• Question: can you get flue if you have a vaccine

    Asked by anon-360434 to Simone, Laura, James, Iona, Edward on 31 Mar 2023.
    • Photo: Edward Guy

      Edward Guy answered on 31 Mar 2023:

      Yes! Imagine our immune response is like putting together a tent in the rain (the rain is the symptoms of the infection) without any instructions… by using a bit of common sense and some trial and error, you’ll get there eventually. A vaccine is a bit like the instructions on how to put the tent together quickly. So, in both cases you will get wet (have symptoms) but you will get far less wet (much milder and maybe unnoticeable symptoms) with the instructions (vaccine).

      So, somevaccinated people will get no noticeable symptoms but others might still get the disease, but far milder than without the vaccine.

      Also, some vaccines are made from live organisms that can no longer multiply or cause severe symptoms (these are called ‘live attenuated’ vaccines). So, sometimes the vaccine itself can cause some symptoms.

Comments

  • Photo: Edward

    Edward commented on :

    A vaccine is a bit like seeing an exam question before the exam. The vaccine contains part of the infectious organism we are vaccinating against, and allows our immune system to be prepared for the infection before it happens. So, if infection does happen, our immune system already has its ‘prepared answer’ (and hopefully scores 100% against the infection!)

    But our immune system, like us, has to remember what it has learned and can startto ‘forget’ after time. That’s why we need vaccine boosters every so often.