Importance Of Needle Length
Needle length should be chosen based on the body habitus and weight of the patient. A needle that is too long can penetrate the deltoid muscle, hitting the bone. Although patients will not feel their bones being hit, the vaccine might not fully absorb into the muscle, leading to a reduced immune response. Furthermore, if the needle is too short the vaccine might be administered subcutaneously, which might result in decreased immune response and the development of nodules or cellulitis.
The efficacy of vaccines administered outside the proper injection site is not guaranteed or quantified. In particular, a 16-mm needle should be chosen for patients weighing less than 60 kg and a 25-mm needle is appropriate for patients weighing 60 to 70 kg . Women weighing 70 to 90 kg or men weighing 70 to 118 kg should receive injections with either a 25-mm or 38-mm needle. A 38-mm needle is necessary for women weighing more than 90 kg and men weighing more than 118 kg . All health care professionals who provide injections should make individualized needle length selection part of their injection administration routine.
How Long Does The Flu Shot Protect You From The Flu
A flu shot should help to protect you for the duration of the current flu season. However, youll need to get another flu shot next fall.
You may be wondering why you need to get a flu shot every year. There are a couple of reasons for this. One is related to the virus itself while another has to do with your level of immunity.
Influenza viruses are continually evolving throughout the year. Because of this, last years vaccine may not be a good match for the viruses that are prevalent this flu season.
The flu vaccine protects against the strains of influenza that research predicts will be the most prevalent in the upcoming flu season.
Your vaccine will typically include four strains , but may sometimes include three .
Additionally, a 2019 research review showed that the immunity provided by the flu shot decreases quickly over time.
This is why you likely wont have enough immunity from this years shot to protect you into the next flu season.
Are There Any Other Options For The Flu Vaccine Besides Getting A Shot
In addition to the flu shot, a nasal spray vaccine is also available. You may see this vaccine referred to as FluMist or the live attenuated influenza vaccine .
This vaccine is sprayed into your nose. Unlike the flu shot, it contains active influenza viruses. However, these vaccine viruses have been weakened so they wont cause an infection.
Like the flu shot, the nasal spray has some potential side effects. These can be different in adults and children and can include:
The nasal spray vaccine is approved for individuals ages 2 to 49. Its not recommended for certain groups, such as pregnant people and those with a weakened immune system.
If youre interested in receiving the nasal spray vaccine, talk with your doctor about whether its a safe option for you.
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Is The Nasal Spray As Effective As The Flu Shot
In the past, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended against getting the nasal spray vaccine.
The reason for this was because studies in children found that it was less effective than the flu shot for protecting against the 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza strains.
However, there have been recent advances in the production of the nasal spray vaccine.
Since the 2018 to 2019 flu season, the
- people with underlying health conditions, such as asthma, diabetes, or cancer
- those with weakened immune systems
- individuals living in a nursing home or long-term care facility
Getting your flu shot is also particularly important in light of COVID-19. Both the flu and COVID-19 have similar symptoms and will circulate within communities this winter.
While the flu vaccine wont protect you from COVID-19, it can help prevent you from getting the flu.
In addition to keeping you out of the doctors office, this can also conserve medical resources for those that have COVID-19 or other health conditions.
Injuries Caused By Flu Vaccine
Flu vaccinations can cause unexpected, serious injuries requiring emergency treatment and lifelong medical management. Compensation is available for people suffering chronic or debilitating conditions due to administration of an influenza vaccination.
New versions of flu vaccines must be developed every year, because of the vast number of strains of flu virus that cause the illness and the fact that flu viruses can adapt to a vaccine to make the vaccine less effective. Because of this, and the fact that the vaccine is administered every year and not just once in a lifetime, injuries from flu vaccines are some of the most commonly seen vaccine related injuries.
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What If I Have Experienced Shoulder Pain From A Flu Shot
If you have experienced shoulder pain after receiving a flu shot, you may be suffering from Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration, or SIRVA. Vaccine-related shoulder injuries commonly result from administration errors such as injecting the vaccine too high on the shoulder or too low on the arm. These errors lead to painful complications, and in some cases may require surgery.
Fortunately, individuals claiming vaccine-related shoulder injuries can seek compensation for their medical bills and other losses through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program . The Vaccine Program is a no-fault government compensation program that provides money to individuals suffering from vaccine-related injuries. At the Center for Vaccine Shoulder Pain Recovery, our sole focus is helping clients recover compensation under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
Shoulder Injury Related To Vaccine Administration And Other Injection Site Events
Shoulder injury related to vaccine administration is a preventable occurrence caused by the injection of a vaccine into the shoulder capsule rather than the deltoid muscle. As a result, inflammation of the shoulder structures causes patients to experience pain, a decreased range of motion, and a decreased quality of life. Physicians can mitigate SIRVA and other injection site events by refreshing their knowledge of and adopting proper landmarking and injection technique. Awareness is crucial to identifying patients who are displaying signs of this injury so they can access treatment in a timely manner.
