Now everyone has forgotten about Covid how about considering influenza Influenza - Wikipedia I mention this as I am feeling like I have a mild form of the virus today after having an immunisation yesterday.
In the UK in 2024 there are at least 6 different vaccines All influenza vaccines marketed in the UK for the 2024 to 2025 season (text version) - GOV.UK (their web page seems not to have changed its url). I may have had a high dose version (previously had normal dose version) which is causing the symptoms, am not over 65 but NHS still urging to have vaccination due to other health conditions or something.
There is some suggestion that the high dose version may give a bit of additional protection not just against the strains targetted.
One bit of information I could not find was why there is both nasal spray and injected versions of the vaccine. The nasal spray mainly for children. Unless I have missed it there does not seem to be much difference in effectiveness between the two application methods, perhaps nasal spray more costly or difficult to store or something. In theory nasal spray may be better as it gets directly to where it is needed. There have been attempts to produce covid19 nasal spray vaccines but they have not worked so far. There is quite a lot of literature on these aspects but difficult to distill a clear answer.
If you do get flu there may be test kits to find out which strain you have, similar kits to the Covid testing ones.
By the way the title was just down to the 15 character limit, I am not feeling particularly bad, had to think of something to fill in.
There are differences in how immunity works in mucosal membranes and in the rest of the body. (Antibodies are predominantly IgA in mucosal membranes and IgG elsewhere.) I could speculate about what this means for the relative efficacy of nasal vaccines for various pathogens, but this would be uninformed speculation.
All vaccines are less effective in older people as their immune system is less good so the vaccines tend to have things (adjuvants) added that make them more ‘severe’ and so do still trigger the immune response.
Speculation might be that it is more difficult to safely make the nasal vaccines more severe.
In the case of the vaccine I got it was just a lot higher dose rather than having the adjuvants added as well (I think).
There was a lot of hope during Covid time of many other vaccines being developed or delivery systems devised due to the huge amounts of funding that was given to so many labs and pharmaceutical companies. Even if there were only a couple of covid vaccine winners there still must be many virus labs with loads of shiny new kit and transferrable expertise.
This year I had Covid and Flu vaccines together, one in each arm and felt terrible for a few days after. I’m definitely “of the age”. Previously I’ve had the vaccines on different days and had no side effects. Did you just have the one?
Ha ha!! I’m definitely “of the age” but choose to subject the same arm each time Thinking how this same arm has had so many vaccines over the years. Had the scar from the smallpox for a long while.
Maybe it’s just luck, but only once have I felt miserable after a Covid jab.
Many thanks to NHS and their reminders Wondering, Mike, if having an early reminder when the weather was warmer, may make it easier.
My radio station also advises the age groups who are eligible - maybe next time get it over and done with and compare your reaction.
Hope you get better soon.
Wikipedia lists 41 COVID vaccines with marketing authorisations. (Reduce that by at least one - Sputnik V and Sputnik Light are different dosing regimes of the same vaccine.) There are three obvious winners - Pfizer, Moderna and Novovax. The AstraZeneca (1.3 billion vaccinations) and J&J vaccines got a lot of use, but are no longer in production. I don’t know offhand whether any of the others are still in widespread use.
Feeling terrible for a few days might be a good sign i.e. that the vaccine has induced a strong reaction from the immune system. I am feeling fine today, but when taking the covid jabs did have a bad reaction on a number of occasions, bad enough to fill in the reporting form. Have not bothered with covid so far this year as the level is low at the moment and not shooting up like flu. There also does not seem to be the same seasonal pattern as with flu (yet?).
As to why delay until now rather than earlier in the autumn, there is a good reason for this. The immunity for the flu vaccine only lasts for a limited period and takes a while to become fully effective. The period where there is most likely to be most contacts with infectious people e.g. grandchildren is christmas/new year and this is also the time when in normal years the number of people with the infection is high. There is also an effect of the immune system being weaker further into the winter months after building up during the summer.
This is set against the issue of flu jabs running out! The local chemists have run out here and I think last year or the year before they also did, memory rather hazy on this. They should be getting more in but don’t know when.
I had mine on different days this year (not through choice: different chemists offering one or t’other, but not both, vaccines). I was told that they won’t use the same arm within a week of the first shot.
This time, the flu vaccine made me feel rough, but not the Covid. Now I have come down with good, old-fashioned “man-flu”. And do I get any sympathy? I do not. Man of my character and reputation (mutter, mutter…)
