Consumers Concerned About Risks Associated with Flu Vaccines

As flu season begins and health experts urge people to get a flu shot, consumers have raised questions about the risks associated with flu vaccines. The New York Times recently explored the issue in the Well blog.

Doctors recommend annual flu vaccination for most of the population because flu can be a serious illness. Flu kills thousands of people each year and is responsible for significant lost work and school time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that between 1976 and 2006 flu-associated deaths ranged from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000 people.

Flu vaccine is available in two forms: a shot and a nasal spray. Each type has small, but different, risks the Times explains.

The shot form contains a killed version of the virus so the recipient cannot get flu from the shot. But since the virus is incubated in eggs, it can cause an allergic reaction in people with egg allergies, according to the Times. In addition, the shot and the flu have been linked to Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare nerve disorder that can cause weakness and possibly paralysis. Dr. Shira Doron, an infectious disease physician and epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, says that anyone who has developed Guillain-Barre syndrome within six months of a previous flu vaccine should discuss this with a health care provider before getting another flu shot.

After getting a flu shot, the vaccinated individual may have a sore arm and a low-grade fever for a few days, the Times reports.

The second form of flu vaccine, the nasal spray FluMist, does contain live virus, meaning there is a small possibility that it could cause flu infection in someone with a compromised immune system. Doctors do not recommend the nasal spray for anyone with a weakened immune system, or for pregnant women, children under 2, people undergoing cancer treatment, or frail older people. Anyone who lives with an immunocompromised person could theoretically pass on the virus and such individuals would be advised to get the shot instead of the nasal spray, Dr. Doron told the Times. In addition, people with asthma or recent wheezing should avoid FluMist because it could worsen airway issues. Children taking aspirin should not be given the spray, because aspirin use and flu have been linked to Reye’s syndrome, a rare but sometimes fatal swelling of the liver and brain.

Though extensive research has not found a connection between thimerosal, the preservative in some vaccines, and autism, some parents are nevertheless concerned about this possibility. Multi-dose vials of flu vaccine contain a small amount of thimerosal, and this is why Tufts purchases only single-dose vials, which do not have thimerosal, “just so that we never have to have that conversation,” Dr. Doron told Well.

In addition to protecting the individual who is vaccinated, vaccination also helps protect other people in that person’s life. This includes babies too young to be vaccinated, people who do not generate sufficient antibodies in response to flu vaccine, and those with compromised immune systems who cannot be vaccinated. A flu shot is “for yourself and it’s for everybody else,” Dr. Doron said.

from Parker Waichman http://www.yourlawyer.com/blog/consumers-concerned-about-risks-associated-with-flu-vaccines/