Right Side Effect. Wrong Vaccination

[davidgillon]

Talking to my sister via Alexa video call earlier.

A: "How's your arm?"

Me: "Still mildly sore to the touch, but less so than yesterday, which was less than Tuesday"

A: "Is there any mark?"

Me: "I can't really see, can you?"

(Short comic interlude of trying to get a dyspraxic person to put his finger in the right spot by remote voice control)

A: "Yes, there. Is that it? Can you see now?"

Me: "Yes, there is something there. I'm pretty sure that's the scar from my BCG."

(So it only predates the mark we were looking for by about 45 years)

I slept all Wednesday afternoon, which I clearly needed, and was still somewhat sleepy today. On reflection this is pretty much how my body handles any bug, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise to find it doing the same for a vaccination. But given the last vaccination I had was BCG, and I was about 13 at the time, it's probably not unreasonable that I hadn't predicted it.

Comments

[sovay]

Me: "Yes, there is something there. I'm pretty sure that's the scar from my BCG."

I have a scar that it's either that or the scar from where I was tested for TB. I had to be checked before being allowed into the public school system.

[davidgillon]

Fairly certain this one is the BCG itself. IIRC you used to be able to see most of the individual needle marks within the larger scar, but that seems to have faded.

It used to be given as a childhood vaccine here, I'm fairly certain I got mine about 12-13, but apparently they dropped it in 2006 because there are so few cases here it's more efficient to treat them individually.

[lilysea]

But given the last vaccination I had was BCG, and I was about 13 at the time, it's probably not unreasonable that I hadn't predicted it.

Gosh!

No annual influenza vaccine?

No adult tetanus booster shot?

No adult whooping cough booster shot?

[davidgillon]

I forgot I had a flu shot a few weeks ago, but that's the first one I've had - the UK vaccinates over 65s by default, but younger than that you have to arrange yourself and I've never bothered. Or at least that was the situation until this year, when they extended it to all over 50s - wouldn't be surprised if that becomes a permanent extension.

The UK doesn't do adult tetanus jabs, I just googled and the NHS says there were only 4 cases in England in 2019 and that most cases are people who weren't vaccinated as kids, or didn't get the full five shots.

Similarly for Whooping Cough, the only adults to get it are pregnant women.

The only universal adult vaccinations in the UK before Covid were Pneumococcal at 65, flu from 65 and Shingles at 65.

[lilysea]

That's quite different to the Australian experience:

here adults are supposed to get tetanus booster shots every
10 years, and it's completely free as long as your doctor bulk-bills -

otherwise the vaccine is free, but you may have an out of pocket cost for the doctor's appointment

whooping cough boosters for adults are also recommended every 10 years

annual influenza vaccination is recommended for all adults, but it costs about $20 to $25 Australian unless you're in one of the identified high risk groups

[rmc28]

I never had the BCG but I've had flu jabs a lot of years (consistently since 2009 when I got it quite badly, intermittently before then), plus tetanus, a bunch for travelling to Egypt in 2000 & 2001, and pneumonia the winter I had cancer.

[davidgillon]

I was surprised to realise BCG had been dropped - in 2005 according to Google, but I can see the logic given TB is now so rare.

I've never travelled outside Europe, so not run into any of the travel related ones, and I seem to have escaped flu (flu yes, man-flu no!), so never had the encouragement to go seek it out.