Flu jab please help

[Flufluflu2025]

Please be kind!
I am very worried about this super flu. I have autism and very bad anxiety and no family to help if I caught it.
i haven’t had the flu jab yet as lots of friends had it and ended up very poorly (some in hospital) and they are convinced that it was from the flu jab as they all had very similar symptoms, very high temp, chest infections etc.
Now I don’t believe this but due the way my thinking works, my brain is arguing with itself.
I know I need to have it as I am so worried about catching the flu.
can anyone help me and give me proper advice please?
thank you

This flu is on a normal flu trajectory, just a week earlier than it would normally be. So there is a lot of hype in the news about how severe it is that you need to ignore.

The bit I wouldn’t be ignoring is that your friends have had the flu jab and then being ill or ending up in hospital. I never take the flu jab and the reason for that is throughout the years I have watched people fall ill the minute they have the jab. This happened this year to my own father.

why do you think you need to have the jab? It’s normally only recommended for people who are very elderly or immuno compromised.

I think you need to find out if it is actually possible to have it in your area as a lot of places have run out of stock.

If it isn't available in your area then there is no point in worrying about if you should take it, the decision is made for you so thinking about it is just cluttering up your brain and causing stress for no benefit.

You cannot catch flu from the jab. It’s scientifically impossible.

lots of people don’t fully understand science which is why they fear what they don’t understand.

A jab can provoke an immune reaction so you could get a fever afterwards but not a chest infection that would just be a coincidence.

Try not to worry about the flu or the jab!!

Here’s the NHS advice: www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/flu-vaccine/

why do you think you need to have the jab? It’s normally only recommended for people who are very elderly or immuno compromised

Are you not in the UK? Because that is not true at all.

I have it every year at work (NHS doctor). They are actively encouraging all staff to get vaccinated to minimise our chances of catching/getting really sick from flu through the winter.

I've never had more side effects than a sore arm or feeling a bit run down the next day. Some people do feel a bit worse, but you can't catch the actual flu from the vaccine.

This flu is mutating so if you have the flu jab no guarantee it would give you any protection from the flu strain going around

Would it help to hear from people who have had this year’s flu jab?

I had mine, often years I feel mildly coldy for a day or two after. This year I felt fine, slight sore arm.

Stocks are low in the big places like Boots but we found two independent chemists offering a walk in service with good stock levels of the jab.

I get the jab because of medical conditions but we chose this week to buy one for my husband because this year’s version seems to be targeting younger people (though we may now be pushing the definition of “younger”!)

Flu always mutates and it’s not a perfect match this year but the experts who know more than I do are suggesting it still helps reduce the symptoms. And with flu that’s good enough for me.

It’s your choice ultimately but don’t make the choice because of worry if you can help it.

DH and I both had the jab on Tuesday (on the NHS, neither of us elderly or immunocompromised despite what pp asserts) I felt a bit rough on Wednesday, DH was fine.

You cannot catch the flu from the flu jab. I am a HCP.
It takes about 2 weeks for the jab to be effective.
People who end up in hospital from the flu is not a result of the flu jab.
Even though there has been a mutation of the gene and there is lower protection against some strains now, the jab will definately have an impact on how severe your symptoms are if you do catch it.
It doesn't stop everyone who has had it from catching it, but it does lessen the effects.

Please have it. It will protect you and it will protect others by reducing the spread.

Yes, when you have it you can sometimes feel a little unwell. This is because the flu jab gives your body a taste of what the flu may do to you, so your body builds antibodies to fight it which means if/when you do get it, it will be less severe because your body knows what to do.

The jab scientifically CANNOT give you the flu. If you catch the flu just after having it, it means you've caught the flu. Not from the jab.

I had the ‘flu vaccine this year and no problems whatsoever. Didn’t even have a sore arm.

I had mine, no ill side effects what so ever.
Please stop scare-mongering. Part of the reason it's spreading so much is because only 50% of people who should have had it have actually had it.

Get jabbed now!

I have the flu jab every year - no issues. As others have said you can’t catch flu from the jab but sadly the internet means that vaccine misinformation is now an epidemic more serious than the flu - I had whooping cough last year thanks to vaccine misinformation. It’s desperate. It’s a shame there’s no vaccine to protect against misinformation 😩.

You're being ridiculous. You can't get the flu from the jab. Vaccinations save lives and reduce admissions and transmission. Read the science or don't its up to you but you do not want to get flu. I had it in my twenties in 2000 and was in bed for 10 days, i felt so bad I wanted to die. I work for the nhs and have had the jab every year since. Guess what, ive never had it again. Vaccinations also boost immunity in general. Its a no brainer.

Have I missed where someone said you can catch the flu from the jab?

OP said she didn’t want to be unwell in hospital from the side effects of it, not from catching the flu from it.

Me, too.

I have also had the flu jab this year (and for the last few years). I had no side effects or issues from it whatsoever, not even a slightly sore arm this year.

My partner also had the flu jab, and was poorly afterwards, but it seems more likely to be because he was working in a busy office where people 'bravely' go in when they are sick, in the days before he had it.

I've had flu once in my life, and I was early twenties and healthy then and it was horrific. I hope I never have it again, and will do all I can to lessen my chances of getting it!

It’s the correlation of getting the jab and “being seriously ill in hospital” afterwards. There are a tiny number of people who become unwell but someone claiming that “lots of people they know” became unwell is definitely not from the jab. It’s that tricky correlation and causation conundrum as always 😬

You can get symptoms of the virus from the vaccine that is given to protect you from but it will be mild. It is given to protect you from the very worst of it by giving your body chance to make the antibodies to be ready to fight the virus that you could get. If I wasn't a full time lone worker I would have the jab

Thanks everyone, struggle to interpret things and take things very literally. I am not scared mongering but I have been scare mongered if you see what I mean.
Due to my autism my brain switches, someone says you’ll be fine you need to have it, I agree and then someone says don’t have it you’ll be unwell and my brain switches.
I wish my brain didn’t work like this, I’m in constant fight or flight with myself

Me, DH & both adds all had the flu jab and were absolutely fine. I had a sore arm for 24 hours but that’s it. At the end of the day, you make a choice to either have it or not. Neither choice is right or wrong, so try not to stress. I’ve had flu twice in my life at age 17 and 38 and both times I felt so very, very poorly and it took me a good 6 weeks to feel back to normal. That’s the reason I have the flu jab every year.

I always pay for a flu jab as I’m self employed and don’t get paid if I can’t work. This year I had a mildly sore arm for a few hours, that was all. You cannot get flu from a flu jab.

The flu jab does jot give you flu. It doesn’t give you a chest infection. It may cause you to have a low level fever and feel a bit ropey for a day or two. That’s an immune response which shows that the jab is doing what it should be doing. Your friends got ill because they caught unrelated viruses or the flu itself. People get the jab whilst flu is already circulating, which is why people get poorly.

I’m asthmatic and always have the flu jab. I’ve never had a reaction more than a sore arm for a day and the odd time feel a bit unwell that evening.

I’ve had flu once. It was awful and I was seriously unwell.

I know it doesn’t mean I can’t ever catch flu, but if it helps make it less likely that I’ll catch it and mean that the symptoms will be less serious - then yes I’m absolutely having the jab