What Ingredients Are In The Flu Shot

Is The Flu Shot Fda

If you are wondering if the flu shot is FDA approved, the answer is yes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration meets every year to choose which strains or variants of the influenza virus to include in the flu shot. They base their decision on data about which strains appear to be circulating widely in that year and thus causing the most infections.

For the 2021-2022 flu season, the FDA chose four viruses that will go in each type of flu shot . The shots are approved by the FDA. Each shot has a specific safety profile and effectiveness level.

Lets use the example of the Afluria quadrivalent shot, which was purchased in the biggest quantity this season. Afluria is 60% effective in protecting against lab-confirmed infection with influenza in people ages 18 to 64. The FDA reviewed trial data to approve the shot. The data shows that people who received the shot most commonly felt muscle aches . There were no deaths that occurred within 180 days of people receiving the vaccine that were caused by the vaccine.

I always recommend the flu shot for anyone who is able to get it, which is basically anyone over 6 months of age that hasnt had a history of severe allergic reaction to the shot. Its safe and effective. And while there is the possibility of breakthrough infection as with any vaccine, patients who are vaccinated tend to have a much shorter and milder course of illness and less risk of severe complication such as pneumonia or respiratory distress, Chavez explains.

Who Should Have The Vaccine

In 2021/22 flu season, the following people are eligible to receive the flu vaccine for free:

• All children aged 2 to 15 on 31st Aug 2021
• Those aged 50 years or over
• Those in long-term residential care homes
• Carers
• Frontline health and social care workers
• Close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
• Those aged 6 months to 65 years in at-risk groups including people with the following health conditions:
• Respiratory diseases, including asthma
• Heart disease, kidney disease or liver disease
• Neurological conditions including learning disability
• Diabetes
• A severely weakened immune system , a missing spleen, sickle cell anaemia or coeliac disease
• Being seriously overweight

Babies under 6 months old are too young to receive a flu vaccine. This is because they have maternal antibodies passed on from their mother which prevent the vaccine from working so well. Flu vaccination is offered to all pregnant women in the UK . As well as protecting pregnant women themselves, this also helps to protect their newborn babies from flu.

Your doctor may recommend the flu vaccine in other circumstances as well.

Who Should Not Get A Flu Vaccine

Children younger than 6 months cannot get a flu shot. Those who’ve had a severe allergic reaction to a flu vaccine in the past should not get that type of flu shot again, and should speak with their health care provider about whether they can receive another type of flu shot, the CDC says. Similarly, people who’ve had a life-threatening reaction to ingredients in flu vaccines besides egg proteins shouldn’t get flu vaccines with those ingredients, and should speak with their health care provider about whether there is a flu vaccine that’s right for them, the CDC says.

People with egg allergies can still receive any type of flu shot that’s recommend for their age group, even if the flu shot is made with egg-based technology , the CDC says. Studies have found that people with egg allergies are very unlikely to experience a severe reaction to flu vaccines. People who’ve had a severe allergic reaction to egg should get their flu shot under the supervision of a health care provider who can treat severe allergic reactions, the CDC says. In addition, several types of flu shots are egg-free, including recombinant flu vaccines and cell-based flu vaccines.

You should not get the flu vaccine if you have a high fever.

However, if you have minor illness, like a mild cold or a headache, you can still get a flu shot, Schaffner said. “The vaccine does perfectly well in those folks.”

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How Does The Flu Vaccine Work

The flu vaccine helps your body protect itself against the flu. It works by training your immune system on how to fight the flu virus.

The immune system is like a defense system, with white blood cells as soldiers. Typically, if germs enter the body, white blood cells recognize them as bad guys. This is because germs carry proteins antigens that are different from normal body cell proteins. In response, white blood cells start making defense proteins antibodies. These antibodies help white blood cells destroy the germs.

Making the right antibodies can take a few days. In the meantime, the germs keep making you sick. In most cases, the immune system clears the infection and retires the antibodies except for a few stored as a memory for future infections.

Vaccines work by harnessing our bodys natural defense system. A vaccine contains a harmless amount of a virus or bacteria. By introducing it into the body, the immune system learns to make and store antibody memory against it.

What Ingredients Are In The Flu Shot

October 14, 2016 By Will Sowards

The weather is getting cooler, the holidays are coming up and theres televised football almost every day of the week. The late part of the year is rich in annual traditions to enjoy, although not all these certainties are fun.

Specifically, the dreaded flu season.

Flu season is an uncertain date. The timetable for peak diagnoses varying from October in some years, to April and May in others. But, flu season is getting closer and time is running out to take early action against the disease with an annual flu shot.

There are several myths surrounding flu shots. But, dont worry, the shot will not make you sick with the disease or give you a deadly amount of mercury.

