Fact or Myth: Flu Shot Edition
1. You cannot get your flu shot if you have a cold: MYTH
Everyone who’s anyone (the CDC, NIH, and NHS) says that you can still get the flu shot even if you have a cold, runny nose, cough, or ear infection because these are all considered mild illnesses. Only a fever greater than 101ºF or 38ºC should prevent you from getting the flu vaccine.
2. “The flu shot gave me the flu”: MYTH
Flu shots are made with inactivated viruses or with a gene isolated from a flu virus so they cannot cause you to contract the flu. People can experience mild flu symptoms like low-grade fever, headache, and muscle aches over 1-2 days after receiving the flu shot.
FUN FACT: Studies comparing the flu shot to placebo (salt water injection), found that “there were no differences in terms of body aches, fever, cough, runny nose or sore throat”.
THE MOST LIKELY EXPLANATION: It’s winter. That means runny noses, people hacking up a lung on the train, and your children bringing home a whole collection of the biggest and baddest germs on the playground. Since it takes about two weeks for your body to build immunity after getting the flu shot, any exposure during that time can result in the flu, even after you’ve gotten the flu shot.
3. The flu shot only protects me from three or four flu viruses: FACT
The flu shot not only protects you from three (trivalent) or four (quadrivalent) flu viruses; it also protects your family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and fellow commuters (did I mention how much I hate people coughing and sneezing on the train?) from the flu too! The concept of herd immunity is that if everyone does their job by getting a flu shot, you protect yourself and others by not getting or spreading the flu. Upset that it only protects you from four bugs? Well it’s four more than you had before.
4. My flu shot lasts forever: MYTH
There are two reasons to get your flu shot every year:
1. The immunity to your flu shot only lasts one season (roughly 9 months or October to June)
2. Flu viruses evolve faster than humans ever can. Each year, health professionals are hard at work creating new vaccines to protect us against the newly evolved flu strains.
5. The flu shot causes autism: LIE
I refuse to even call this a myth because it is and always was a blatant lie. The CDC, FDA, American Academy of Pediatrics, and even the organization Autism Speaks all agree that vaccines do not cause, and have never caused, autism. Don’t believe me? I apologize but I do not have the time and space to correct you in this article. Click the links for each organization to educate yourself!
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