10 flu jab myths you should not believe
Flu season is when the influenza virus is at its most contagious. Otherwise known as the seasonal flu, it's an infectious viral illness spread by coughs and sneezes. But the good news is you can fend off the dreaded flu and its associated symptoms by getting vaccinated.
The flu jab is available every year on the NHS to help protect adults and children who are at risk. Anyone who wants to lower their risk of getting the flu should get a flu vaccination. But despite the obvious benefits of the flu jab, vaccinations still come with a number of misconceptions.
Dr Richard Dawood, medical director at Fleet Street Clinic and Dr Ellie Cannon, NHS GP and columnist, bust the most virulent flu vaccine myths, so you can focus on keeping your family safe and well this winter:
1.Is the flu just a bad cold?
No, the flu isn't just a bad cold. It's a serious condition that kills around 11,000 people in England on average each year. 'We wouldn’t go to the trouble of a national vaccination programme for just a bad cold,' says Dr Cannon. 'Flu is a serious viral illness causing fever, muscle aches, fatigue and illness for around 10 days. In vulnerable groups, it can be life-threatening, as the figures show.'
⚠️ Vulnerable groups who are recommended the flu vaccine include those over 65, pregnant women and anyone with chronic lung, heart or liver disease: if you are in these categories the flu jab will be offered free in your GP surgery or pharmacist.
2. Does the flu vaccine give you flu?
This is a common myth. The truth is, you can’t catch flu from a flu jab and there is a very simple reason for this: there is no working virus within the vaccination, says Dr Cannon. While some vaccinations are indeed live– 'they have tiny amounts of the active virus in them which your body recognises, encouraging your immune system to create the protection against that virus,' she explains – the flu vaccine is not.
'It contains inactive parts of the flu virus, and this is enough for your immune system to recognise and effectively be tricked into making the protective antibodies,' she says. 'The inactive virus is not capable of actually giving you the illness flu. If you get flu after a flu jab, it's likely you were already coming down with it before the jab or you picked something up in the doctors' waiting room.'
Some people may experience flu-like side effects from the jab, such as muscle aches and even a mild temperature for a day or two. However, they will be far milder than an actual flu infection and normally clear up without any treatment in two to three days.
3. Do healthy people need the flu jab?
While it's especially important for people who have a chronic illness to get the flu jab, everyone stands to benefit from being vaccinated. While most cases of the flu resolve on their own, it can become life-threatening if complications like pneumonia arise alongside it. So even fit and healthy people can die from the flu.
'The NHS tries to vaccinate people who are most at risk, but ideally vaccination is for everyone who doesn't want flu,' says Dr Dawood. 'This year, avoiding flu has the added bonus of protecting you from needless self-isolation and worry, since the symptoms can be indistinguishable from COVID-19. Unlike the coronavirus, flu is preventable.'
4. Are children vaccinated to protect others?
It's true that children are considered to be super-spreaders of the flu virus – 'they pass the infection around their families and communities because of the way children play so closely, their touchy-feely behaviour with family and their hand hygiene, or lack of,' says Dr Cannon.
By vaccinating children, you are stopping them spreading it around, but it's not just for the community benefit. 'Children under five years are more likely to be hospitalised due to flu than any other age group,' she continues. 'Flu is a serious illness and children are one of the vulnerable groups, so the vaccine is protecting them as well as others.'
5. Do you need to get a flu jab every year?
The flu jab doesn't protect you for life – in fact, it usually only provides protection for the duration of the flu season that year. The viruses that cause flu can evolve and mutate every year, so you need a vaccination that matches the new combination. 'Strains change over time, so having the latest flu jab is really important if you want to be protected,' says Dr Dawood.
6. If you have allergies can you get a flu jab?
This only applies if you have an egg allergy. 'The flu jab that is usually used is made using eggs in which they cultivate the virus parts,' says Dr Cannon. 'That does mean that people who are genuinely allergic to eggs may react to it. However, there are egg-free and low-egg content vaccinations available for those who need it.'
While some 60,000 children in the UK have an egg allergy, the safety committee for vaccinations advises that they can safely have the nasal flu vaccine because the egg content is very low. 'The only exception is children who have had such a bad anaphylactic reaction to eggs that they needed intensive care treatment,' says Dr Cannon.
⚠️ If you are allergic to eggs and you are recommended a flu vaccination, ask your GP surgery to arrange an egg-free flu jab for you.
7. If you've had flu this year do you still need a jab?
When you fall ill with the flu, you usually only contract one strain. There are already more than 60 known strains of flu viruses, and as mentioned, their predominance changes from year to year. 'This year's flu vaccine protects against four separate strains, but if you get flu you will be infected with only a single strain,' says Dr Dawood. 'So it always makes good sense to be vaccinated.'
8. Do adult flu vaccines contain mercury?
This is a common myth often perpetuated online due to a misunderstanding of the science, but current flu vaccines used annually in the UK do not contain mercury. 'There is a preservative called thiomersal which is mercury-based and has often been used in the manufacture of certain vaccines,' says Dr Cannon.
'Thiomersal contains a substance called ethyl mercury which has been shown not to accumulate in the body – even in babies – and is passed out via your bowels,' she says. 'The toxic mercury we talk about is called methyl mercury, and is known to accumulate in our food chain, for example in fish.'
Both the World Health Organisation and the European Medicines Agency have stated there is no evidence of any risk from thiomersal. Besides, the current flu vaccines used annually in the UK do not contain thiomersal. It is occasionally used in vaccines for outbreaks such as swine flu.
9. Can you spread the flu if you feel well?
You can still be contagious, even if you don't have symptoms – up to 30 per cent of flu sufferers are asymptomatic. 'Children and adults with minor symptoms can spread flu, so good hygiene is always important,' says Dr Dawood. You should stay away from others as much as possible to prevent passing on the virus, cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze, and wash your hands frequently.
10. Can you get a flu jab when you're pregnant?
You should have the vaccine no matter which stage of pregnancy you are in. If you're pregnant and fall sick with the flu, you could become very ill. 'Flu vaccination is very safe in pregnancy and is an important way of protecting newborn babies,' says Dr Dawood. 'The antibodies they get from their mothers help fend off infection during their early months.' So not only will you protect yourself by getting the vaccine, but you'll also protect your baby throughout the first few months of their life.
Last updated: 3o-12-20
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