mantra wrote on May 15
th, 2017 at 8:34am:
mothra wrote on May 15
th, 2017 at 8:31am:
Negative interference, Mantra. All flu shots protect against 3 or 4 strains. If a flu strain introduced to your bloodstream hasn't changed very much from a flu strain introduced into your bloodstream previously, the antibodies from the first shot will neutralise some of the vaccine from the second shot before an immune response can be mounted.
That makes sense mothra - that's why I think something new has been introduced. There were 4 strains in last year's shot - so what have they added since then?
No Mantra, you misunderstand. Not that i blame you, it's hard to get your head around.
If something new was added this year, it's not that that has made you feel awful.
It is the incomplete immune response from a strain already in your blood stream.
See, the vaccine works by informing the immune system about certain proteins on the surface of the flu virus. When the immune system comes across those proteins again, it mounts an attack, having already being "taught" what to do.
Negative interference means that when you are shot full of the same flu strain in subsequent years, the antibodies created from a previous shot will neutralise parts of the vaccine you're topping up with, leaving the flu virus itself free to trigger illness.