Swine flu vaccine

The swine flu vaccine was recently developed to help protect the public against swine flu. There is pandemonium about the swine flu vaccine and everyone is rushing to get it. The question is does it work?

There are several brands of the swine flu vaccine on the market but by and large they all work in the same way- increase the body’s immunity to the virus
Up until now pregnant women, the elderly and young children were first offered the vaccine as they appeared to be at a higher risk for developing complications from the virus infection. This vaccine is not meant to be a replacement for the seasonal flu vaccine and some people may need both vaccines.

Some versions the flu vaccine have to be administered twice 2-3 weeks apart but now there is evidence that a single shot of the vaccine may be enough to boost immunity
Experts say that the swine flu vaccine can reduce an individual’s chance of acquiring swine flu by 50-70 percent. While most people do develop antibodies after the vaccine, there are still some people who do get infected by the virus.

Vaccination is not a guarantee that you will be 100 % protected from the virus.
So far the vaccine has been deemed to be safe and the only side effects are burning at the injection site and mild pain. So far no major side effects have been reported after the swine flu vaccine. A few deaths have been reported but it is not known if this was from the swine flu infection or a component of the vaccine.
Beside the local side effects at the site of injection, there have been reports of headaches, swollen glands, fever and joint pain. However, all these effects are temporary and resolve in a few days

Individual who are allergic to eggs should not get the swine flu vaccine. For these individuals there is another brand of the swine flu vaccine made without the use of eggs.

There was concern that the swine flu vaccine may be a cause of temporary paralysis but experts feel that this side effect may be directly related to the infection and not the vaccine.