Many believe that vaccinating one family member also helps the rest of the household. • What do experts say about it?

• No fear of vaccination // Illustration photo: Joshua Joseph

The influenza virus that spread in winter in Israel is considered particularly violent. Despite this, many people fear being vaccinated against the flu because they think they may be hurting.

Such claims circulate in Israeli society, preventing some people from going to vaccinate themselves. On the other hand, some argue that not the whole family should be vaccinated and that some members of the family should be vaccinated. Thus, they say, the vaccine will also pass to the rest of the family. As far as we are concerned, we have contacted experts in the field to ascertain how true these claims are and whether the fear of the vaccine has any basis.

Professor Hagai Levin, from the School of Public Health at the Hebrew University, addresses the questions and explains that it is impossible to get the flu from the vaccine. The reason, he says, is that it is a "vaccinated vaccine (the vaccine given today), which cannot cause influenza disease nor can it be passed on to family members to develop immunity."

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However, Prof. Levin points out that the more vaccines in the family, the less likely to become infected, because there are fewer people who can get sick. "Family flu vaccine significantly reduces the risk that they will be infected, and therefore also reduces the risk that they will infect others, especially family and home. Therefore, one way to protect vaccine suppressors, the elderly and at-risk populations is to vaccinate the whole family."

Jacob Litzman vaccines against the flu // Photo: Moshe Ben Simhon

On the other hand, Prof. Levin notes that the scenario that vaccinating one family member will also vaccinate the rest is possible in the case of weakened viruses and bacteria. As far as he is concerned, he says that "in weakened live vaccines, there is a theoretical possibility (depending on the vaccine) to pass on to family members and so they will develop immunity."

Vaccine expert Dr. Grisarro Galia from Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv also explains that "flu vaccines cannot cause an outbreak of influenza in the vaccine or in his family, because it is a vaccine. Today, all vaccines are like these, so you can't even get infected. The only exception is polio disease vaccine in drops given to infants. This is a weakened vaccine, so it can be excreted in the stool and harm people with a weakened immune system. But beyond that there is no danger. In conclusion, the vaccines today do not infect at all and we will not treat anyone else but the vaccine itself. "