Hello ,
I am 60 years old and jak 2 positive PV .
I am on aspirin and Hydrea .
My doc wants me to take vaccine for swine flu, hepatitis B and pneumococcus - has anyone taken vaccines while on Hydrea ? Is it safe - considering hydrea is essentially tuning down the immune system?
Hi there, my understanding is that it is OK to have vaccines, provided they are not live vaccines. I copied the info below from a UK government document on vaccines. For safety, I would check with your haematologist.
Live vaccines currently available in the UK are:
●● live influenza vaccine (Fluenz Tetra)
●● Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine (Priorix, MMRVaxPro)
●● Rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix)
●● Shingles vaccine (Zostavax)
●● BCG vaccine
●● Oral typhoid vaccine (Ty21a)
●● Varicella vaccine (Varilrix, Varilvax)
●● Yellow Fever vaccine
Live vaccines should not be administered to individuals on immunosuppressive therapy including:
●● those who are receiving, or have received in the past 6 months, immunosuppressive
chemotherapy or radiotherapy for malignant disease or non-malignant disorders
Stay well
Liz
Thankyou
Thanks for sending that list. My boyfriend is always on my case about getting the flu and shingles vaccine and now I can show him that it's not safe for me. 
I often worry if the covid-19 vaccine will even be safe for us when it comes out.
Take care.
Cindy
Fluenz Tetra is the flu vaccine for children, the one for adults is safe for us. If you wanted an inactive shingles vaccine (Shingrix) you'd have to pay in the UK.
I take flu vaccines every year, as much for the protection of others as myself.
Interesting. Thanks for the info.
HI i have et Jak2+ and on hydrea and every year with out fail get notification for my flu jab only side effect is small lump on arm and tender for few days after injection
stay safe
Scottish TERRIER
Thankyou
I have to flu jab every year, I have had the pneumonia jab too. You only get this every 10 years. If you get the pneumonia jab you may have side affects that will last about two/three days.
My husband and I got the side affects. Chills, hot and cold, shaking, little headache. We took pain killer to help.
It is up to you whether you have them but I would go with out mine.
Thankyou
When I was on HU my consultant said I could safely have any non-live vaccine. I had flu jabs with no problems.
Thankyou
I have had vaccines when I was on HU. You do need to avoid live vaccines, but the others are OK. Always verify with your hematologist though. I tend to go the proactive way. With a MPN present, you need to manage your health more carefully then ever. Better to avoid a disease than having to treat one.
Thankyou
Hi I’m on hydroxycarbamide 1500 mg a day had a splenectomy in 2014 P V and ET 50/50 and jak 2 positive
I have those injections every 5 years I’ve just had
The initial injections I’m back on 16 th July for my boosters Which are not a problem
All the best
Phil
Check what is in the vaccine, each is a bit different. From what I have read The live cell vaccines are a bit like getting a dose of the disease so you get a more normal cell response. The attenuated virus needs an adjuvant, something added to create a response. Sometimes aluminum or Mercury as thimersol. Many people think these adjuvants can be an issue in some people.
But only you can make the decision . So just do a bit of research
Thankyou
Hi I am on the opposite side. I have never had the flu vacine, from choice. Luckily not got the flu either TG. I had lots of vaccines over the years due to travelling to different countries. I always reacted to them so I decided that having PV would help me decide not to have any more. So no travel to those countries. My only advice would be for you to make an informed decision but perhaps not have them all together. That might overload you.
Thankyou
I am in a similar boat, hydroxy and aspirin daily. I have been offered flu vaccine and pneumoccus and all well. It seems the reduced immune response is better protected by having the vaccines than not.
Hope this helps a little.
Thankyou .
I have annual flu jab and am Jak2+ with ET & PV. I take 1g HU and 75mg per day. If you delve further in to HU there is a lot of written material that tells me it isn’t immunosuppressive and I have had no more colds or other issues than I ever did before I started on the medication three years ago. D..
Thankyou .
Hi, I was of the understanding that we couldn’t have live vaccines. What I didn’t realise was that flu was live. I have one every year. In deed at one point Guy’s hospital asked for volunteers as they wanted to study people who had the flu jab .
there are different types some are live some are not, this will explain the different types and who has them
bnf.nice.org.uk/treatment-s...
Thankyou
This paper has useful information indeed .
Thankyou .
Not wishing to go off topic but I too was involved in a 'flu jab study a few years back to see how MPN'ers fared. They said they'd advise of results so left it year after hearing nothing - asked, no response. Nice.
Oh really ? The non response is certainly strange....... But you did take the flu jab ? What was your personal experience ?
I thought so too, especially after they said they'd contact the volunteers with the results. If they did, I never received anything. But not to worry, these things happen.
Yep, had the jab, then had 'flu symptoms within 24hrs which cleared within about another 48hrs. First time I'd had a reaction before or since. If memory serves, had to attend the trial three times over a period of three or four months for blood test comparisons. I'm pretty sure others on this forum were also involved but don't recall hearing any more about it 
Like yourself, I too have PV JAK2+ and aged 64. I have found though it depends, oddly, on which doctor/haemo you speak to as to whether or not they recommend anything other than the 'flu jab in the 'live vaccine' bracket. Not terribly uniform in advice but due diligence and all that All the very best.
Thankyou very much
After posting here I thought I'd take a chance of firing off an email to the person who was organising the study's participants and blow me she very kindly replied within just a couple of hours. It just so happens that the report was in fact in the final stages of processing and is being submitted for publication in the next week or so. Not too sure where or to whom this report is sent but she did say that a copy of it would be forwarded to me (and hopefully anyone else who participated).
Not terribly sure currently what it's title will be - maybe Maz will see this before us ? but if memory serves it was something along the lines of "MPN 'flu study 2016/17". I'll keep you posted
Oh great ! Please do update The results of the study here , since the outcomes will be valuable to understand. Thankyou for making sure to check back with them . Was a good thing you thought of doing
Thankyou .
Did the hospital Come out with results ?
I didn’t participate . I put myself forward but wasn’t required. I can see by the other posts that they didn’t. Maybe they are still analysing.
My doctor says that there is no scientific evidence for flu vaccine, only for pheumococos. I didnt want to put it. I am 61.
This was in the BMJ 2018 about flu vaccine.
bmj.com/content/bmj/suppl/2....
Thankyou
Thankyou
Hi, I'm 69, PV Jak positive on Hydroxy and asprin and have both the flu vaccine and the pneumonia.
Thankyou
I have had no problems at all.
Cheers,
Uzza.
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