What the flu shot will do, is focus on and prevent the spread of the many influenza types each year.

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Why Are Antibiotics In The Flu Shot

The running theme for these ingredients is to keep you from getting sick, and antibiotics are no different.

The antibiotics in a flu shot keep bacteria from getting in the eggs, which arent sterile. To avoid allergic reactions, ones that can cause severe reactions, like penicillin, are not used. Instead, neomycin, often found in lotions and ointments, is the main antibiotic.

To learn more about influenza and the flu vaccine, check out our influenza page.

Would you like to have a flu clinic in your workplace? See our onsite flu clinic page to learn more about our options.

Have any more flu questions? Let us know in the comments below, on or via . Your comment may turn into our next post!

Are Vaccines Alive Or Dead

Vaccines fall into three major types:

Live vaccines are made of living viruses or bacteria that are weaker than the normal germs that cause infections. They make a strong immune response because theyre similar to normal germs, but they dont cause infection because theyre weakened.

Dead vaccines are made with either killed viruses or bacteria or small parts of them. When used in a vaccine, these dead pieces of germs teach your immune system to defend the body against the living version of the germs.

Unlike the other two types, mRNA vaccines are neither live nor dead. They use new technology to deliver genetic instructions to the body for how to build its defense to a given germ.

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Delivery Of The Flu Shot In 2021

Not all flu shots are the same. Some arent even shots. Here are your 2021 flu vaccine options:

Nasal Spray: The nasal spray vaccine is the only kind to include a live attenuated influenza vaccine. Although it cant give you the flu, it does have a higher likelihood of inducing flu-like symptoms. This vaccine does not contain thimerosal or other preservatives. Its available only for patients aged 2 to 49.

For: People who cant stand the needle or jet spray or who want to avoid preservatives.

Inactivated shots are usually given with a needle, but Afluria Quadrivalent can be given to adults with a jet injector, which is basically a high-powered spray that penetrates the skin.

For: Needles can be used for everyone aged 6 months and older. The jet spray is approved for adults aged 18 to 64.

Why Are There Aluminum Salts In The Flu Vaccine

Aluminum is another common component to every vaccine. The compound is an adjuvant that creates better protection against the disease within the body. Adjuvants also help keep you from getting sick with the disease after vaccination. For more than 80 years, aluminum has been the most used adjuvant in immunizations.

Much like the other ingredients in a flu shot, the amount of aluminum in the vaccine is incredibly small. The amount is so small that you could find more in drinking water.

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Myth #: The Flu Vaccine Can Make You Sick

Although some people claim to have gotten the flu from the flu shot, Lopez says this is impossible. The flu shot cannot give you the flu because it is made out of killed vaccine particles that cannot cause disease, he says.

The flu shot can produce mild side effects, which some people wrongly assume is the flu. It is possible to feel run down, Lopez says. There can be localized pain at the injection site, body aches, congestion, or even a low-grade fever. This is because the body is mounting an immune response to stimulate what was just inoculated, but its not the actual flu. Nor is it nearly as miserable. Lopez says a dose of Tylenol or ibuprofen should help ease these symptoms in short order.

Many people wait until flu season is raging, in December or January, to get vaccinated, and they may have already been exposed to the virus, Lopez says. If theyd gotten the vaccine in August when it first becomes available, theres a very good chance they would not have gotten sick.

Evergreen Flu Vaccine Ingredients: The Preservatives And Additives

Beyond the three to four viral components, a number of additives and preservatives are required to make vaccines effective and to keep them from going bad. These ingredients, sometimes covered as trade secrets by drug companies in less public drugs, have led to many a conspiracy theory that anti-vaxxers would have you latch onto. Its really much more boring than that.

Here are some of the ingredients you will find in the 2021-2022 flu vaccine and why theyre there.

The Ingredient: Aluminum Salts

Use: Boosts bodys response to the vaccine

The Ingredient: Sugar or gelatin

In: Most vaccines

In: Few flu vaccines only multi-dose vials

Use: Preservative

The CDC says: Thimerosal has a different form of mercury than the kind that causes mercury poisoning . Its safe to use ethylmercury in vaccines because its processed differently in the body and its less likely to build up in the body and because its used in tiny amounts. Even so, most vaccines do not have any thimerosal in them.

The Ingredient: Egg proteins

In: Some vaccines

Use: Growing the vaccine

The CDC says: Because influenza and yellow fever vaccines are both made in eggs, egg proteins are present in the final products. However, there are two new flu vaccines now available for people with egg allergies.

