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Originally Posted by MEDISIN
You received a live attenuated virus which would have given you some aches and pains but was NOTHING like full-borne influenza. If you truly did have influenza then you were exposed to it in the community in addition to receiving the vaccine. Remember it takes a couple of weeks to mount an immune response and get those antibodies circulating.
As for testing a vaccine against a virus that changes with geography and time, there are too many constraints to evaluate a vaccine the way we evaluate other biologics. We're forced to do the best we can with the little time we have. Yes there is some inherrant risk, but go back and read the OP...
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One of you is almost right the other is partially correct.
The SHOT is a KILLED virus just like the normal seasonal vaccine. The process of the flu vaccine development and production has decades of well established testing and safety. Don't listen to the hype about that. It's made the same, by the same companies, same process, same buildings, the same way, but the difference is which strain they contain to protect from.
The H1N1 vaccine is also available (just like the typical seasonal vaccine) as a nasal spray (flumist) which is an attinuated live (weakened virus) that can only work in the cooler nasal passage rather than in the lungs. So it can't give you the full clinical influenza. I've had this type for a couple of years and I have had no symptoms at all. See also the pharmacy discription above.
This H1N1 has mostly been a kids illness and lots of pneumonias are developing as a result. But I've also seen several adults do very poorly and needed ICU care.
Some kids are getting just a couple days of fever and get over it quickly, but don't count on it being as mild in every case. Get vaccinated and at least decrease your chance of a week of feeling like hell and a week off (usually without pay). Plus hopefully you won't spread it to that kid or adult that won't do so well...