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Shoulder Injury Related To Vaccine Administration
Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration is caused by the administration of vaccinations, most often flu vaccinations, in the upper arm. It is a serious vaccine-related injury that causes inflammation of shoulder structures, such as the bursa, ligaments, and tendons. Vaccines often cause shoulder pain that can be chronic, severe, and debilitating. Doctors may diagnose a person recently vaccinated with SIRVA when vaccine-related shoulder pain begins within 48 hours of the vaccination, limits shoulder flexibility, and leads to development of more significant shoulder problems like bursitis, tendinosis, or frozen shoulder syndrome. People who have had influenza shots injected into the arms deltoid muscle and suffer shoulder problems beginning shortly afterwards are most commonly diagnosed with SIRVA.
What To Do If You Are Experiencing Joint Pain
If you are experiencing pain in your knees, hips or other jointswhether or not you have had COVID-19talk to your doctor. If your doctor determines that you have infectious arthritis, they might prescribe medications or suggest having joint fluid drained, Dr. Siddiqi says.
- Applying ice and heat and resting
- Physical therapy
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Have You Been Injured
Many people with SIRVA dont realize that their symptoms are the result of a vaccination. If you have shoulder pain that began within 48 hours of a vaccination, along with restricted movement in your shoulder, you could be suffering from SIRVA.
Contact us today for more information about SIRVA and to discuss your options with one of our vaccine injury attorneys.
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Small But Real Risk For Shoulder Pain After Flu Vaccination
Experience, injection technique may be tied to bursitis side effect
There was an increased risk for subdeltoid bursitis after receipt of the u vaccine, although the absolute risk for bursitis was still low, CDC researchers reported.
In a retrospective cohort study, about 3 million people who received an inactivated inuenza vaccine during the 2016 to 2017 inuenza season, and among those, there were 16 cases of subdeltoid bursitis symptom-onset in the risk interval and 51 cases of symptom onset in the control interval , according to Elisabeth M. Hesse, MD, MTM& H, of the CDC in Atlanta, and co-authors.
The incidence rate ratio was 3.24 while the attributable risk was 7.78 additional cases of bursitis per 1 million persons vaccinated, they reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Such a modest risk must be weighed against the benets of vaccination to prevent inuenza infection and its complications. Inuenza infection causes an estimated 9 to 45 million illnesses in the United States annually, with 12,000 to 61,000 deaths, the authors said.
They put forward some possible mechanisms of action for this injury, such as needle placement or needle length . Another issue may be the experience and/or educational level of the injection administrator.
The Fryhofers suggested that all medical professional could benefit from an injection technique tune up, as outlined in the CDCs General Best Practice Guidelines for Immunization.
The study was funded by the CDC.
Cat ID: 125
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Vaccine Injury Attorney At Howie Law Pc
A distinguished personal injury law firm, Howie Law PC represents victims and their families who were seriously injured or even killed by another entitys negligence. If you think you are suffering from injuries due to the flu shot, contact Howie Law PC today to discuss your case with an experienced vaccine injury lawyer.
We can file your claim with the VICP and expedite movement of the case with our expertise and knowledge of the legal system. Further, we do not charge fees or expenses to our clients even up on successful conclusion of the case. Our fees and expenses are paid by the VICP and not by our client.
Its False That The Flu Shot Gives You The Flu
Sure, you may have heard otherwise from your mom or aunt or well-meaning, misinformed friend. But this is a common myth that is absolutely not true, says rheumatologist Vinicius Domingues, MD, CreakyJoints medical advisor and an assistant professor of medicine at Florida State University. Flu viruses that have been inactivated or killed are not infectious and cannot cause flu illness. What you may feel: sore and tender, along with redness and swelling, in the spot where you got the shot.
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What Exactly Is Sirva
Ken Donohue, MD, a Yale Medicine orthopedic surgeon and shoulder specialist, explains to Health that SIRVA is an extremely rare condition in which pain and loss of function in the shoulder occurs following a vaccinationusually within 48 hours of administration of an injection in people who had no shoulder issues prior to injection. It can result in shoulder pain, weakness, stiffness or nerve inflammation . In very rare cases, it can result in nerve injury.
Just how uncommon is it? I have seen very few cases of this in my patients as an orthopedic shoulder specialist, Dr. Donohue maintains. And because it is so rare, there is little information available about it.
According to a 2012 case report published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, the concept that adverse reactions, specifically those involving the shoulder, are very rare. At the time of the report, researchers noted that only a single article on the concept existed. Seven years later, research is still incredibly limited.
While any sort of vaccination can lead to SIRVA, researchers found the majority were the result of the influenza vaccine. According to the report, nearly all who have reported such an injury, developed it within 24 hours.
