Why did 83 people in South Korea die after receiving the flu vaccine? Can we still get the flu vaccine?

Real points:

The 83 deaths in South Korea after receiving influenza vaccination were more likely caused by their primary diseases, including 71 people over 70 years old.

Verified by: A piece of ginger | Research Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

In the fall and winter, many people consider getting the flu vaccine, but news about adverse reactions to the flu vaccine frequently becomes a hot topic. Currently, 83 people have died in South Korea after getting the flu vaccine. Are all these deaths caused by the flu vaccine? What are the side effects of the flu vaccine? Is it still safe to get the vaccine?

1. Is the flu vaccine safe?

If we want to give a simple and clear answer to this question, the answer is: very safe! The reason why we say flu vaccines are very safe is that their safety is almost 100%. Why is it "almost"? Because in science, there is no such thing as 100% safety.

Many people are worried about extremely low probability events, and refuse to get vaccinated. In order to reduce this obstacle, the United States has a "National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program". For some very important vaccines, if someone is injured after vaccination, they can get compensation through this program. Flu vaccines are included in this compensation program. Through the actual compensation of this program, we can also understand the data on vaccine safety very objectively.

So how safe is the flu vaccine?

From 2006 to 2018, a total of 1.67 billion doses of influenza vaccine were administered in the United States, with a total of 4,336 claims for compensation, and 3,693 cases where compensation was eventually received. In other words, it takes 1 million people to be vaccinated for two unsafe incidents resulting in claims for compensation due to injury.

2. Flu vaccines do have side effects, but there is no need to refuse flu vaccines because of side effects

Obviously, a vaccine being safe does not mean it has no adverse reactions. The damage caused by influenza vaccines that requires compensation is also related to its side effects.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, common side effects of the flu vaccine include:

Soreness, redness, and/or swelling at the injection site

· Headache

· fever

· nausea

Muscle pain

Syncope

The above side effects are temporary and are also common in reactions after many other vaccines. The symptoms are not serious. Because they are temporary symptoms, even if they occur, they will disappear after one or two days, and they can be relieved with antipyretics and painkillers, so it is not a big problem.

Among the injuries compensated by the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program in the United States, the one related to influenza vaccines is Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). The risk of developing Guillain-Barré syndrome after influenza vaccination is 1 to 2 in a million. It should be pointed out here that Guillain-Barré syndrome can also occur after being infected with the influenza virus. Although the incidence rate is not high, it is much higher than 1 to 2 in a million. Therefore, there is no need to refuse the influenza vaccine because of fear of Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Guillain-Barré syndrome is a neurological disease in which the immune system attacks the nerves, causing inflammation, which can lead to muscle weakness or even paralysis in severe cases. However, Guillain-Barré syndrome is generally a temporary disease and many people recover without sequelae.

In addition, there are actually two types of influenza vaccines, one is intramuscular injection and the other is nasal spray. Currently, the vaccines that pose a risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome are mainly injection-type, so if you are particularly worried about this adverse reaction, you can choose a nasal spray influenza vaccine.

3. Not all symptoms that occur after receiving the flu vaccine are side effects of the flu vaccine

Nowadays, the safety of influenza vaccines has suddenly attracted everyone's attention. Firstly, because the flu season is coming and it is time to get vaccinated; secondly, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, at least 83 people in South Korea have died recently after receiving influenza vaccines.

Intuitively, if something goes wrong after vaccination, it should be related to the vaccine. But is it really so? If someone dies after eating, is the cause of death definitely related to the meal?

In fact, there are so many deaths reported in the news mainly because so many people in South Korea have received flu vaccines. According to Yonhap News Agency, 13 million South Koreans have been vaccinated so far this flu season, accounting for a quarter of the total population of South Korea. According to the "2019 Population Trends Survey Birth and Death Statistics" released by the Korea National Statistical Office, the number of deaths in South Korea in 2019 was 295,100, an average of about 5,700 people per week. According to this ratio, for the 13 million vaccinated South Koreans, there will be 350 natural deaths per week regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not. So, if you only look at the number of deaths, it is actually not very outrageous.

Are these deaths related to vaccination? According to the report of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among the 83 deaths, 71 were over 70 years old, accounting for 85.5%. The elderly are prone to cardiovascular diseases, and this is indeed the case from the autopsy results. As of October 30, basic and epidemiological investigations were conducted on 72 of the cases, and no adverse reactions to the vaccine at the time of death were found. The autopsy results showed that there is a high possibility of death due to the aggravation of underlying diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and diabetes. There are also clinical causes of death such as pneumonia and renal failure. The vaccines vaccinated by these deceased people came from different vaccine companies. Theoretically, the possibility of various vaccines getting into trouble, and it is a big deal, is also very small.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the current deaths are unlikely to be linked to vaccination, so there is no need to retest the vaccine, let alone suspend the influenza vaccination program.

However, reports of deaths after vaccination in South Korea have indeed caused tension in many countries and regions. For example, Singapore and Malaysia announced on the 25th and 28th respectively that they would suspend the use of two related vaccines, the SKYCellflu Quadrivalent vaccine made by South Korea's SK Bioscience and the Vaxigrip Tetra vaccine made by France's Sanofi, although there is currently no evidence that these vaccines are related to deaths.

In short, caution is necessary and tension is unnecessary.

Editor of this article: ambergchen