Double Flu Shots: Are They a Good Idea?
Last week, I got my seasonal flu shot as part of my annual physical. But a lot of busy people are asking if they can just get a double jab when the H1N1 vaccine arrives in their neighborhood. Yes, says the CDC. Getting the two vaccines on the same day is safe and effective, not that public health experts want you to delay one for the other.
But many of us know "flu shot arm" too well. Admittedly, it's just a little achiness. Some people also report a mild fever. Would getting two jabs at once deliver a double whammy of discomfort or worse?
I asked Johns Hopkins University virologist and vaccine researcher Andrew Pekosz.
"Probably not," Pekosz says. "We know from a European study where they did exactly that." Though subjects got a flu shot in each arm, they were no more apt to report side effects than others who received one shot. And those who did experience mild achiness or fever rated the discomfort no more severe than those in the one-shot group.
It bears mentioning that the arm ache and slight fever that occasionally follow a flu shot do not mean that it has given you the flu. Flu shots contain only destroyed virus. Nothing infectious. The symptoms reflect your body's immunity-building response. And if needles make you crazy, you have the option of the nasal spray flu vaccine. Flu Mist is available for both H1N1 and seasonal flu this year. But at this point, you can't get a double squirt of H1N1 in one nostril and seasonal flu in the other. They've not yet been tested in tandem.
In addition, Flu Mist is not for everyone. It contains weakened live virus. So caution demands that it not be given to the immune-compromised, pregnant women, or those under 2 or over 50. Also, it occasionally triggers mild wheezing. So it's not for anyone with a respiratory condition such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Otherwise, squirt away.
--Jessica Snyder Sachs
Science journalist Jessica Snyder Sachs is the author of Good Germs, Bad Germs: Health and Survival in a Bacterial World. Got a question or comment about swine flu? Post it here. Throughout the flu season, Jessica will be answering your questions on all things influenza.
image: a. cappetta/getty images
--Jessica Snyder Sachs
Science journalist Jessica Snyder Sachs is the author of Good Germs, Bad Germs: Health and Survival in a Bacterial World. Got a question or comment about swine flu? Post it here. Throughout the flu season, Jessica will be answering your questions on all things influenza.image: a. cappetta/getty images
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Thanks for this useful information. It is very informative and hence people who will come across this site will gain lot of information about it. I like this site, as it was being useful to me. I will visit this site in future too.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/15/People-Who-Get-a-Seasonal-Flu-Shot-Are-Twice-as-Likely-to-Catch-Swine-Flu.aspx
Really? No live flu in the flu shot? What about other viruses, bacteria, fungi?
Will you swear to that? What consequences are you willing to suffer if you are wrong?
Yeah, I didn't think so.
1) Any medication can become contaminated during manufacturing
2) The process used to "kill" viruses in vaccines isn't 100% -there's no such thing as perfect particularly when humans are involved.
3) The outside of a vial can become contaminated, as can the needle. Multidose vials which is what is used for most flu vaccines are even more likely to contain contaminated fluid.
4) One company already shipped a seasonal flu vaccine with live avian flu. Accidentally, or on purpose -I'm not qualified to judge.
Baxter: Product contained live bird flu virus
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/02/27/8560781.html
Baxter To Develop Swine Flu Vaccine Despite Bird Flu Scandal
http://www.infowars.net/articles/april2009/270409Baxter.htm
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091014/NEWS/909249981
The virus is shed nasally for up to 21 days, and it is LIVE virus. The FluMist alone could very likely generate the pandemic that we haven't seen, not protect us from it.
Thanks for the news links. Very interesting. Please note that the mishap concerning live virus in a vaccine was in EXPERIMENTAL vaccine being used in LAB ANIMALS, NOT PEOPLE. Again thanks. I appreciate your comments and insights. JSS
And the experimental vaccine was made in Europe for European lab experiments--not a reflection on the safety controls in place in the U.S. for vaccines to be used in people. JSS