Can You Get The Covid
âAs per the CDC, there is no good evidence that acute illness makes a vaccine less effective or increases adverse effects,â says Dr. Robert Cole, MD, an intensive care medicine specialist in Camden, New Jersey, and author of How to Build a Smile. âHowever, as a precaution, the current recommendation is to delay vaccination if someone has any acute moderate or severe illness. In other words, if you have a mild cough, runny nose, or diarrhea, but are COVID negative, you can get the vaccine. Additionally, if you are taking antibiotics, you can also still get vaccinated safely.â
However, if you can wait to get vaccinated, you might want to do so. âIf you are sick, it would be best to wait to get the COVID vaccine until you are fully recuperated,â Dr. Soma Mandal, MD, a board-certified internist at Summit Medical Group in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, tells Bustle. âThis is because the COVID-19 vaccine can potentially cause body aches, fever, fatigue, headache, joint and muscle pain, which can make the symptoms of an existing upper respiratory infection worse.â Why pile on more feeling sick if you can avoid it?
Which Pneumonia Vaccine Is Best
There is no best pneumonia vaccine. The two available pneumonia vaccines are different, and which one is best for you depends on how old you are and whether or not you have certain medical conditions.
The main difference between Prevnar 13 and Pneumovax 23 is the number of pneumococcus strains the vaccine protects against.
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PCV13 contains polysaccharides from 13 types of pneumococcal bacteria and is mainly given to young children.
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PPSV23 contains polysaccharides from 23 types of pneumococcal bacteria and is mainly given to older adults.
When To Get The Vaccine
Thereâs no such thing as pneumonia season, like flu season. If you and your doctor decide that you need to have a pneumonia vaccine, you can get it done at any time of the year. If itâs flu season, you can even get a pneumonia vaccine at the same time that you get a flu vaccine, as long as you receive each shot in a different arm.
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Who Should Get The Pneumococcal Vaccine
Anyone over the age of 18 with certain risk factors is eligible to receive the pneumococcal vaccine at Allcare Pharmacy. Your pharmacist is happy to advise you if the vaccine is appropriate for you.
Pneumococcal vaccination is advised for:
- Everybody aged 65 years and over
- Adults aged 18 years and over with:
- Diabetes mellitus
- Chronic heart, respiratory, renal or liver disease
- Sickle cell disease
- Disorders of the immune system including cancer, HIV, and transplant patients
- Smokers
- Those who are exposed to fumes through their work e.g. welders
Side Effects Of The Pneumococcal Vaccine In Babies
Mild side effects of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine , which is the version of the pneumococcal vaccine given to babies under the age of 2, include:
- a decreased appetite
- redness and swelling at the site of the injection
- feeling sleepy or not sleeping well
Serious side effects of the PCV vaccine are rare, and include:
- a high temperature, possibly leading to convulsions
- allergic reactions, such as an itchy skin rash
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How Do The Lungs Work
Your lungs main job is to get oxygen into your blood and remove carbon dioxide. This happens during breathing. You breathe 12 to 20 times per minute when you are not sick. When you breathe in, air travels down the back of your throat and passes through your voice box and into your windpipe . Your trachea splits into two air passages . One bronchial tube leads to the left lung, the other to the right lung. For the lungs to perform their best, the airways need to be open as you breathe in and out. Swelling and mucus can make it harder to move air through the airways, making it harder to breathe. This leads to shortness of breath, difficulty breathing and feeling more tired than normal.
I Got Sick After My Flu Shot: Did It Give Me The Flu
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends an annual flu shot for everyone 6 months and older, with very few exceptions. You may have had the flu shot in the past and remember feeling sick almost immediately after.
The good news is that the flu shot cant give you the flu or make you sick. This is because the flu vaccines contain inactivated or dead viruses. Once the virus is inactivated, it cant cause an infection. It does, however, give your body the information it needs to build immunity. Thats how the vaccine protects you from getting seriously ill later.
One flu vaccine that comes in the form of a nasal spray does contain live virus, but it is attenuated , so it cant cause infection. However, certain people should not receive the live vaccine, including:
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Children less than 2 years old
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Adults over age 50
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People with weakened immune systems
This is because they can be at greater risk for complications from a live vaccine.
If youve felt sick after a flu shot in the past, there are a few possible explanations for that, as described below.
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How Much Does It Cost
For adults over age 65 who have Medicare Part B, both pneumococcal vaccines are completely covered at no cost, as long as they are given a year apart.
