According to the New York State Department of Health (DOH), achieving and sustaining high influenza vaccination coverage among health care personnel will protect staff and their patients, and reduce disease burden and health-care costs. That’s why New York is one of the many states enacting a mandatory influenza immunization (or formal refusal) for health care workers. Yet despite the benefits and availability of the vaccine, many health care personnel have concerns and misconceptions about it, just as many other people do. Whether you are a health care worker or not, debunking the myths about influenza vaccine will enable you to make an educated decision:

Will I get the flu from the flu shot?

According to the DOH, this is not possible. If you had a flu shot previously and have gotten sick, you may have gotten sick for several reasons:

• You may have already been sick when you got the vaccine (but didn’t have any symptoms yet).

• You may be infected with the flu after vaccination, but before the vaccine has had time to fully protect you (it takes two weeks for the vaccine to fully protect you).

• Other germs besides flu are around and can cause you to feel sick like the flu, but it isn’t the flu.

Is the flu vaccine safe?

Absolutely! Reactions include redness or soreness at the injection site. Other illness is rare.

Why should I get a flu shot?

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), influenza is a serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and even death. If you are a healthy adult, you could be carrying the disease and infect others. This is why health care workers have an obligation to protect their patients and get a flu shot. Furthermore, if you get the flu shot but still get sick with flu, the symptoms may be much less severe.

Who should get vaccinated?

According to the CDC, people who:

• are aged 6 months through 4 years (59 months);

• are aged 50 years and older;

• have chronic pulmonary (including asthma), cardiovascular (except hypertension), renal, hepatic, neurologic, hematologic or metabolic disorders (including diabetes mellitus);

• are immunosuppressed (including immunosuppression caused by medications or by human immunodeficiency virus);

• are or will be pregnant during the influenza season;

• are aged 6 months through 18 years and receiving long-term aspirin therapy and who therefore might be at risk for experiencing Reye syndrome after influenza virus infection;

• are residents of nursing homes and other chronic-care facilities;

• are American Indians/Alaska Natives;

• are morbidly obese (body-mass index is 40 or greater);

• are health-care personnel;

• are household contacts and caregivers of children aged younger than 5 years and adults aged 50 years and older, with particular emphasis on vaccinating contacts of children aged younger than 6 months;

• are household contacts and caregivers of persons with medical conditions that put them at higher risk for severe complications from influenza.

Who should not be vaccinated?

• People younger than 6 months of age

• People who have had Guillain-Barre syndrome

• People who are sick at the time

• People allergic to eggs must opt for an egg-free vaccine

Special note for health care workers:

The DOH notes the following: “The New York State Department of Health, along with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Medical Association, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the National Association for Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, the Gates Foundation, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Canadian National Advisory Committee on Immunization, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, the Department of Health of the United Kingdom, UNICEF and many other reliable organizations around the world all agree vaccines are safe and they save lives. This is why health care workers are strongly urged to be vaccinated. We have an obligation to protect our patients and the public. Flu shots are one way in which we can.” References Centers for Disease Control (2013).

Key facts about seasonal flu. New York State, DOH, (2013). Flu shots.