Flu Vaccine Walter Reed Hospital

VACCINES HAVE PROTECTED ME from my childhood on to my adulthood.  I'm a great believer because I did not get the trendy diseases of the seasons.
This year's flu vaccine contains the following strains:
1.  A/California/7/2009 (H1N1) - like
2.  A/Perth/16/2009 (H3N2) - like
3.  B/Brisbane/60/2008-like Hemagglutinin Antigens
These types of flu have been circulating in the past year and likely to occur in the United States next winter.
Do not get a flu shot if:
1.  Allergic to egg proteins (eggs or egg products) or to chicken proteins.
2.  Acute febrile illness (delay receiving the vaccination).
3.  Allergic to antibiotics Neomycin or Polymyxin
4.  Allergic to thimerosal (preservative found in mercurochrome and contact lens solution.
5.  Illness that caused paralysis within 6 weeks of a previous flu vaccination.
I just got my free flu shots today.
Most people have no side effects from recent influenza vaccines.  The influenza vaccine contains only non-infectious viruses, so therefore, it cannot cause influenza.  Flu shots are given by injection, usually into a muscle of the upper arm.  I'm right-handed so I got the injection in my left upper arm.  I did not get any soreness at all, one of the effects.  Occasionally, it may also cause a fever or achiness for one or two days.  There is also a possibility of allergic reaction or more serious reaction or even death could occur.
The vaccine will begin to provide its protective effect after about one or two weeks and immunity may decrease, on average, after several months.
Flu shots will not protect against other illnesses that resemble the flu.

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Washington, DC 1919  Walter Reed Hospital Flu ward - Documenting the influenza contagion of 1918 - 1919 which killed over 500,000 Americans and tens of millions around the globe.  Most victims succumbed to bacterial pneumoniae following influenza virus infection.

 

 

 

Published 10/12/10  ALT Group Multiply

Web Page: Flu Vaccine