as opposed to flu which may last 7-10 days).
So, if you think that the flu vaccine gives you the flu, it really doesn’t. And I’m not the only one saying this:
I did come down ill with flu type simptoms the day after getting my flu shot, and Yes I was sick for 3 days and not 7-10 days. Are you saying that the fact that I was sick only 3 days and not 7-10 days proves I was not sick with the flu from my flu shot? IT WAS THE FLU!
[...] flu vaccination. Just in case you believe the myths about the flu vaccine, they’re not true. The vaccine does not itself cause the flu. The vaccine is safe for pregnant women. And most of the other myths have been solidly [...]
You mentioned….
•According to the ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices), rare symptoms include fever, muscle pain, and feelings of discomfort or weakness, which may mimic flu symptoms, but last only 1-2 days (as opposed to flu which may last 7-10 days).
So, if you think that the flu vaccine gives you the flu, it really doesn’t. And I’m not the only one saying this:
I did come down ill with flu type simptoms the day after getting my flu shot, and Yes I was sick for 3 days and not 7-10 days. Are you saying that the fact that I was sick only 3 days and not 7-10 days proves I was not sick with the flu from my flu shot? IT WAS THE FLU!
[...] some of the common anti-vaccination myths like “the flu vaccine can give you the flu.” A myth that I thoroughly debunked. Interestingly, about 75% of children from 6-23 months old were vaccinated, because they see [...]
The Big Pharma boy never rests!! Thats my boy!!! Keep up the BS!!!
era espectacular se cancelasse uma presença por estar engripado
Yes, keep up the ad hominem attacks, because that always works. I have the evidence that supports my hypothesis. I even attempted to nullify my hypothesis. And, Henrique, what did you do?
[...] don’t listen to those myths about the flu vaccine, they just aren’t true. No, they aren’t [...]
[...] by a simple and safe flu vaccination. And don’t listen to those myths about the flu vaccine, they just aren’t true. No, they aren’t [...]
[...] getting close to flu season, and it’s time to get your flu shot. Of course, there are myths for why people won’t get their flu shots. All of them are amusingly [...]
The Big Pharma boy never rests!! Thats my boy!!! Keep up the BS!!!
era espectacular se cancelasse uma presença por estar engripado
uhh … que artigo esquisito. A vacina da gripe (como de resto a maioria das vacinas) tem como único objectivo "treinar" o sistema imunitário a responder de forma eficiente no caso do organismo ser exposto à coisa verdadeira. Por isso é que, como o artigo diz, a vacina normalmente é uma amostra do vírus incapacitado.
Agora, também no caso da gripe, os sintomas típicos não são mais do que a reacção do organismo à luta contra o "invasor", vulgo: inflamação (febre, inchaço, corrimento da mucosa na garganta e nariz, dor de cabeça – inchaço da meninge).
Ou seja, sim quando somos vacinados contra a gripe é normal sentirmos os sintomas da gripe porque é isso que o corpo está a fazer, está a programar a reacção ao vírus e isso inclui inflamação. Não ficamos com a gripe mas ficamos com os sintomas da gripe.
Yes, keep up the ad hominem attacks, because that always works. I have the evidence that supports my hypothesis. I even attempted to nullify my hypothesis. And, Henrique, what did you do?
Vancouver researcher finds flu shot is linked to H1N1 illness.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Vancouver+researcher+finds+shot+linked+H1N1+illness/7217609/story.html#ixzz26p9IS6HF.
Sorry. You have failed miserably. If you’re going to step up to this Skeptical Raptor, I would suggest bringing some real sources. Not Joe Mercola. That was so laughable, I nearly spit up my coffee.
Not Mercola here. Besides I am not against vaccines; I am against forced vaccinations and for choice not get vaccinated.
Surprise!
Data collected from Canada and Hong Kong during 2009-2010 showed that people who received the seasonal flu vaccine in 2008 had twice the risk of getting the H1N1 “swine flu,” compared to those who hadn’t received a flu shot.
While the initial findings were largely discounted, new research confirms the link between the flu vaccination and an increased risk of more serious bouts of pandemic illness.
There are major differences between naturally-acquired immunity and vaccine-induced immunity. With vaccination, you are creating an antibody, but as recent research has confirmed, unvaccinated children naturally build up more antibodies against a wider variety of flu virus strains than vaccinated children.
Vaccines are never 100 percent protective because they provide only temporary, typically inferior immunity compared to that your body would receive from naturally contracting and recovering from a disease.http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/09/18/flu-shot-increases-flu-illness.aspx?e_cid=20120918_DNL_art_1.
