Extreme Fatigue After Flu Shot 2020

Q: How Can The Flu And Its Complications Be Prevented

Some coronavirus patients have extreme fatigue well beyond the anticipated recovery period | 7.30

A: The flu and the common complications of this infection can be prevented with a high degree of success when a person receives the current flu vaccine. A new vaccine is made each year so that the vaccine contains the 3 most common circulating influenza strains that are expected to cause illness that year. For maximum effect, doctors highly recommend you are vaccinated well before the winter season starts, March and April.

Can I Have The Flu Vaccine If I Take Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a type of medicine used to treat some cancers, including metastatic melanoma, renal clear cell carcinoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, non-small celllung cancer and other solid organ tumours. Checkpoint inhibitors include ipilimumab, nivolumab and pembrolizumab.

People taking checkpoint inhibitors may have a higher risk of immune-related side effects following influenza vaccination. Talk to your oncologist about the risks and benefits of the flu shot.

For more information on the flu vaccine, go to the Department of Health website or call the National Immunisation Hotline on 1800 671 811.

Can I Get Seasonal Flu Even Though I Got A Flu Vaccine This Year

Yes. Its possible to get sick with flu even if you have been vaccinated . This is possible for the following reasons:

You may be exposed to a flu virus shortly before getting vaccinated or during the period that it takes the body to gain protection after getting vaccinated. This exposure may result in you becoming ill with flu before the vaccine begins to protect you.
You may be exposed to a flu virus that is not included in the seasonal flu vaccine. There are many different flu viruses that circulate every year. A flu vaccine is made to protect against the three or four flu viruses that research suggests will be most common.
Unfortunately, some people can become infected with a flu virus a flu vaccine is designed to protect against, despite getting vaccinated. Protection provided by flu vaccination can vary widely, based in part on health and age factors of the person getting vaccinated. In general, a flu vaccine works best among healthy younger adults and older children. Some older people and people with certain chronic illnesses may develop less immunity after vaccination. Flu vaccination is not a perfect tool, but it is the best way to protect against flu infection.

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Overview Of Flu Jab Side Effects

Before receiving the flu vaccination, there are a few flu jab side effects to note. The flu vaccine is very safe, and most people wont experience any side effects after their flu vaccination. If you do have any side effects these should clear up after a day or so.

Side effects tend to be mild, but you may:

Have a raised temperature
Have a headache

After the jab, you may feel a mild fever and slight muscle aches for a day or so, however this is completely normal and is nothing to worry about. Others may also have a sore arm after getting your vaccination.

Here, at LloydsPharmacy, we answer all your common questions on the side effects of the flu jab.

Q: What Is Influenza And How Is It Transmitted

A: Influenza, or the flu as it is commonly called, is a highly contagious respiratory viral illness and is most common during the winter months. Influenza A and B are the major types of flu viruses that infect the body and can cause serious illness, and even death, in people of all ages. When someone with the flu sneezes or coughs, the virus is expelled into the air and may be inhaled by anyone close by.

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Severe Muscle Pain And Weakness All Over Body After Flu Shot

On October 1st, I had a flu shot, not the H1N1, just the regular flu shot. I’ve had the flu shot many times before with muscle pain and soreness in the arm that the injection was received in that usually subsided within a few days.

This time however, the pain was almost unbearable and seemed to be “spreading” to other parts of my body.

The first night it was just my upper arm. The second night it was my upper arm, pec muscle, muscles of the underarm, and muscles in the upper corner of my back. It was excrutiating and was slightly relieved with 800mg of ibuprofen.

Can I Have Flu And Covid

Yes. It is possible to have flu, as well as other respiratory illnesses, and COVID-19 at the same time. Health experts are still studying how common this can be.
Some of the symptoms of flu and COVID-19 are similar, making it hard to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone. Diagnostic testing can help determine if you are sick with flu or COVID-19.

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Does The Flu Vaccination Protect Me From Coronavirus

Getting the flu vaccination wont protect you from the coronavirus as it is a different virus, and a vaccine for it is currently being made available. However, The World Health Organization recommends we all get the flu vaccine each year to help prevent the flu and keep you and your family healthy all winter long.

What Is A Flu Vaccine

Many experience fatigue, fever, body aches after receiving second dose of Covid-19 vaccine

Influenza vaccines are vaccines that protect against the four influenza viruses that research indicates most common during the upcoming season. Most flu vaccines are flu shots given with a needle, usually in the arm, but there also is also a nasal spray flu vaccine.

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Reaction At The Injection Site

The most common side effect of the flu shot is a reaction at the injection site, which is typically on the upper arm. After the shot is given, you may have soreness, redness, warmth, and in some cases, slight swelling. These effects usually last less than two days.

