Released: September 26, 2006

Flu vaccine myths, misconceptions

Source: By Anita Manning, USA Today

Flu shots can’t cause the flu. But this is perhaps the most persistent of the myths about flu vaccine, experts say. The viruses in flu shots are dead. In the nasal spray vaccine FluMist, they’re live, but weakened and unable to grow in the lungs and cause illness.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends flu vaccine for more than 238 million of the USA’s 300 million citizens, including children 6 months to 5 years old; pregnant women; people age 50 or older; and anyone with a chronic medical condition such as asthma or diabetes. It is also recommended for health care workers and people who live with anyone in those risk groups.

After getting a flu vaccine, many people experience symptoms such as a runny nose or achiness for a day or so. That means the immune system is responding, and it’s a good sign, says Neil Schachter, a lung specialist at Mount Sinai Medical Center, and author of The Good Doctor’s Guide to Colds & Flu (Collins, $14.95). “It means your body is processing this material (in the vaccine), but it’s not flu.”

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