Saar Kuzi
Alessandra Coutinho Fernandes
William Cope
Richard Tapping
Kashif Ahmad
Reda Sadki
Shubhra Kanti Karmaker Santu
Adam P Rusch
Elizabeth Edwards
Matthew LawFA16 Immunization Module’s Updates
9. Adverse reactions to vaccines
Since we are all about to get our flu vaccinations in a couple of days, I decided to list the possible adverse reactions. The most common side effects include soreness at the injection, headache, fever, nausea, and muscle aches. All of these side are typically short lived (i.e. a few days). A small association (i.e. occuring in 1 or 2 cases out of one million vaccinations) has been proposed between the flu vaccine and Guillain-Barre syndrome. In addition to these possible effects, severe allergic reactions are also possible, with symptoms observed within a timescale of minutes or a few hours. With the current injectable form of the vaccine, it is not possible to contract the flu from the vaccine due to the use of inactivated virus.
For those experiencing adverse reactions, there is a reporting system run by the CDC and FDA called the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). VAERS provides useful safety information about many vaccines along with lists of common side effects and frequency.
References/Resources:
1. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/general.htm - flu vaccine safety info from CDC
2. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/ensuringsafety/monitoring/vaers/index.html - vaccine adverse event reporting system
This is a very interesting post! I also looked into some of the benefits of the influenza vaccine and what I found fascinating is that some adverse reactions in children can be as serious as febrile seizures. This of course was more common several decades ago, but that actually led to significant research into the dosage that should be administered in children and whether the vaccine should have a split vs whole virus. I find it incredible that while many of the vaccines have been found safe in adolescents and adults, the side effects for children, especially, infants is still misunderstood. This population, infants, seems to me would be at greater risk to illnesses such as influenza because of their lack of exposure to the different strains.
I found this relevant information to be very helpful. I was not so much aware of these less common side effects. I wonder what percentage of individuals choose to not get vaccinated for the flu every year due to the potential of experiencing side effects. Overall, I think that the benefits of vaccines outweigh the adverse effects to vaccines.
Thanks for the information Andrew. Hopefully, I do not have any bad side effects from getting the vaccine this week. Thanks to you, I know what to expect.
Great post. I feel like we need a comment about the benefit.