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> I am not an Anti-vax person, but I am leery of the Flu Vaccine. Could you help me understand why it is better to be immunized against last year's flu instead

> I am not an Anti-vax person, but I am leery of the Flu Vaccine. Could you help me understand why it is better to be immunized against last year's flu instead of surviving this year's flu? If this isn't the place and/or you aren't the person, I'd appreciate a gentle nudge in the right direction. Thanks! It is not that you're immunized against "last year's flu"; the flu virus mutates, and in designing a vaccine for what we predict is going to be this year's flu, taking into account what ended up being the dominant strain last year is a good input. The NYTimes has a good piece explaining why it's better to get the flu shot than to get the flu: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/health/lets-talk-a-millennial-into-getting-a-flu-shot.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/health/lets-talk-a-millen... One thing they don't mention, though, is that, while the flu shot doesn't ensure that you won't get the flu, it does decrease the severity of your illness and symptoms if you do end up getting the flu. Which, if your alternative scenario is "surviving this year's flu" is still a win.

kazinator 8y ago
The flu shots are not anywhere near 100% effective, which likely has to do with what you note: they are based on a laboratory concoction that tires to predict what the new strain might look like. Plus, aren't you polluting your immune system with the long-term presence of antibodies that soon become irrelevant (if they ever were relevant to begin with?) It's like stockpiling garbage information in a database. Over time, could this constant introduction of rubbish not tax the capacity of your immune system, so that you lose immunity to something important like tetanus? There is some evidence that chronic flu shot users, those who get them year after year, actually become weaker against the flu. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4387051/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4387051/ https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/serial-flu-shots-may-limit-body-s-ability-to-fight-virus-in-future-researchers-1.3147903 https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/serial-flu-shots-may-limit-bod...
- DenisM 8y ago
  In the paper you link the suggested mechanism for vaccine fatigue is the immune system under-reacting to the new vaccine, because because it's too similar to the old vaccine. The effect vanes over time, and most certainly is not relevant to tetanus. [...] This hypothesis holds that the impact on the current season’s vaccine effectiveness is most pronounced when the difference between last season’s vaccine component and the current season’s vaccine component is small (this year they’re identical). In that case, the current season’s vaccine may boost memory of the earlier vaccine’s antibody responses; then these “old” antibodies may mop up the current vaccine’s antigen before the newly vaccinated person can mount an immune response to it (this is called antibody interference). [...]

kazinator 8y ago

The flu shots are not anywhere near 100% effective, which likely has to do with what you note: they are based on a laboratory concoction that tires to predict what the new strain might look like. Plus, aren't you polluting your immune system with the long-term presence of antibodies that soon become irrelevant (if they ever were relevant to begin with?) It's like stockpiling garbage information in a database. Over time, could this constant introduction of rubbish not tax the capacity of your immune system, so that you lose immunity to something important like tetanus? There is some evidence that chronic flu shot users, those who get them year after year, actually become weaker against the flu. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4387051/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4387051/ https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/serial-flu-shots-may-limit-body-s-ability-to-fight-virus-in-future-researchers-1.3147903 https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/serial-flu-shots-may-limit-bod...

DenisM 8y ago
In the paper you link the suggested mechanism for vaccine fatigue is the immune system under-reacting to the new vaccine, because because it's too similar to the old vaccine. The effect vanes over time, and most certainly is not relevant to tetanus. [...] This hypothesis holds that the impact on the current season’s vaccine effectiveness is most pronounced when the difference between last season’s vaccine component and the current season’s vaccine component is small (this year they’re identical). In that case, the current season’s vaccine may boost memory of the earlier vaccine’s antibody responses; then these “old” antibodies may mop up the current vaccine’s antigen before the newly vaccinated person can mount an immune response to it (this is called antibody interference). [...]