From Prevention to Treatment: Everything You Need to Know About this Year’s Flu

One of our primary care physicians, Denise Pate MD, was quoted in a People article about understanding this year’s flu shot.

Can the flu vaccine cause the flu?

Dr. Denise Pate, Internal Medicine Doctor at Medical Offices of Manhattan, tells PEOPLE she’s encountered several patients who were wary of the shot due to long-circulated rumors that it causes illness.

“They think it’s gonna give them the flu, it’s a very common thing,” she says. “Because the virus is inactive, it absolutely cannot transmit the infection.”

Some may experience body aches, soreness around the injection site and “may feel a bit feverish” for up to a day after getting the vaccination, Pate says, but this is not to be confused with contracting the flu. “I think it’s important to recognize the side effects of getting the shot versus what the actual flu is,” she says.

“It is common that when you do get the flu shot, you’re taking in the inactive virus so you’re body is getting exposed to something. The response that you have is basically you may be slightly under the weather.”

Read the original article placement on People.