Is the flu vaccine a live virus?

Flu vaccines that are administered with a needle are currently made in two ways: the vaccine is made either with a) flu vaccine viruses that have been ‘inactivated’ and are therefore not infectious, or b) with no flu vaccine viruses at all (which is the case for recombinant influenza vaccine). read more

Myth: You can get the flu, or a mild case of it, from the flu vaccine. The flu vaccine injection contains no live virus, only viral proteins, said Dr. Dennis Cunningham, an infectious disease specialist at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. read more

More On: Flu vaccine, h1n1, H1N1 (swine flu), seasonal flu, swine flu, swine flu vaccine, Vaccines If you’ve been reading up on vaccines lately (and it seems like everyone has), you’ve probably read that there’s a difference between the injectable and mist versions of vaccines. read more