Flu Vaccine Increases Risk of Serious Pandemic Flu Illness.
articles.mercola.com
Using Mercola, who is an anti-vaxxer and lacks any scientific knowledge, as your source is kind of amusing. Then using a newspaper article as your second source is also funny. Then get all the data wrong without using a critical eye is absolutely a travesty to scientific skepticism.
There were a few studies out of Canada that indicated that if you got the seasonal flu shot during the H1N1 epidemic, and didn’t get the H1N1 shot, you were more likely to get H1N1. This was not replicated in other countries, a critical point that you ignore.
We can only conclude that it was because if you were not immunized for seasonal flu, you were more likely to get the flu, and if you did that, the illness probably gave you some cross immunity to H1N1. This is not all that concerning because you had to go through the flu in the first place to enjoy the immunity to the H1N1, and who wants that. Also I don’t believe they looked at people who immunized for both H1N1 and seasonal.
Now apparently, they did an experiment where they immunized some ferrets against seasonal influenza and sprayed them down with H1N1. The immunized ferrets had worse outcomes with their H1N1.
Unfortunately, this study is not published in a peer-reviewed journal. So, it is impossible to evaluate the methods used by the researchers. Did the ferrets have some exposure to actual seasonal flu prior to the H1N1 hosing? It seems unlikely, so it does not fit with the theory of exposure that I described. Is there a temporary immunosuppressive effect to the vaccine? With the first hib vaccine, there was a short window in which you were more likely to get hib following vaccination – basically the immune system was tied up responding to the vaccine, so hib had a slightly increased chance of slipping it.
Or, as the author discussed, there might have been a situation in which one of the seasonal strains was close to the H1N1 in terms of antigens, and after making antibodies to the seasonal, the immune system was less “willing” to make antibodies to the H1N1, thinking it had already done that (although the antibodies it made were different enough to not work against H1N1).
I think this relates to the idea of “original antigenic sin.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_antigenic_sin
It is possible that when the body encountered H1N1, it tried to make the similar but ineffective seasonal antibodies instead.
This article has some quotes from the author of the study that look at these theories. At this point, I don’t think there is anything conclusive to be said, and the study can’t be critiqued. I think the talking points would be that the author of the study still recommends vaccination, and it is probably a good idea to get both seasonal and pandemic vaccines if another pandemic comes along.
http://metronews.ca/health/363279/canadian-problem-maybe-not-study-finds/
In other words, you are providing a one-off situation in one geographic area with one problematic result with one strain of one variant of Type A flu. We cannot prove that what happened actually happened. We cannot show if there was a bad lot of flu vaccine shipped to that area of Canada. We cannot even show that the because of the availability of flu vaccines was such that the timing of flu vaccinations was given in the wrong sequence.
But, because you have chosen to create a condemnation of all flu vaccinations, even though this observation was seen NOWHERE else, you decide to imply that my hypothesis of nullifying the myth was wrong. Well, you haven’t done anything. And using Mercola, one of the lamest and most unknowledgeable woo-meisters on the planet as your source only further supports my hypothesis that the flu vaccine is safe.
You have failed to really make any point. Sorry.
Thanks to Nathan Boonstra for most of this reply.
It must be I touched a raw nerve here. I am not condemning anything. Beside, Mercola editors just COMPILED the data. Cool down. I am not against vaccines; I am against forced medical procedures (incl. vaccinations). Dr. Mengele would have been very proud.
Ah, the Godwin. Actually Jacobson v. Massachusetts gives the state the right to compel all citizens to get vaccinated. Done. Boom.
Oh, one more thing. Mengele was trying to kill people. Vaccines save lives. Your strawman argument fails miserably and absolutely. Please try to do better when you argue with me.
You must be very insecure. Mengele was performing medical procedures on healthy people. Including injectables. Many are in today’s vaccines. All this in Auschwitz archives.
I didn’t know you were a Holocaust denier. Sorry. Mengele was trying to kill Jews. Vaccines are used to save lives. Any comparison is beyond the logic of sane people. This conversation is done.
Vancouver researcher finds flu shot is linked to H1N1 illness.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Vancouver+researcher+finds+shot+linked+H1N1+illness/7217609/story.html#ixzz26p9IS6HF.
Sorry. You have failed miserably. If you're going to step up to this Skeptical Raptor, I would suggest bringing some real sources. Not Joe Mercola. That was so laughable, I nearly spit up my coffee.
Not Mercola here. Besides I am not against vaccines; I am against forced vaccinations and for choice not get vaccinated.
Surprise!
Data collected from Canada and Hong Kong during 2009-2010 showed that people who received the seasonal flu vaccine in 2008 had twice the risk of getting the H1N1 “swine flu,” compared to those who hadn't received a flu shot.
