Flu vaccine thread time!

“Why should I get the flu shot?”
- Influenza is a virus that:
1. Causes millions of Americans to miss work or school
2. Hospitalizes hundreds of thousands of Americans every year
3. Kills tens of thousands of Americans (32,900 for 2018-2019) https://twitter.com/babbymd/status/1296065712629272576

“But the flu shot is only X% effective!”
- In general, getting the flu shot reduces your risk of getting the flu by 40-60%
- Each seasonal flu shot varies in effectiveness based on how closely the viruses included in the vaccine match those circulating in the community BUT

- Even if you get your flu shot and still get influenza, you are significantly less likely to need hospitalization, ICU admission, and less likely to die from influenza infection
- The flu shot significantly decreases a child’s risk of death from influenza

“But I got the flu shot one year, and then I got the flu!”
- It takes about 14 days for your body to start producing antibodies against influenza after vaccine; during this time you aren’t protected from flu
- People often get colds that feel like “the flu” but not true influenza

- And yes, the flu shot is not a silver bullet! Plenty of people who get the flu shot will still contract influenza... but those people are less likely to have severe illness that results in hospitalization, ICU stay, or death

“But I’m allergic to eggs!”
- You’re in luck! Egg allergy is no longer a contradiction to getting the flu shot!
- While many flu vaccines do contain egg proteins, the risk of anaphylaxis to the flu vaccine per dose is 1.31 in 1,000,000
- There are egg-free flu vaccines available

“Talk to me about reactions to the vaccine.”
- The vast majority of reactions are mild: soreness, redness, or swelling at injection site, headache, low-grade fever, etc.
- Redness or swelling at the injection site is almost always NOT allergy

-What the flu shot CANNOT do is GIVE YOU INFLUENZA. The inactivated flu vaccines contain “dead” virus that is not capable of replicating and making you sick... think of it as just the “bones” of a “killed” virus.

“But what about the risk of Guillain-Barré Syndrome?”
-There have been cases of GBS associated with flu vaccine (<1-2 cases/1M) BUT!!!
-The risk of GBS from INFLUENZA INFECTION is much higher than from the flu shot
-The incidence of GBS in general is HIGHER in unvaccinated pts!

Here’s a helpful article that discusses the relative risks and incidence of GBS with respect to influenza infection and the flu shot:
https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/58/8/1149/355966