Vaccine Support

I was able to get my H1N1 shot at a clinic on Friday.  I explained to the nurse that I had a slight sore throat but no fever.  She didn't seem concerned and went ahead and gave me the shot.  Over the course of the weekend, my sore throat turned into a cold (which is my usual transition when I get a cold..i.e. sore throat first then cold).  I didn't have a fever all weekend but didn't feel the greatest.

So for the question, will my H1N1 shot be as effective since I was slightly ill when I received the shot?  I have read that a minor cold should not be an issue but I wonder what is meant by "minor".   I am not positive how vaccines work but wonder if because my body was trying to fight something at the same time that I forced it to fight off the H1N1 virus, did I make a mistake in getting it.

Your thoughts will be appreciated.

Barb

Hi Barb -

>>" will my H1N1 shot be as effective since I was slightly ill when I received the shot? "<<

Yes, it will. You did the right thing getting the H1N1 shot. I could make the argument that your immune system was already on "alert" with what turned out to be an upper respiratory infection so by introducing the H1N1 antigens to it, the immune response could be greater, not less. It's just a different way to look at it, imo. HTH ~

 

Thanks for the quick response. 

Are there any statistics out there that say how effective the H1N1 vaccine is generally (i.e. what percent of those vaccinated will actually still get H1N1 if exposed)?

Thanks again!

As far as I'm aware .. there are no statistics available at this time, as the vaccine is so new and data is so limited.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine says that antibody response was adequate in greater than 96% of adults receiving the vaccine -- but the real test will be if those adults are exposed to H1N1 after being vaccinated. Since most physicians are not testing patients for H1N1, and the CDC is not keeping track of the number of cases -- we may never know how effective the vaccine is.

I believe most vaccines have somewhere in the neighborhood of 30% failure rate .. I would guess this vaccine is the same.