If you have private insurance or Medicaid, you should check with your individual plan to find out if the vaccines are covered. Usually, routinely recommended vaccinations, like the pneumococcal vaccines, are covered by insurance companies without any copays or coinsurance. This means you can often get the vaccines at little or no cost.
If you need to pay out of pocket for the vaccines, you can review prices for PCV13 and PPSV23.
What Other Side Effects Can The Flu Shot Cause
“Soreness, redness, and swelling where the shot is given, fever, muscle aches, and headache can happen after receiving the influenza vaccine,” Jain says.
Side effects aren’t necessarily a bad sign. Jain tells Bustle that symptoms arise because your body is letting the flu shot do its thing. “When you get a vaccine, your immune system gets activated in order to build a protective response against the viral protein,” he says. “As a result of this, there is a transient release of inflammatory mediators in your body that causes these symptoms.” In other words, you might get a little sore and swollen.
“Usually, the post-vaccination symptoms are relatively mild,” Jain says. “You can take acetaminophen to help relieve these symptoms if they are bothersome.”
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What To Know About The Pneumococcal Vaccine
Who needs it: The CDC recommends one pneumococcal vaccine for adults 19 to 64 with certain risk factors . If you work around chronically ill people say, in a hospital or nursing home you should get the vaccine, even if you’re healthy. People 65 and older can discuss with their health care provider whether they should get PCV13 if they haven’t previously received a dose. A dose of PPSV23 is recommended for those 65 and older, regardless of previous inoculations with pneumococcal vaccines.
How often: Space immunizations out. You should receive a dose of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine , then, a year later, a dose of pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine . People with any of the risk factors should get one dose of PCV13 and PPSV23 before age 65, separated by eight weeks.
Why you need it: Pneumococcal disease, which can cause pneumonia, kills around 3,000 people a year. Young children and those over 65 have the highest incidence of serious illness, and older adults are more likely to die from it.
Editors note: This article was published on Oct. 26, 2020. It was updated in September 2021 with new information.
Also of Interest
Can You Prevent Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an infection in your lungs caused by bacteria, a virus, or, less often, a fungus.
The air sacs in your lungs swell and can fill with fluid or pus, which can make it difficult for you to breathe and harder for your body to get the oxygen it needs.
Pneumonia can also cause other illnesses or complications that can be serious. Thats why its important to do everything you can to stay healthy and prevent yourself and your family from getting pneumonia in the first place.
How can you do that?
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Can Flu Shots Make You Sick
The new flu season is right around the corner, which means the push to get you vaccinated is about to ramp up. In the United States, flu season typically runs from October to May. Many people wonder if the flu shot is worth it and are worried the flu shot can make them sick as in infecting them with the flu. We are here to help clear up any flu shot misconceptions.
The myth that the flu vaccine will give someone the flu is the most common mistaken belief that leads people to avoid the flu shot. The virus in the vaccine is not active, and an inactive virus cannot transmit disease. Therefore, its physically impossible to get the flu from the flu shot. Because the flu virus evolves every year, different strains are more prevalent from year to year, meaning you need a yearly vaccine to protect yourself against the flu.
All persons aged 6 months and older are recommended for annual flu vaccination, with rare exceptions, according to the CDC.
It is not uncommon to feel under the weather after you receive a flu vaccine. In fact, this is a welcome sign. When you receive the flu shot, your body recognizes the inactive flu virus as a foreign invader, which causes your immune system to develop antibodies to attack the flu virus if or when you get exposed to it in the future. So, while you may experience some unpleasant side effects, none will be as bad as if you contracted the flu.
- Trouble breathing
Who Should Not Get The Vaccine
People should not get the vaccine if they have had a life threatening allergic reaction to a previous dose.
Additionally, a person should not undergo vaccination if they have had an allergic reaction to medication containing diphtheria toxoid or an earlier form of the pneumonia vaccination .
Lastly, people who are sick or have allergic reactions to any of the ingredients of the vaccine should talk to a doctor before getting the shot.
A pneumonia shot will not reduce pneumonia. However, it helps prevent invasive pneumococcal diseases, such as meningitis, endocarditis, empyema, and bacteremia, which is when bacteria enter the bloodstream.
Noninvasive pneumococcal disease includes sinusitis.
There are two types of pneumonia shots available. Which type a person gets depends on their age, whether or not they smoke, and the presence of any underlying medical conditions.
The two types are:
- Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine : Healthcare providers recommend this vaccine for young children, people with certain underlying conditions, and some people over the age of 65 years.
- Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine : Healthcare providers recommend this vaccine for anyone over 65 years of age, people with certain underlying conditions, and people who smoke.
