The Flu and the Flu shots.

[chowder66]

3. The viruses in the flu shot are dead/killed, so you cannot get the flu from a flu vaccine.

Your body has to build up the antibodies/immunitiy over a couple of weeks. You can still get the flu if you are exposed to it during the time your body is doing this.

The vaccine can trigger an immune response which can cause aches and even a light fever which people may mistake as getting sick from the flu shot. It's just how their body reacts to the flu shot that stimulates the immune response to fight off the flu.

Depending on your health, age, weight the vaccine could be less effective.

I got the flu shot last year and was about 4 days into building antibodies. I got the flu but it was mild because the antibodies I had developed helped.
Also, there are different strains of the flu that may not match the vaccine but are in circulation. So you can catch the flu from a different strain.


There is a nasal vaccine which is a bit different and I think it is only used in really healthy people because the virus is not dead but weakened.

I learned this from a very good friend of our family who is a doctor.... and my doctor said as much when I asked her about why I got sick when I had the flu shot.