Common Myths About LAIV (FluMist®) - For Seasonal Flu and H1N1

Myth: You can get the flu from LAIV.
Fact: You cannot get the flu from a LAIV vaccination. LAIV (FluMist) is a live, weakened vaccine- that means it is made from a live virus that has been designed so as not to cause the flu. The weakened viruses are cold-adapted, which means they are designed to replicate at the cooler temperatures found within the nose. 

Myth: LAIV virus can be easily spread by me to others making them sick.
Fact: It is harder than it seems to transmit the vaccine virus. This concern is greatly over estimated and is a theoretical risk since several unlikely events would need to occur in order for a LAIV recipient to spread virus that then causes a clinical infection in others.

Myth: I should not take LAIV because I live or work in close contact with an unvaccinated person at high risk to develop influenza.
Fact: Household contacts can help protect high-risk individuals by getting vaccinated. You are not helping your high-risk loved one by foregoing vaccination. It is safe for LAIV recipients to have close household contact with high-risk individuals with the sole exception of those so severely immunosuppressed that they require a special protective environment (i.e. patients with a stem cell transplant receiving care on a positive-pressure hospital ward). It is safe for LAIV recipients to have close household contact with high-risk individuals with chronic illnesses, including diabetes, liver disease, heart disease and even other forms of immunosupression such as HIV-infected patients and organ transplant recipients.

Myth: LAIV makes everyone who gets it sick in some way.
Fact: There is a higher rate of certain cold symptoms following vaccination with FluMist, such as a runny nose, but many people report no symptoms at all.

Myth: I cannot get LAIV because I am breastfeeding.
Fact: Women who are breastfeeding can receive LAIV as long as they are healthy and do not have any underlying conditions or are pregnant again.

Myth: LAIV contains thimerosal.
Fact: Neither the seasonal nor the 2009 H1N1 nasal-spray flu vaccines contain thimerosal or any other preservative.

Myth: LAIV is a new way of administering vaccine. I don’t want something that is new and has not been tested.
Fact: The nasal spray vaccine for use in the United States is being made by MedImmune, the same company that makes the seasonal nasal spray vaccine called “FluMist®.” The 2009 H1N1 nasal spray vaccine is being made using the same manufacturing process that has been used since 2003 to make the seasonal nasal spray vaccine.  Both the H1N1 LAIV vaccines and the seasonal LAIV vaccines are FDA approved.

For more information, see the CDC's H1N1 Vaccination Recommendations.