While the initial findings were largely discounted, new research confirms the link between the flu vaccination and an increased risk of more serious bouts of pandemic illness.
There are major differences between naturally-acquired immunity and vaccine-induced immunity. With vaccination, you are creating an antibody, but as recent research has confirmed, unvaccinated children naturally build up more antibodies against a wider variety of flu virus strains than vaccinated children.
Vaccines are never 100 percent protective because they provide only temporary, typically inferior immunity compared to that your body would receive from naturally contracting and recovering from a disease.http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/09/18/flu-shot-increases-flu-illness.aspx?e_cid=20120918_DNL_art_1.
Flu Vaccine Increases Risk of Serious Pandemic Flu Illness.
articles.mercola.com
Using Mercola, who is an anti-vaxxer and lacks any scientific knowledge, as your source is kind of amusing. Then using a newspaper article as your second source is also funny. Then get all the data wrong without using a critical eye is absolutely a travesty to scientific skepticism.
There were a few studies out of Canada that indicated that if you got the seasonal flu shot during the H1N1 epidemic, and didn't get the H1N1 shot, you were more likely to get H1N1. This was not replicated in other countries, a critical point that you ignore.
We can only conclude that it was because if you were not immunized for seasonal flu, you were more likely to get the flu, and if you did that, the illness probably gave you some cross immunity to H1N1. This is not all that concerning because you had to go through the flu in the first place to enjoy the immunity to the H1N1, and who wants that. Also I don't believe they looked at people who immunized for both H1N1 and seasonal.
Now apparently, they did an experiment where they immunized some ferrets against seasonal influenza and sprayed them down with H1N1. The immunized ferrets had worse outcomes with their H1N1.
Unfortunately, this study is not published in a peer-reviewed journal. So, it is impossible to evaluate the methods used by the researchers. Did the ferrets have some exposure to actual seasonal flu prior to the H1N1 hosing? It seems unlikely, so it does not fit with the theory of exposure that I described. Is there a temporary immunosuppressive effect to the vaccine? With the first hib vaccine, there was a short window in which you were more likely to get hib following vaccination – basically the immune system was tied up responding to the vaccine, so hib had a slightly increased chance of slipping it.
Or, as the author discussed, there might have been a situation in which one of the seasonal strains was close to the H1N1 in terms of antigens, and after making antibodies to the seasonal, the immune system was less "willing" to make antibodies to the H1N1, thinking it had already done that (although the antibodies it made were different enough to not work against H1N1).
I think this relates to the idea of "original antigenic sin."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_antigenic_sin
It is possible that when the body encountered H1N1, it tried to make the similar but ineffective seasonal antibodies instead.
This article has some quotes from the author of the study that look at these theories. At this point, I don't think there is anything conclusive to be said, and the study can't be critiqued. I think the talking points would be that the author of the study still recommends vaccination, and it is probably a good idea to get both seasonal and pandemic vaccines if another pandemic comes along.
http://metronews.ca/health/363279/canadian-problem-maybe-not-study-finds/
In other words, you are providing a one-off situation in one geographic area with one problematic result with one strain of one variant of Type A flu. We cannot prove that what happened actually happened. We cannot show if there was a bad lot of flu vaccine shipped to that area of Canada. We cannot even show that the because of the availability of flu vaccines was such that the timing of flu vaccinations was given in the wrong sequence.
But, because you have chosen to create a condemnation of all flu vaccinations, even though this observation was seen NOWHERE else, you decide to imply that my hypothesis of nullifying the myth was wrong. Well, you haven't done anything. And using Mercola, one of the lamest and most unknowledgeable woo-meisters on the planet as your source only further supports my hypothesis that the flu vaccine is safe.
You have failed to really make any point. Sorry.
Thanks to Nathan Boonstra for most of this reply.
It must be I touched a raw nerve here. I am not condemning anything. Beside, Mercola editors just COMPILED the data. Cool down. I am not against vaccines; I am against forced medical procedures (incl. vaccinations). Dr. Mengele would have been very proud.
Ah, the Godwin. Actually Jacobson v. Massachusetts gives the state the right to compel all citizens to get vaccinated. Done. Boom.
Oh, one more thing. Mengele was trying to kill people. Vaccines save lives. Your strawman argument fails miserably and absolutely. Please try to do better when you argue with me.
You must be very insecure. Mengele was performing medical procedures on healthy people. Including injectables. Many are in today's vaccines. All this in Auschwitz archives.
I didn't know you were a Holocaust denier. Sorry. Mengele was trying to kill Jews. Vaccines are used to save lives. Any comparison is beyond the logic of sane people. This conversation is done.