Misconceptions about the Flu Vaccine

1) I got the flu shot and then got the flu.

Flu vaccines do not cause the flu. The flu vaccine being given is “inactivated,” meaning the virus is dead and therefore cannot cause the flu. One reason for the temporal relationship between getting the flu shot and getting the flu is that it takes at least two weeks for the flu vaccine to work. This is because our immune system takes time to “prime” our body to recognize and fight off the flu virus. In the meantime, we might be exposed to the flu and get it while our immune system isn’t ready to fight it off.

Another reason is that there are actually many types of flu strains: H1N1, H3N2, etc. Each year flu experts make a prediction on what type of flu strains should be covered in the flu vaccine, but they don’t always get it right. You might have had the flu shot, but then be exposed to a different strain that the flu vaccine does not cover. Or even if the flu vaccine covers your specific flu strain, your immune system didn’t have time to develop adequate antibodies (soldiers for your immune system) to fight off the specific flu strain “enemy.”

2) The flu vaccine will mess with my immune system. I want to allow my body the “natural way” to respond.

Our body’s ability to respond to infection is the same, whether it is through direct exposure to infection or through vaccination. Essentially, our immune system has to be given the antigen (think of it as a picture of the enemy), only then can our immune system make out what exactly the enemy is. Wouldn’t you rather deal with a “dead” enemy through a vaccine so that it will allow your immune system (army) to equip itself in a gradual and complete manner, rather than hurriedly put together a rushed “army” to fight an active enemy (active infection)?

3) I never got the flu shot and I never got the flu.

There will be a first time for everything. Why risk missing work, infecting others, getting pneumonia, hospitalization, or even death if you don’t have to?

4) Doesn’t the flu vaccine have mercury in it?

No. Flu vaccines in single-dose and pre-filled syringes (the ones we use in CNMI) do not contain any thimerosal or other mercury products.

5) I’ve heard that the flu vaccine can cause autism?

Multiple studies including from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Institute of Medicine have dispelled this misconception. There is no link between autism spectrum disorder and vaccination of children. (PR)