Flu Shot Pros and Cons

I haven’t got a flu shot yet. Until this year, I have always received one–in part because I worked amongst health care professionals.

According to the Government of Canada website, the benefits of the flu shot outweigh the risks:

The flu shot does not contain any live virus;

The flu shot has minimal (if any) negative side effects (soreness at injection site, fever, fatigue, ache);

Getting the flu shot reduces the spread of infection thereby easing the burden on our healthcare system;

Severe allergic reactions to flu shots are rare, but a possible side effect is Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS): An autoimmune disease that attacks the nervous system and results in weakness and abnormal sensations. Most patients recover fully and my chance of developing GBS (as a healthy adult with no pre-existing conditions) are about one in a million.

My mother is not happy that I have not yet received the shot. She remembers the 1957 flu epidemic in Britain vividly because a classmate of hers died from the illness. Additionally, she argued, it would do me no harm, it’s free and submitting to an injection helps to protect others.

I’m no expert–any advice?

Photo courtesy of RohitP on Flickr