# flu shots when symptoms are coming on **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 4, 2008, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-when-symptoms-are-coming-on/475632 "2008-12-04T04:13:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-when-symptoms-are-coming-on/475632/1 "2008-12-04T04:13:35Z")
I am feeling some symptoms like the flu. Would it be a good idea to get a shot tomorrow? ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-when-symptoms-are-coming-on/475632/2 "2008-12-04T04:40:12Z")
It takes a few weeks to get immunity from the flu shot. If you really are getting the flu now, then it’s too late. IANAD, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn. ---
**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-when-symptoms-are-coming-on/475632/3 "2008-12-04T04:47:48Z")
If you’re already infected, it wouldn’t help you one bit. The virus is already in your system, and your immune system is presumably already starting to recognize the virus. The point of getting a vaccine is to tell your immune system, “Hey, this is what this infectious agent looks like, so put it in your memory so you can attack it quicker and more efficiently if I get infected with it in the future.” ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-when-symptoms-are-coming-on/475632/4 "2008-12-04T11:52:03Z")
The onset of flu is also very, very rapid–if you are beginning to get symptoms at night, you’ll have flu the next morning. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-when-symptoms-are-coming-on/475632/5 "2008-12-04T17:27:32Z")
I had a flu shot just at the end of a week-long bout of flu. It didn’t have any noticiable effect different than usual. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-when-symptoms-are-coming-on/475632/6 "2008-12-04T18:27:00Z")
I was going to start a thread to ask some questions about the flu, may I just hijack this one? I have the flu now. Would I get any benefit from having a flu shot once I have recovered? Will it protect me from other strains of the flu? Are their other strains of flu going around? Will I have immunity from the flu strain I currently have after recovering from it or can I catch it again? How long am I contagious? I feel guilty about trying to work and possibly spreading germs at the workplace but I’ve been so sick I’ve only been able to put in 4 hours this week and I only went in to run some reports and do a couple things that other people don’t know how to do. But am I contagious as long as I am having symptoms? I had pneumonia last year, so far I don’t feel like I have that again but someone I know who’s also had pneumonia had been told that people with a history of pneumonia should get a pneumonia vaccine. Is that true? Isn’t pneumonia usually bacterial? So what would that vaccine cover? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-when-symptoms-are-coming-on/475632/7 "2008-12-05T02:07:08Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > I have the flu now. I’m impressed that you’re even able to type, if you actually have acute influenza. It’s a most debilitating disease. Travelling from bed to bathroom is all I could manage as I coughed my lungs out and had shakes and chills and temperatures of 103. If you’re still coughing, you could be contagious. The flu shot will protect you from other strains of influenza (which are going around some areas). Get the pneumococcal vaccine at least once in your life if you have chronic illnesses or are over 60. It protects against a wide variety of different pathogens that cause pneumonia (30? 40? I forget what number is in the latest vaccine). But there’s tons of other pathogens that can cause pneumonia: viruses, fungi, bacteria, chemicals, radiation. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-when-symptoms-are-coming-on/475632/8 "2008-12-05T02:17:51Z")
I know it’s a bit of a rant but as someone with acute asthma who ends up in the emergency room about 75%(a guess) of the time he gets the flu, nothing frustrates me more than some mildly sick individual claiming they have the flu. I know that mild flu cases occur, but the bad flu is just plain so bad that it pisses me off that all people with good insurance don’t get their flu shot.