SAN ANTONIO — It is that time of year again: flu season! And that means it is time to get your annual flu shot, according to health officials.
But some of our viewers are still reluctant to get it, and wanted us to verify if you can get the flu virus from the flu shot.
THE QUESTION
Can you get the flu virus from the flu vaccine?
THE SOURCES
- Dr. Bishal Sinha, Methodist Hospital Metropolitan
- The Centers For Disease Control
THE ANSWER
WHAT WE FOUND
Today's VERIFY comes from Steven Trinidad Sr. He would like us to verify that the flu vaccine does not give you the flu virus.
Our sources are Dr. Bishal Sinha, the chief of medicine at Methodist Hospital Metropolitan, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"The flu shot refers to the flu vaccine, which is administered by an injection, and that does not contain the life flu virus itself," Sinha said. "So it is not possible to get the flu from having received the flu shot."
The CDC's influenza information page goes on to state the vaccines are made with inactivated viruses, or with only a single protein.
"The nasal spray vaccine contains live viruses that are attenuated (weakened) so that they will not cause illness," the CDC goes on to say.
Still, many viewers have said they felt like they got the virus from the shot before. Sinha says that's your body building an immune response.
"Symptoms such as body aches, low-grade temperatures weakness, which lasts typically from anything between 12 hours to 48 hours after the administration of the shot," Sinha said.