According to the
- roughly 8 in 10 babies from invasive pneumococcal disease
- 45 in 100 adults 65 years or older against pneumococcal pneumonia
- 75 in 100 adults 65 years or older against invasive pneumococcal disease
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Can I Get Sick From A Vaccine If I Have An Allergy To An Ingredient In It
While vaccine side effects are normal, allergic reactions can happen and are not part of the bodys normal response. An allergic reaction is when the immune system responds too strongly to a vaccine. Symptoms may include hives, itching, or wheezing. Allergic reactions can be serious. In fact, one of the main reasons not to get a vaccine is if you have an allergy to one of its ingredients or if youve had an allergic reaction to a previous dose.
Anaphylaxis is a serious type of allergic reaction that can be life-threatening. This can happen after a vaccine, but it is very rare. According to the World Health Organization , anaphylaxis occurs in 1 out of 1 million people given a vaccine. People with anaphylaxis can have:
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Swelling of the face or throat
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Trouble swallowing
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Stomach pain
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Vomiting
These symptoms usually start 5 to 30 minutes after a vaccine is given. Anyone with these signs or symptoms needs immediate medical attention.
If you have concerns about whether you can safely get a vaccine, talk to your healthcare provider first. You can read more about reasons why its not safe to get certain vaccines here.
How Do I Know If I Have Side Effects Or If Im Sick
While vaccine side effects are common, the good news is they are usually mild and will resolve on their own in a few days. All vaccines can cause side effects. This is to be expected because vaccines trigger the immune system. But it is also possible to get a vaccine and not have any side effects at all.
Side effects can differ between vaccines, so it is important to review this information with your healthcare provider before you get the shot. For each vaccine approved in the U.S., the CDC publishes a Vaccine Information Statement . This document provides information about the benefits and risks of each vaccine, including common side effects. You can ask your healthcare provider for this information or find it here.
If you have symptoms after your vaccine that are more intense or last more than a few days, you may have another illness. You can discuss these symptoms with your healthcare provider to determine the cause and whether they are related to the vaccine.
Because side effects can be uncomfortable and frustrating, some people might try to prevent them by taking medications before a vaccination. But there is some evidence that taking medications like acetaminophen or ibuprofen before a shot may decrease your bodys immune response to the vaccine. For this reason, it is not recommended to take medication to prevent side effects before any vaccine, including the COVID-19 vaccine.
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How Often Is The Pneumococcal Vaccine Given
Babies receive the pneumococcal vaccine as three separate injections, at 2 months, 4 months and 12-13 months.
People over-65 only need a single pneumococcal vaccination which will protect for life. It is not given annually like the flu jab.
People with a long term health condition may need just a single one-off pneumococcal vaccination or five-yearly vaccination depending on their underlying health problem.
Who Is At Risk
Pneumococcal disease occurs around the world but is more common in low- and middle-income countries where fewer people get pneumococcal vaccine. In more temperate climates, pneumococcal disease is more common during winter and early spring. In tropical climates with dry and rainy seasons, pneumococcal disease tends to occur more in the dry season.
Travelers are more likely to get pneumococcal disease if they spend time in crowded settings or in close contact with children in countries where pneumococcal vaccine is not routinely used.
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Problems That Could Happen After Getting Any Injected Vaccine
- People sometimes faint after a medical procedure, including vaccination. Sitting or lying down for about 15 minutes can help prevent fainting and injuries caused by a fall. Tell your doctor if you or your child:
- Feel dizzy
- Have vision changes
- Have ringing in the ears
Protect Your Health With These Healthy Living Practices
Avoid people who are sick. If you are sick, stay away from others as much as possible to keep from getting them sick.
You can also help prevent respiratory infections by:
- Cleaning and disinfecting surfaces that are touched a lot
- Coughing or sneezing into a tissue or into your elbow or sleeve
- Limiting contact with cigarette smoke or quitting smoking
- Taking good care of medical conditions
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Why Does The Flu Shot Make You Tired
Dr. Gustavo Ferrer-Gonzalez, M.D., the founder of the Cleveland Clinic Florida Cough Center, tells Bustle that the tiredness some people feel is a result of âthe bodyâs defenses responding to the dead virus present in the vaccine.” He further explains, âThe symptoms are the result of the antibodies produced by our body in order to build up an immune response. In essence, a foreign substance âentering our body that our defenses recognize and respond with fatigue, tiredness, low-grade fever, and lousiness.â
The fatigue won’t last too long though, says Dr. Sanjeev Jain, M.D., board-certified allergist and immunologist and founder of Columbia Allergy. The sleepy sensation usually resolves itself in 24-48 hours, Jain tells Bustle.