To help reduce discomfort, try taking some ibuprofen before getting your shot.

Flu Shot Vs Covid Vaccines

Since the COVID-19 vaccines started rolling out in December 2020, over 67% of the U.S. population have received at least one dose. Some people reported side effects of the COVID shot that kept them home in bed for a day or two.

While the COVID vaccine does not protect against the flu the side effects of the vaccines are similar. A sore arm where the shot was given, fatigue, fever, and body aches, can happen with either vaccine.

It’s also completely safe to get both shots at the same time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has given the green light for people to get both a COVID-19 vaccine and the flu shot, along with other vaccines that they might be due for, at the same visit.

According to the CDC, the immune response that is triggered after you get a vaccine is usually the same whether you get one shot at a time or multiple shots at once.

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Flu Shot Side Effectsworse This Year

Jennifer Kaufman, MD, a pediatrician at Stanford Childrens Health, told Verywell that so far this year, they “have not heard complaints that the flu vaccine is causing more side effects than in past years.”

In the U.S., flu season typically starts in October and peaks in February.

Kaufman has been getting the “usual reports of mild fever and some body aches for one to two days after the flu vaccine” but points out that this does not happen to everyone. “We cannot really predict who will and wont develop these side effects, she said.

Can I Get A Free Flu Vaccine

The flu vaccination is free to people who are at increased risk of catching flu. This includes those people who have low immunity due to disease or treatment, such as cancer treatment.

It is also free for many children and those aged 65 years and over. And the UK nations have plans to offer free vaccines for adults younger than 65 years later in the season.

Speak to your GP if you had your cancer treatment some time ago and you are not sure if you can have a free vaccine. If you are not eligible, you can book and pay for a vaccine at a range of pharmacies or private healthcare providers.

Read more about the flu vaccination programme where you live:

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Does This Happen With All Immunizations

It can. Not everyone gets a sore arm from every vaccine, but different factors like how the vaccine is injected matter. An intramuscular shot like the flu, COVID-19, or tetanus shot tends to cause more arm soreness than a subcutaneous vaccine, which just goes under you skin, like the measles-mumps-rubella-varicella vaccine , Dr. Schaffner says.

Your body’s individual response also comes into play, Aline Holmes, DNP, NP, an associate professor at the Rutgers School of Nursing, tells Health. “It’s really specific to your body,” she says. “A lot of people get shots and have absolutely no reaction to them Others do.”

People At Higher Risk From Flu

Anyone can get sick with flu, even healthy people, and serious problems related to flu can happen to anyone at any age, but some people are at higher risk of developing serious flu-related complications if they get sick. This includes people 65 years and older, people of any age with certain chronic medical conditions , pregnant people and children younger than 5 years, but especially those younger than 2 years old.

Better Vaccine Science Is Needed

Largely due to the prevalence of infectious diseases and limitations to current medical sciences, vaccine fatigue may be difficult to avoid in certain circumstances. Our findings show that many antecedents of vaccine fatigue are rooted in flaws in vaccine sciences, such as adverse effects caused by vaccination , poor vaccine efficacy , as well as too many vaccination demands in a relatively short period of time . A study on people who received the BioNTech-Pfizer doses, for instance, found that 83.3% of the vaccine recipients experienced post-vaccination fatigue . In countries such as Pakistan, many children may have already received 15 doses of vaccines, which could result in vaccine fatigue in both the children and the parents . The limitations in current vaccine technologies are also reflected in the similarity of the vaccines people are requested to adopt, which could further fuel vaccine fatigue in the public .

What You Don’t Know About Flu Shots Won’t Kill You

America could face ‘twindemic’ of severe flu season and Covid

The debate is damaging because it asks us to consider vaccination as good or evil. But its all good

Look out, girl, the nurse says brightly as she prepares my flu shot, cause this is gonna hurt! She has just had a flu shot of her own and her arm is sore. Im getting vaccinated to celebrate the publication of my book about vaccination, but its a dubious celebration because the flu shot tends to give me not just a sore arm, but also deep body aches and a few days of malaise.

Before I began reading the history and science of vaccination five years ago, I avoided the flu shot. I secretly believed that it was poison, toxic to my system. I used to joke with a friend of mine who is HIV positive that getting a flu shot was just as bad as getting the flu, though we both knew better, even before he got a case of the flu that landed him in the hospital with pneumonia.

Compared to much of what finds its way into our bodies, particularly alcohol, the flu shot is remarkably benign. But there is something counterintuitive about the fact that our immune system can make us feel ill even as it protects us from illness. Regulation is the term immunologists use for the internal checks and balances that prevent our immune response from doing harm to our bodies. Fever and inflammation can be dangerous if they are not properly regulated by the body, just as food and water can be dangerous if they are not properly regulated by the state.