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People At High Risk Of Complications From The Flu

• people with health conditions, such as:
• cancer and other immune compromising conditions
• diabetes
• kidney disease
• neurological or neurodevelopmental conditions
• children up to 18 years of age undergoing treatment for long periods with acetylsalicylic acid

Flu Vaccine For Frontline Health And Social Care Workers

If you’re a frontline health and social care worker, your employer should offer you a flu vaccine. They may give the vaccine at your workplace.

You can also have an NHS flu vaccine at a GP surgery or a pharmacy if:

• you’re a health or social care worker employed by a registered residential care or nursing home, registered homecare organisation or a hospice
• you work in NHS primary care and have direct contact with patients this includes contractors, non-clinical staff and locums
• you provide health or social care through direct payments or personal health budgets, or both

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Flu Vaccine Ingredients: The Strains

Every year, vaccine developers take virus samples from labs across the world and mix and match them. This years vaccine relies on four viruses this is called a quadrivalent vaccine. The four viruses in the vaccine are somewhat different for the three different types of flu vaccines, which are egg-based , recombinant, and egg-free.

Those viruses are

Apdm09

First, lets break down the terminology: A refers to the type of influenza that infects birds, humans, pigs, horses, seals, and dogs H#N# refers to the different proteins found in the outer shell of the virus pdm is short for pandemic and 09 is the year of said pandemic .

This years Apdm09 component is different for flu vaccines that are egg-based compared to those that are cell-based and recombinant-based. For egg-based vaccines, the component changed from an A/Guangdong-Maonan/SWL1536/2019 pdm09-like virus to an A/Victoria/2570/2019pdm09-like virus. That means a flu strain akin to the one seen in the 2009 pandemic that was created in 2019 in a lab in Victoria is replacing the strain created in 2019 in the Maonan district of Guangdong.

For cell-based and recombinant vaccines, the component changed from an A/Hawaii/70/2019 pdm09-like virus to an A/Wisconsin/588/2019 pdm09-like virus.

The second component is a variant of the 2009 H1N1 swine flu. H3N2 was first found in pigs in 2010, then in humans in 2011. The biggest human outbreak was in 2012 with some 309 reported cases.

Influenza B

What Is In The Influenza Vaccine

Information on specific ingredients included within individual influenza vaccines can be found on the label of the medicine, the Product Information and Consumer Medicine Information leaflets for each individual vaccine. You can ask your pharmacist for a copy or find it through our CMI database by searching the products name. The CMI provides the full list of ingredients for each product.

Additionally, information on medicines supplied in Australia, including ingredients, can be located by searching the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods either by product name or ARTG number.

Influenza vaccines available for the 2021 influenza season within Australia do not contain any thiomersal/mercury.

Formaldehyde is used in the early stages of manufacture of some influenza vaccines as an inactivation agent. The formaldehyde is removed in the latter stages of manufacture and the product is tested to ensure formaldehyde levels are below detectable limits before the final product can be released.

All influenza vaccines available this year are latex free. However, the possibility that the product may have come into contact with instruments which contain latex cannot be excluded. Patients who are extremely sensitive to latex should consult their doctor for advice.

Fluad Quad is the only product that contains an adjuvant to boost effectiveness of the vaccine in people aged over 65 years.

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Flu Shot Ingredients: Are They Safe What Parents Need To Know

3 Minute Read

The most effective way to prevent the flu or complications from the flu is getting your child the flu vaccine. Most children receive the flu shot every year as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends. But some parents have questions or concerns about the flu vaccine.

Myth #: Healthy People Dont Die From The Flu

Although it is true that people with underlying health conditions such as asthma, heart disease, diabetes, or cancer have a greater risk of flu-related complications and death, plenty of otherwise healthy adults and children wind up in the hospital from influenza. Some even die from the disease, making arguments against the flu vaccine thin on this ground.

But lets assume for a second that you have only mild symptoms, or youre among the 20 to 30 percent of flu carriers who have no symptoms at all. Even so, you can spread influenza to others who may not be so lucky they could become extremely ill or even die. The best way to protect yourself and those around you is clear: Get an annual flu vaccine.

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I1 New Or Updated Information For 2020

NACI recently reassessed the wording for the recommendation on the vaccination of health care workers and other care providers as a group for whom influenza vaccination is particularly recommended. The existing evidence on HCW influenza vaccination and the reduction of morbidity associated with influenza in patients being cared for by a HCW in health care settings was considered in the context of ethics and acceptability. NACI continues to recommend that, in the absence of contraindications, HCWs and other care providers in facilities and community settings should be vaccinated annually against influenza, and recommends the inclusion of this group among the particularly recommended recipients of influenza vaccine. NACI considers the receipt of influenza vaccination to be an essential component of the standard of care for all HCWs and other care providers for their own protection and that of their patients. This group should consider annual influenza vaccination as part of their responsibilities to provide the highest standard of care.

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