FAMILY MEDICINE® COLUMN
By John C. Wolf, D.O.
Associate Professor of Family Medicine®
Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine

FLU SHOT DIDN'T GIVE READER PNEUMONIA

Question: Every year my doctor insists that I take the flu shot because of my age. But, I believe there is something in the flu shot my body can't tolerate. Within a day of having the shot I get a bad cough, sore throat, and earache. I then develop pneumonia that makes me spend two or three days in the hospital. I'm afraid to take a flu shot this year, but I'm also afraid not to. What should I do?

Answer: I'll start by explaining a bit about influenza, whose name is commonly shortened to simply "flu," before I answer your question. Flu is a viral illness that occurs year round but reaches epidemic proportions during the winter months. While there is no scientific proof, it is widely accepted that the incidence of flu peaks in the winter because we huddle together in buildings during the cold months and cough on one another. In the United States, flu is most common from October through April. Likewise, in the Southern hemisphere flu is more common during their fall and winter months May through September.

Flu is usually spread from individual to individual by inhaling fine droplets of moisture that contain the unwanted virus. The infected moisture droplets that spread the flu to you and me get into the air every time a flu sufferer coughs or sneezes.

The virus invades the body by attacking the mucus lining of the nose, throat, and respiratory track. Once into these cells, it alters the cells' metabolic machinery so that new virus particles are manufactured. The physical manifestations of this damage and of our body's attempts to fight the invading germs are the typical flu symptoms of fever, running nose, sore throat, cough, muscle aching and just generally feeling terrible.

As the body's defense gears up, billions of antibodies are made to destroy the infection. Unfortunately, it takes a little time for the body to recognize the virus as an invader and then make the necessary antibodies to kill it usually a few days. Most previously healthy individuals will be back to normal in about 5 days. Those with less effective immune systems will have flu longer and may develop complications, the most common of which is pneumonia.

Now, the flu vaccine enters the scene. The vaccine is made from killed virus or parts of killed virus. When this material invades your body by way of a shot, your immune system starts making those defensive antibodies just as if you had actively reproducing virus invaders. If, or more likely when, your flu-infected friend shares his or her illness with you, your body will already be prepared. The large numbers of antibodies necessary to fight off the infection are manufactured in hours instead of days. And, the beauty of this is that you never develop the symptoms of flu.

Individuals with a weakened immune system or with generally poor health should have flu shots. Individuals over 65, those with cancer, diabetes, heart, kidney, and respiratory disease are typically benefited by the shot. You are in this group, so you should get a flu shot every year.

Reactions to the flu shot are uncommon. The most frequent complaint, reported by less than one-third of those receiving the vaccine, is arm soreness at the site of the shot. This soreness lasts no more than a day or two. It is also possible to have an immediate allergic reaction to the shot, most often as a result of an allergy to eggs. This is because the vaccine is made from virus grown in eggs. Children may develop a low fever and body aching for a day or two after the flu shot, but I've never seen an adult with this reaction. The symptoms you describe aren't like any of these reactions.

A flu shot only protects against a few strains of flu. That means it will not protect you from other viral and bacterial illnesses. I think you have just been unfortunate the last two years and have caught another illness that produced your pneumonia at the same time you got your flu shot. Get your flu shot soon to protect yourself from this season's flu virus. It won't give you pneumonia.

Family Medicine® is a weekly column. To submit questions, write to John C. Wolf, D.O., Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Grosvenor Hall, Athens, Ohio 45701.