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Is The Influenza Vaccine Safe For Pregnant Women

The influenza vaccine is safe for pregnant women. The influenza vaccine is safe to have at any stage of pregnancy and will protect both mother and baby. Getting sick with the influenza virus while pregnant can lead to serious complications. Influenza vaccination during pregnancy also protects babies after birth.

What Are The Benefits Of Flu Vaccination

There are many reasons to get an influenza vaccine each year. Below is a summary of the benefits of flu vaccination and selected scientific studies that support these benefits.

Flu vaccination can keep you from getting sick with flu.

Flu vaccination can reduce the risk of flu-associated hospitalization for children, working-age adults, and older adults.
Flu vaccination is an important preventive tool for people with chronic health conditions.

Flu vaccination has been associated with lower rates of some cardiac events among people with heart disease, especially among those who had had a cardiac event in the past year.
Flu vaccination can reduce worsening and hospitalization for flu-related chronic lung disease, such as in persons with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Flu vaccination also has been shown in separate studies to be associated with reduced hospitalizations among people with diabetes and chronic lung disease.

Flu vaccination helps protect women during and after pregnancy.
Flu vaccines can be lifesaving in children.
Flu vaccination has been shown in several studies to reduce the severity of illness in people who get vaccinated but still get sick.

The study finding links to support these findings can be found here:

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Flu Shot Side Effects : What’s Normal And What’s Cause For Concern

All vaccines have the potential to cause side effects, and that includes your yearly flu shot. But most are totally normal.

The coronavirus is still a very real concern this fall, but so is the influenza virus, aka the flu. The good news is we have very safe and effective tools for fighting and preventing both potentially deadly viruses, thanks to the COVID-19 vaccines and the flu vaccine.

According to the CDC, flu shots are safe and one of the best ways to keep from getting and spreading the flu to others. And people who get vaccinated and get sick anyway often experience less severe symptoms. If you’re thinking of getting vaccinated for both COVID-19 and the flu, the CDC says it is safe to get both vaccines together .

The simple fact is, flu vaccines can save lives. There are plenty of myths out there about the flu vaccine, such as the idea that it can give you the flu. While that’s not true, you can experience some side effects from the flu shot. The side effects are usually mild and nothing to worry about, but it’s important to know about them so you’re not worried when you get your vaccine.

Below, Dr. Carmen Teague, specialty medical director at Atrium Health‘s Mecklenburg Medical Group shares what you need to know about common flu shot side effects that are normal, and which side effects may be a sign of something more serious.

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Who Can Get A Free Flu Vaccine

How to Protect Yourself During this Flu Season

You can get a free flu vaccine if you are:

aged 50 to 64 years
living in a nursing home or other long-term care facility
in regular contact with pigs, poultry or waterfowl

People aged 50 to 64 have been added to the free flu vaccine programme until the end of April 2022.

People with these conditions can also get a free flu vaccine:

chronic heart disease, including acute coronary syndrome

chronic liver disease
chronic kidney failure
chronic respiratory disease, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , cystic fibrosis, moderate or severe asthma, or bronchopulmonary dysplasia

chronic neurological disease including multiple sclerosis, hereditary and degenerative disorders of the central nervous system

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People Who Need More Than One Flu Vaccine A Year

There are some people who are recommended to have a second dose of the influenza vaccine within the space of one year.

These include:

Children less than 9 years receiving their influenza vaccine for the first time require 2 doses 4 weeks apart for an adequate immune response.
People who have had a haematopoietic stem cell transplant or solid organ transplant and are receiving influenza vaccine for the first time after transplant.

Pregnant women, who may be vaccinated with the next seasons influenza vaccine if it becomes available in the latter part of their pregnancy, even if they were vaccinated with the previous seasons vaccine prior to or earlier in pregnancy.
Overseas travellers, who may benefit from a second dose of this seasons influenza vaccine if going to the northern hemisphere winter and receiving the northern hemisphere formulation there is not feasible.

Please check with your GP to find out whether you fall into one of these categories.

How Do Flu Vaccines Work

Flu vaccines cause antibodies to develop in the body about two weeks after vaccination. These antibodies provide protection against infection with the viruses that are used to make the vaccine.
The seasonal flu vaccine protects against the influenza viruses that research indicates will be most common during the upcoming season. Most flu vaccines in the United States protect against four different flu viruses an influenza A virus, an influenza A virus, and two influenza B viruses. There are also some flu vaccines that protect against three different flu viruses an influenza A virus, an influenza A virus, and one influenza B virus. Two of the trivalent vaccines are designed specifically for people 65 and older to create a stronger immune response.

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