Flu Shot: How It Works, Duration, And Side Effects

The flu shot is the medicine of choice to fight against the influenza virus. Flu is a serious virus that leads to many illnesses and even deaths, each year. You don’t have to be young or have a compromised immune system to get ill from the infection. Healthy people can get sick from the flu and spread it to friends and family.  Flu-related deaths are most common in seniors age 65+.

The best and most efficient way to avoid the flu and prevent spreading it is to get vaccinated. The flu vaccine is available as an injectable shot. The more people vaccinated against the flu, the less the flu can spread.

This vaccine, which typically comes as a shot but also as a nasal spray, can reduce your chances of getting the flu by as much as 60 percent.

Flu Shot: How Does It Work?

To make the vaccine, scientists select the strains of the flu virus that research suggests will be the most common in the coming flu season. Millions of vaccines with those strains are produced and distributed.

Once you receive the vaccine your body begins producing antibodies against those strains of the virus. These antibodies provide protection against the virus. If you come into contact with the flu virus at a later point, you have a better chance to avoid an infection. However, you can still get sick if you contract a different strain of the flu virus.  But the symptoms will be less severe because you are vaccinated.

Flu Shot: Who Gets Vaccinated?

Doctors recommend that everyone over the age of 6 months receive the flu vaccine.

This is especially true for people in high-risk categories, such as:

• seniors over age 65 who tend to have weak immune systems
• pregnant women
• children under age 5
• people, regardless of age,  with weakened immune systems due to chronic illness

Most doctors also recommend everyone gets their flu vaccine by the end of October. This way your body has time to develop the right antibodies before flu season kicks into gear. It takes about two weeks for antibodies to develop against the flu after you get the shot.

Most people will recover from the flu in about one week. But it may take several more days for you to feel back to your usual self. It’s not uncommon for you to feel tired for several days after your flu symptoms have subsided.

It’s important you stay home from school or work until you haven’t had a fever for at least 24 hours. This is without taking fever-reducing medications. If you have the flu, you’re contagious a day before your symptoms appear and up to five to seven days afterward.

Many people report avoiding the flu vaccine each year for fear that it will make them sick. It’s important to understand that the flu vaccine can’t cause you to develop the flu. You aren’t going to become sick because you received the vaccine.

Flu vaccines contain dead or weakened strains of the flu virus. These strains aren’t strong enough to cause an illness.

You may experience some side effects from the flu shot. These side effects are often mild and only last a short period of time. The side effects of a shot outweigh the possible symptoms of a flu infection later.

The most common side effects of the flu shot include:

• soreness around the flu shot injection site
• low-grade fever in the days immediately following the injection
• mild aches and stiffness
• low grade temperature

Any side effects that do occur often only last a day or two. Many people won’t experience any side effects.

On rare occasions, some people may have a serious allergic reaction to the vaccination. If you’ve had an allergic reaction to any vaccine or medication before, talk with your doctor first.