During the winter of 2010, junior Katie Beall caught what she did not expect to catch. Suffering through physical pain and throbbing headaches, she was infected by the seasonal influenza.
Prior to her sickness that year, Beall followed her mother into her pediatrician’s office to receive her annual flu shot. Although she expected this shot to protect her from any flu infection, she was surprised when she woke up with the sickness a few days after.
Beall said that ever since that year, she has stopped getting flu shots, because she believed it could potentially give her the flu. Beall has not had the flu in years, so she said she really did not find the need to get the shots anymore.
However, pharmacist Sarah Chang said the myth of developing the flu from a flu shot is false.
“It’s true that a common side effect is a little bit of [a] fever, but it is a misconception,” said Chang. “Flu shots cannot make anyone sick.”
According to Chang, the influenza vaccination consists of different strains of inactivated viruses. The seasonal vaccine is trivalent, comprised of three components, and contain strains that should protect against three different influenza viruses predicted to be prevalent that year. Since the flu viruses are continually adapting to the new vaccines and mutating to withstand the vaccinations, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) distinguishes which strains the flu shots will incorporate each year.
“When you inject [an inactivated virus] into the human body, [the injection] is really made just to trigger your immune response,” said Chang. “We’re not introducing a real virus per se, but [rather] a clone where the virus cannot infect host cells and replicate.”
While Chang said that flu shots do not promote any sort of flu sickness, she also acknowledges a recent study revealing flu shots lowering the risk of cardiac diseases, strokes and arrests. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, physician Jacob A. Udell conducted a study, testing whether the influenza vaccine is associated with the prevention of cardiovascular events. The study concluded that the vaccine affects patients by lowering their risks of major heart malfunctions.
“Since people tend to strongly trust what is said out in the media, this new study can in fact influence more people to get their flu shots,” Chang said.
According to Chang, when people receive flu shots, it can take two to three weeks for the immune system to “fully kick in” and form the right antibodies that can attack the recognizable viruses.
Chang said while many people get their flu shots, one downside is that the shots do not protect against all flu viruses because they only recognize three strains. In the case that people are exposed to other viruses not integrated in the vaccine culture, the shot may not create the correct antibodies to fight against these additional viruses. Chang believes Beall did not develop the correct antibodies to fight against the unfamiliar viruses.
“I guess I just blamed the shot for my flu and didn’t understand that I was probably infected with a different virus my body couldn’t detect,” said Beall. “But since I know now [that the influenza vaccination does not cause the flu], I might actually reconsider getting the flu shot again.”