How is the flu vaccine made?

Well, it's official. Flu season has hit North America. Some people are getting hit hard, while others are dodging the bullet. If you've been a regular reader here, you'll know that I support the flu vaccine and do encourage people to get it (Winter's coming...so are colds and the flu). But, it is a personal choice (thankfully!), so the best we pro-vaccination folks can do is try to encourage it.

Have you ever been curious about how the flu vaccine is made? The Government of Ontario (Canada) has put out a some videos about influenza and they've included this animated video called You and the Flu, Making the Vaccine.

What do you think about the flu vaccine debate? Did you or will you be vaccinated?

This won't hurt a bit - yeah, right...

Ouch. I had my flu shot yesterday. Our pediatrician offers them to the families, including adults. This is good for us considering only one of the family is still under 18 and under his care. It’s always hard to tell if the injection will leave a sore arm or not. Some years, I barely feel it, other years, it’s like I got a – well – a needle stabbed into my arm.

When I had the series of 3 injections (spread over a few months) for the hepatitis vaccine they give healthcare workers, I barely felt the first one, the second one hurt like the dickens, and the third was felt, but it wasn’t terrible. The same person gave all three injections.

When I gave my first injection to a patient, it was to a mentally handicapped girl at the Children’s hospital, where I was doing my pediatric rotation. The way my instructor watched me made me even more nervous than I already was and I had a really hard time doing it. I am sure I wasn’t too delicate and it’s funny, all these years later, I still feel badly about it; it must have hurt.

So, why is it that some injections hurt and some you barely feel? It’s a combination of technique, experience, the type of injection, and the serum being injected.

There are three types of injections, two of which most of us come across. The subcutaneous (s/c) injection is one that goes just under the skin. When the medication is injected into this tissue, it has a slower release into the body than if it is given directly into the muscle. The most common medication given this way is insulin. The needle used is very tiny and short. S/C injections are usually given in the upper arm, but can be also given in the abdomen (heparin is usually given this way), and the thigh. Usually, you should pinch the skin to make a bit of a tent and inject the medication into the skin, usually, at a 90 degree angle. This reduces the chances of the needle reaching the muscle. Because the needle is so thin and doesn’t reach the muscle, the injections are usually rather painless.

The other injection that most people are familiar with is the intramuscular (IM) injection. Those are the ones with the longer needles that go directly into the muscle, such as the vaccines and antibiotics, for example. These are most commonly given in the buttock if it’s a pain killer or antibiotic, the outer upper quarter in order to avoid hitting a nerve. For vaccines, it’s usually given in upper arm. For babies, it’s usually given in the thigh. Unlike S/C injections, the skin remains flat. The needle also goes in at a 90 degree angle.

Intravenous (IV) medications, medication injected directly into the vein, are usually only given as part of an IV infusion of fluids, although they can be given directly, usually in an emergency situation. Medications given by IV act very quickly.

Some medications don't sting or burn, while others can be painful. The tetanus vaccine, for example, is known for being uncomfortable. Some antibiotics can be painful too.

Very few people like getting injections, but they are a necessary part of life these days. But, with the on-going research, one day, they may not be standard any more. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Today's News:

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Cancer Patients not getting live-saving flu and pneumonia shots
Women with breast cancer have less dermatitis when treated with IMRT
Smoking does not lead to more aggressive or advanced breast cancers
New study shows smoking increases risk of psoriasis

It's that time of year again: vaccination time, that is

It’s time for that old annual influenza vaccination debate. There's an article in today's news picks about the pneumoccal vaccine: Patients with pneumonia who received pneumococcal vaccine have lower rate of death, ICU admission. The pneumococcal vaccine isn't the same as the influenza vaccine but the two come up at the same time of year.

The benefits of the flu vaccine are plenty. The vaccine reduces the chances of you getting the flu (Note, that I didn’t say “eliminates”); if you do get the flu, it’s likely that it will be a less virulent illness; it reduces the spread of the flu; it helps save money in the workplace by reducing absenteeism, and it reduces the cost of health care as it limits the number of people seeking medical care from the flu.

So, what to do? Opponents of the flu vaccine say that we need to fight viruses on our own, that they don’t need it because they never get sick, and when they do get sick, they don’t get that sick. The funny thing is that every person who has told me that they never get “that sick” when they get the flu – when they get the *real* flu, they’re so sick, they tell me that they never want to live through that again. To be fair though, that is only in my own experience.

We get the flu shot here in our home. I’m asthmatic, as are two of my three kids. I also am very susceptible to anything that attacks the lungs. Colds go directly to my lungs and cause great discomfort for weeks. I’m not taking a chance with the flu. If a cold can knock me off my feet, I’m afraid of what influenza can do. I had pleurisy once – never want to experience that again.

While the initial goal was to vaccinate the people who would get sickest should they get the flu (the elderly and immunocompromised), the latest push is to vaccinate those who aren't so susceptible. It seems that the vaccine isn’t as effective in the elderly but if the people around the elderly are vaccinated, they can’t pass it on to them. Makes sense to me.

But, it is a personal decision. If you don’t want to get vaccinated, that’s your choice. But, please don’t fight against those of us who do. I’ve been told I’m a sheep for following the crowd. I’ve been told that I’m weakening my family members’ immune system by getting every vaccinated – I’ve been told a lot of things. The thing is, this is my choice just as those who don’t want a vaccination are making their choice. Neither is right or wrong, but both are the best decisions for us, with the information and the knowledge that we have.

Today's News:

One-year follow-up of a therapeutic lifestyle intervention targeting cardiovascular disease risk
Effect of perindopril on physical function in elderly people with functional impairment: a randomized controlled trial
Phone counselling leads to lower cardiovascular risk: study
Relatives of patients with Parkinson's disease risk developing dementia, cognitive impairment
Patients with pneumonia who received pneumococcal vaccine have lower rate of death, ICU admission
Swiss study suggests surgery may offer best chance of long-term prostate cancer survival
Bad relationships hurt the heart literally: study