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How Can I Alleviate My Arm Pain
Swelling, redness and soreness are common after the flu shot and can last 24-48 hours. “If you always experience soreness or swelling after a flu vaccination, take an ibuprofen about 2 hours prior to vaccination,” suggests Dr. Mora. “You can also try icing the injection site to reduce redness and swelling and taking another dose of ibuprofen to ease any soreness or swelling.”
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Vaccination And Elective Orthopaedic Surgery
If you are scheduled for elective orthopaedic surgerysuch as an arthroscopy or a joint replacementand you have received one or two doses of the vaccine, you may wonder if it is safe to proceed with your procedure. There is no evidence that vaccination will interfere with your surgery or recovery.
In some circumstances, however, your surgeon may recommend waiting for two or three days after vaccination to have your surgeryjust to ensure that you have no side effects. By the same token, your surgeon may recommend postponing vaccination until a few days after your surgery. This is to ensure that any problems you may experience after your procedure are not mistaken for side effects of the vaccine.
If you have any questions about the timing of your surgery, your orthopaedic surgeon will be able to guide you.
If you have an acute injurysuch as a sprain or broken bonebut you are not having surgery, there is no reason to delay vaccination.
Read more: Questions and Answers for Patients Regarding Elective Surgery and COVID-19
Deltoid Bursitis As An Adverse Event Following Injectable Influenza Vaccine In The Vaccine Safety Datalink United States 20162017
- In 2012, the Institute of Medicine reported that the injection of a vaccine can cause deltoid bursitis, a type of shoulder injury that can include severe inflammation and pain. To date, there has never been an epidemiologic study to determine how often deltoid bursitis occurs after vaccination. We used the Vaccine Safety Datalink, a collaboration between CDC and eight participating healthcare organizations that examines electronic health and vaccine records, to see if we could answer that question with regard to flu vaccination.
- About 2.9 million people received a flu shot in the 2016-2017 flu season. Of those, we identified 16 cases of bursitis that started within two days of vaccination. This meant that there were an additional 2.5 cases of bursitis for every million people who got a flu vaccine that year.
- CDC education programs are underway to improve vaccine provider awareness about the risks of bursitis and how it can be prevented through proper injection technique. CDC will continue to monitor the rates of bursitis and other shoulder injuries following vaccination, and focus training and education programs accordingly.
Elisabeth Hesse, MD, MTM& H, EIS Class of 2017
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What Arm Should I Get My Flu Shot In
Dr. Mora recommends getting the flu shot in the arm you use the least. “That way if you are writing or doing day-to-day activities, you’re not aggravating the muscle even more,” she says.Some other ways to reduce pain include trying not to tense your arm while you’re being vaccinated and moving your arm after vaccination to increase blood flow and help disperse the vaccine throughout the area.
Why Are Cases Of Shoulder Injuries From Vaccines Increasing
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Elisabeth Cassayre got a shot at her local pharmacy, and the pain in her arm began that night. It refused to go away. Days, then months passed as she couldnt lift her right arm, couldnt hang up clothes, couldnt pick things up. I remember thinking: Ill never be able to make an apple pie for my grandchildren, says the retired schoolteacher.
Doctors now have a name for Cassayres condition: shoulder injury related to vaccine administration, or SIRVA, caused by a vaccine injected too high up on the arm. The prolonged pain and stiffness of SIRVA is distinctin other words, much worsethan typical soreness from shots.
While very rare and still little-known, SIRVA cases settled in the governments so-called vaccine injury court have shot up in recent years. Under US law, all vaccine injury cases come before the Office of Special Masters of the US Court of Federal Claims, rather than the usual state or federal courts. Since 2011, the court has ruled to compensate 112 patients for SIRVA, with more than half those cases in the past year, according to an analysis in the Wall Street Journal.
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Can You Prevent Arm Pain Before Your Flu Vaccine
There aren’t really any good hacks to lower your risk of arm pain ahead of time, Jamie Alan, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology at Michigan State University, tells Health. “You can pre-medicate with something like acetaminophen or ibuprofen, but there is some evidence that taking these medications may make vaccinations less effective,” she says.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention backs this up: In listing out considerations to take before getting your COVID-19 vaccine specifically, the CDC says it’s “not recommended” to take over-the-counter medication like ibuprofen, aspirin, or acetaminophen before you get the vaccine to prevent side effects. That’s because “it is not known how these medications might affect how well the vaccine works,” the CDC says.
Basically, without a ton of conclusive evidence on how, if, or why pain relievers may impact vaccine effectiveness, you’ll probably want to err on the side of caution and skip them before your shot .
Another tip: Alan says it’s a good idea to relax your arm “as much as possible” before your shot to keep your muscles from tensing and prevent the needle from having to work a little harder to get in there.
And, while this won’t necessarily change whether you’re sore or not after, it’s generally a good idea to get your vaccine in your non-dominant arm, Dr. Schaffner says. “If you do get a sore arm, it will interfere less with your function,” he says. “You can write more easily and do the usual things.”