Flu vaccine advise

[anno12]

Firstly i'd like to state i am in no way anti vac.. my little boy until this point as had all offered however i am struggling about what to do over flu vac based on my own experience

4 years ago whilst pregnant with my little boy i was offered the flu jab along with whooping cough. I said no to flu and yes to whooping cough
However the nurse said i was foolish to refuse flu jab and i ended up getting it.

Fast forward 6 / 7 weeks i contracted the flu. I spent 2 weeks in a infectious diseases ward on oxygen. I had to have steroids as i was 32 weeks and at 1 point it was touch and go as to whether i would need to deliver early.
I had presumed the flu i caught was not covered by the jab but no it was influenza A, it was covered.

The infectious disease consultant said for some people it just is not effective and in pregnancy immune systems can have different responses. I asked if i should have it in future and she could not really answer me.

I have never had the jab again despite having asthma, my oh also has asthma has never had it and our 4 year old has never had it.

However i am pregnant again and we are all being offered it. My oh says he is no way getting it after my experince and as we work from home thinks its safe to do so.

He thinks after what happened in pregnancy 1 i should avoid it and we should not get it for the little one.

I am unsure i know most people have it with no issues but i never want to experience what i did last time. My gut told me last time to not get it and i did and regretted it , i know it didn't give me the flu but as the consultant said i feel it maybe further lowered my own immune system. It provided no benefit to me at all.

Given my history would you get it again ?

I thought of letting our 4 year old have it since he is at pre school however i am just scared he ends up taking ill after it and i get ill.

I have MS and get a free jab every year. My dd got flu last year and I didn't get it off her because of the jab. Had I got it, it may well have had catastrophic consequences.
Speak to a consultant about your concerns if you must but err on the side of getting it.

I was written to and offered a 'flu jab. I have never had one before - it's obviously because I am now officially old...
I had the jab this morning. I am hoping all will be well. Fingers crossed.

You should do the child, lots of kids get flu and end up in hospital.

You should ring the gp about your own vaccinations.

You didn’t get influenza because you had the flu jab. You got flu because you had the flu jab and it didn’t work. It’s relatively common with the flu vaccine for it not to be effective, or not fully effective.

The flu jab didn’t give you flu or make it worse. It simply didn’t work and you had a horrible experience - but you probably would have had the same experience without the jab. Do you know which strain you had? Some years the flu vaccine is much less effective than other years.

Did the consultant actually say the flu jab lowered your immune system?

Two options here:

1. You get the flu jab, it is effective, you don’t get flu.
2. You get the flu jab, it isn’t effective, you get flu which you would have done anyway.

@jassyredlett if you actually bothered to read my post rather than speak to me as if i am stupid you would have seen i said i know i did not get the flu from the jab

Also i clearly stated i had influenza type A H1N1 which the consultant said the flu jab is usually most effective against. She said it is the strain you would expect it to protect against

She could not confirm it lowered my immune system but stated the immune response in a pregnant women can be different and that it was a possiblity and she couldn't say it would be of benenfit for me to have it again
In all honesty the hospital where quite suprised that i had contracted that strain and i had to fill out a form about the fact i had taken the jab and still ended up seriously ill.

If i was not pregnant i wouldn't be putting this much thought into but as she specifically said due to pregnancy the immune response can be different i am not sure what to do for the best

My close friend was also pregnant at that time did not get the jab and spent the day with me before i took extremely ill and did not catch the flu

Infact my oh did not catch flu nor did my 77 year old grandad who is immuncompromised neither had the flu jab. So clearly it has left us all doubting how effective this jab is.

I remember the year it failed, the death rate increased a lot that year from flu.

Yes, it is possible that it won't 'take' again

But it might, or the other strains in the shot might 'take'

You may or may not catch the flu again. But if you have the shot there is a chance it will work properly and you avoid the actual disease. I bet she didn't say that there was definitely no benefit, rather that the benefit is likely rather than guaranteed.

You can still,take precautions such as WFH, minimising your time out of the home (to essential/important activities only), social distancing (at least 2m and only less if masked)and hand hygiene

I did bother to read it. You didn’t share what strain of influenza A you had (from memory last year’s vaccine covered off H1N1 Brisbane, H3N2 Kansas and one other strain) and your suggestion that your child would get flu as a result of having the flu vaccine was confused at best.

The flu vaccine is never even close to 100% effective - closer to be between 40% and 60% effective in reducing your risk of contracting the disease in any given flu season.

Flu isn’t massively contagious (R of around 1.2).

I’d get it as I don’t really see what the downside would be.

I'd get it as a pp said worst that will happen is it won't work and you'll still catch flu.

I'd also give it to DS as he's more likely to bring it home from preschool and you've had a bad experience before so want to take every chance to get as much protection as possible.

Maybe you were so Ill because you were pregnant and that lowered the our immune system?

For me I don't see a downside - expect that it's not guaranteed to work

I don't understand your problem.

If the flu jab may give you some protection (and it's never 100% effective for everyone) why not have it?

At best it will help protect you and at worst you will be the same as you are now if you don't have it.

what's the issue?

@jassyradlett i did not suggest my child would get the flu from the jab however some children do feel poorly after it. I have known children to spike temps etc after it.

I am not a idiot and have not for a minute suggested it gives anyone the flu

I wasn't sure about getting it in my last pregnancy and out of five pregnant friends i was the only one who got it and the only 1 who got the flu. Unluckly conicidence i'm sure but being pregnant again the illogical part of me thinks i should avoid it and i wanted other experiences.

@jinglinghellsbells illogical fear.. had it once in my life and have never been so ill in my life. Unlucky coincidence i'm sure but i think of the jab and i think of the flu
I remember in the hospital everyone kept saying this is why we tell pregnant women to take the flu jab and i'd say i did and they would have no reply.

I know lots of pregnant women who didn't get it and none of them got the flu so just wonder if it's a waste of time and WFH, social distancing might be the best approach.

@bramblespoint i do suffer from severe morning sicknness ( hg) during pregnancy so yes my immune system was probably non existent

It is just a illogical fear i remember being so annoyed i had bothered to get it at the time and promising never to get it again, of course i know it didn't give me the flu.

Ohwell i have 10 days to decide
Will most likely get it for little one and decide on whooping cough jab day about myself.

The flu jab is generally around 40-60% effective so while it is unfortunate that you had flu and were so ill having the jab still greatly reduces the chance of you getting flu.

I do feel your pain, I have also had flu after having the jab but I still have my vaccine every year.

@oakleystreetisnotinchelsea

I'd honestly do anything to prevent experiencing that again especially whilst pregnant , it is good to hear you still get the vaccine, i know my fear is illogical. I didn't know much about effectiveness rates last time so i think that made the surprise of getting it worse.

Fingers crossed with WFH until baby is born and lack of socialising i might avoid it

I feel like you're implying that there is a connection between you getting the jab and getting the flu, but then you're also saying you know it didn't? It's difficult to understand what your fear is here if you're not implying any connection.