Should my husband get a flu shot?
February 8, 2018 7:14 AM   Subscribe

We are leaving tomorrow morning on a 10-day trip to Europe. Which is the greater risk - being on a germy plane without one, or having potential side effects from the shot?
posted by ms_rasclark to Health & Fitness (13 answers total)
 
If you’re leaving tomorrow for a 10-day trip a flu shot today will likely give you no benefit on your trip because the anti-bodies haven’t developed yet.

Edit: Cite
posted by cyphill at 7:17 AM on February 8, 2018 [9 favorites]


It probably doesn't matter much. The risks from the flu shot are very low, but getting one now will have little effect until perhaps the very last days of the trip because it takes about two weeks for the immune response to happen. Sleep, liquids, and handwashing.
posted by mercredi at 7:18 AM on February 8, 2018 [2 favorites]


He should get a flu shot anyway. But it won't be effective tomorrow. Flu shots are important even this late in the season because not everybody is able to get them, and herd immunity is a thing. Do it for all of the people who are immunocompromised for one reason or another and cannot protect themselves.
posted by sockermom at 7:18 AM on February 8, 2018 [28 favorites]


Over here it mentions it takes about 2 weeks to develop antibodies from a flu shot. So about 4 days after you get home there will be some protection from it.
posted by nobeagle at 7:19 AM on February 8, 2018


Potential side effects from the shot are just, in all likelihood, feeling a little crummy for a couple of days. The shot won't help for the trip but it WILL help when you get home. Delaying it ten more days just means ten more days without any protection from the flu at all.
posted by lydhre at 7:40 AM on February 8, 2018 [4 favorites]


Get the shot, unrelated to the trip. The flu is deadly this year, you love your husband, he wants to live. Get the shot.
posted by Toddles at 7:43 AM on February 8, 2018 [15 favorites]


What are your reasons for wanting him to get the flu shot? Is it because you're just generally worried about him getting sick from germs on the plane, or is he legitimately immuno-compromised and getting the flu would be a big deal for him?

If it's the former, keep in mind that many people experience flu "like" symptoms after getting the shot, which would be a crummy way to start a 10 day vacation. If it's the latter, keep in mind that most people who die of the flu have a) been vaccinated for it but b) have underlying medical conditions that were exacerbated and their immune system weakened by getting the shot, and c) if your husband is already immuno-compromised the flu shot may be contraindicated for him. Don't buy the hype that "this year's flu is deadly"; the numbers are no different than any other year, and if you go back into news reports for the last several years they say the same thing every year.

My husband got the flu this year and when he went to the doctor, the doctor told him that the flu shot wouldn't even have helped him, it doesn't protect against the strains that people are experiencing this year.

Practice good hygiene, get good rest, limit alcohol and sugar consumption, eat well, stay hydrated; your vacation will go fine.
posted by vignettist at 8:29 AM on February 8, 2018


The flu shot is never 100% effective for all people, this year is a bit worse than normal because the strain that's bad mutates more quickly. But just because it's only 37% effective (or whatever) does not mean it's not worth getting. If you look at the weekly pediatric fatality graph (yes, there is such a thing, and wouldn't you feel awful if you contributed to it?) the deaths are coming hot and heavy. For what it's worth, I usually feel like I have a low-grade cold for about a day after the vaccination, but this time I didn't feel anything.
posted by wnissen at 9:49 AM on February 8, 2018 [4 favorites]


I get the flu shot every year and it never makes me feel the least bit ill. Anecdotally.
posted by amro at 11:18 AM on February 8, 2018 [2 favorites]


Do get the shot, unrelated to the trip. It won't be effective until he returns home, but better to be prepared against the flu after only 4 days back than waiting another 14 days. The flu is NASTY this year and one needs to get the vaccine sooner, rather than later, given the two weeks it takes to become effective.

Even if he were to still catch a flu strain that is not one of the flu strains included in this year's vaccine, he will likely then only have to endure an attenuated course of influenza (read: it won't last nearly as many days). Dr. McElroy said in a recent episode of Sawbones that she caught the flu this year, despite getting the vaccine, and while she was still vomiting and not having a great time, she was back up and running in a lot less time than the person from whom she probably caught the flu.

Most people don't get side effects from the flu shot (I get mine every year and, at worst, my arm feels little sore with a small bruise from the injection); the few people I know who have had side effects just feel slightly fatigued/under the weather for a day or two. This is strictly anecdotal, of course.
posted by nightrecordings at 11:18 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]


@vignettist - cite your sources, please.

According to the CDC's data on flu-related hospitalizations, there have been more this year at this point in the flu season than in the others shown, going back as far as 2010-2011. That refutes your statement that "the numbers are no different than any other year".

The CDC spokesperson goes on to say, "We continue to recommend the flu vaccine even though we know most flu vaccines have low effectiveness against H3N2 viruses, effectiveness against other flu viruses is better, and there is more than one flu virus circulating this season. The vaccine may also reduce the severity of symptoms if you catch the flu in spite of being vaccinated, and it is not too late to get the vaccine." (Posted 6 days ago.)

Everyone who can get the flu shot should get the flu shot, because you don't know who you might expose the flu to if you don't. Vaccines are not just about you, they're about the greater good and our civic responsibility.
posted by nadise at 11:58 AM on February 8, 2018 [10 favorites]


Actually, in the 2009 flu pandemic, preexisting antibodies that cross-reacted with that flu, but did not protect against infection with it were associated with more severe disease and fatality:
Pandemic influenza viruses often cause severe disease in middle-aged adults without preexisting comorbidities. The mechanism of illness associated with severe disease in this age group is not well understood1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Here we find preexisting serum antibodies that cross-react with, but do not protect against, 2009 H1N1 influenza virus in middle-aged adults. Nonprotective antibody is associated with immune complex–mediated disease after infection. We detected high titers of serum antibody of low avidity for H1-2009 antigen, and low-avidity pulmonary immune complexes against the same protein, in severely ill individuals. Moreover, C4d deposition—a marker of complement activation mediated by immune complexes—was present in lung sections of fatal cases. Archived lung sections from middle-aged adults with confirmed fatal influenza 1957 H2N2 infection revealed a similar mechanism of illness. These observations provide a previously unknown biological mechanism for the unusual age distribution of severe cases during influenza pandemics.
And in fact, antibodies which reacted to the flu but did not protect against it have been blamed for the very high fatality rate and unusual demographic distribution of those fatalities in the great 1919 flu pandemic.
posted by jamjam at 12:50 PM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]


Is there any reason to think that he will have a reaction? Has he had a reaction before, to flu shots or vaccinations generally? When I get any vaccinations, I'm out of commission for 1-2 days, basically unable to get out of bed, and it feels like I'm dying. I realize this is an extreme reaction, though. If I were anyone else, I wouldn't worry about it.
posted by unknowncommand at 7:28 PM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]


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