There have been many questions and enquiries regarding the Flu Vaccine, so we thought we would share this information from PHE.

[Suzym2u]

John has just been talking to Public Health England regarding their advice regarding the flu vaccine and being immunosuppressed.

This is their advice.:- If you are taking "any" immunosuppressing drugs, the advice is to have the inactive vaccine ( none live vaccine) as early as possible in the flu season. Which we believe starts on Monday. It takes 14 days to sero-convert ( become immune).

The nasal spray vaccine used in children who are not immunosuppressed, is a weakened version of the virus and it is very rapidly absorbed into the blood stream & is also a very small dose. So the risk of someone who is moderately immunosuppressed, who comes into contact with a child, who has "just" had the nasal spray, is very low. ( Moderately immunosuppressed means NOT having high dose Chemo for Cancer or being heavily immune suppressed as in transplant cases ). So it may come down to how well you feel yourself after having the flu jab as to how long you should keep away from children who have just had the nasal flu vaccine.

I am afraid there is no black and white answer to this question.

We do appreciate that the flu jab does not suit everyone and it is personal choice, we are just passing on the advice from Public Health England. x

[hamble99b Volunteer]

thankyou, good to have it corroborated

[Suzym2u Moderator Vasculitis UK]

So many have contacted us in the last few days, including those who work with children so John contacted Public Health England just to clarify hamble.

Susan

[Ravi35 in reply to Suzym2u]

Thank you, my gp just advised me the other day that I should go fir the flu jab, having it in Tuesday

[Maudy1]

Does anybody know if the flu jab still works if you are on Rituximab?

[Suzym2u Moderator Vasculitis UK in reply to Maudy1]

Maudy1 We presume it will work less well, but we will try and find out for you, unless someone in the community knows the answer.

Susan

[lisa-ranyell Vasculitis UK Volunteer in reply to Maudy1]

Yes it does Maudy, I have been on regular Rituximab since 2008 and have it every year, ideally though you should have it before your infusion and not in the weeks afterwards, as apparently this makes it less effective. I also remember being told not to bother with flu jab if you are on more than 40mg of pred as it will not be as effective.

[Maudy1 in reply to lisa-ranyell]

Thanks Lisa, I had my Rituximab in June so will wait maybe a few more weeks and then have my flu jab. Do you mind me asking, how successful has Rituximab been for you, I am 16 weeks in and still not feeling great and have disease activity at a low level. How quickly did it work for you? Sally

[lisa-ranyell Vasculitis UK Volunteer in reply to Maudy1]

Hi Sally, you should be fine now to have flu jab they generally say to leave a couple of months after treatment. Rituximab is generally most effective 6 to 8 weeks after treatment so if you have seen no improvement then maybe you should see your consultant. It has been very successful for me but of course we are all different. If you have seen some improvement and just have some low level disease activity, then bear with it, you will probably get more improvement with your next infusion. It probably took about 18 months after my first infusion before I could truly say I was in remission. Hope this helps. Lisa

[Maudy1 in reply to lisa-ranyell]

Hi Lisa, yes that's what I'm hoping. It has allowed me to come off the azathioprine and I am tapering my steroids, so I think I just need to be patient. Thanks for your advise. Sally

[Hidden in reply to Maudy1]

Hi i have the flu vac every year and have been ok,I am on Ritux.

[Hidden in reply to Maudy1]

Ok I have had the flu vac for years.I am on Rituximab and i have been fine.

[suffolkgirl]

I'm on Rituximab and always have the flu jab, but I've really no way of telling how effective it is!

[jules59]

My husband had his second infusion of Rituximab last month and his consultant has told him not to have the flu jab until November. Not sure why though. I'm having mine this week.

[Hidden]

Have one every year, this year's is on 15th October. But as well as being immunosuppressed I also have Bronchiectasis.

[rrahman]

None of that made sense to me? Can someone help me out please.

I chose not to have the flu jab also year because I was of the thought it was a live vaccine and I already caught a cold so saw little point in getting v the jab after recovery.

This year I'm wondering as my consultant and GP suggested it last year

So I am on mycophenolate mofetil and preds aswell as septrin (cotrimaxazole)

So my job means I do come I to contact with children/everyone in my house always gets it and it so follows through each member. Will my medicine lower the chances of me getting the flu jab or it be beneficial...I didn't understand what the answer was. Yes we should or no we shouldn't?

Thanks!

[MAC12]

I have GPA (Wegener's) which has had some effect on my chest and have always been advised to have the flu jab early in the season. However another question arises for those with the same condition which is whether/ when to get the pneumonia vaccine. (This is not an annual vaccine but one given for life.) The advice I was given was definitely to have this jab, however there seem to be different schools of thought about when to have it and indeed whether it works properly when you are on immune-supressant medication - e.g. if you are currently on chemotherapy will the vaccine work as well as it should. I would be interested to hear of advice other people have been given on this.

[Fishygal]

I also have GPA and have the flu vaccine. Due to the timing, I get it about 3 months after my Rituxan inflation.

I have also had the pneumonia vaccination on advice of my specialist. She advised I would need to repeat it every 5 years.