Vaccines

Hi Linnyshaw,

Thank you for contacting us and welcome to the online community. I’m Lorna one of the cancer information nurse specialists on the support line.

I’m glad to see that you seem to be recovering well following your chemotherapy treatment and back at work.

During your chemotherapy as you already know, you are considered to have a weakened immune system and not able to fight infection well. After your last treatment it takes around 21 to 28 days for your immune system to recover. After 16 weeks your blood count should be within normal range again.

Pre-school and primary school children are offered the nasal spray vaccine which contains a live, but weakened form of the flu vaccine. There is a very small chance that the vaccine virus could be passed on to you and cause flu. To avoid any risk its important to avoid close contact with the children for around 2 weeks.

You don’t mention if you have had the flu vaccination yourself. The best way to protect yourself from the flu is to be vaccinated. If you have had the vaccine and do get flu, there is a greater chance of a quicker recovery. The flu virus changes each year so you need to have it again each year.

If you are worried at all you should get in touch with your healthcare team who can offer further advice and support.

I hope this information is helpful, please feel free to get back in touch if you have any more questions.

Best wishes,

Lorna

Cancer Information Nurse Specialist

You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts.  Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email.

Ref: LB/LA

Thank you Lorna for your reply, I have contacted my consultant who has said that due to me  no longer receiving Chemo i am not at risk so donot need to avoid the vaccine and children. 

She is not on chemotherapy. Hence, I am not aware that she needs to stay away from children who have had a live vaccine. Only people with severe immune deficiency or a bone marrow transplant need to avoid contact with a child who has had a vaccine

Link for details: Children's flu vaccine - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

the  ink doesn't give me the information i want it only refers to children receiving the vaccine not those around children so i am receiving conflicting information. 

i guess at 16 weeks post chemo i am no longer classed as high risk and my blood count should be back to normal now,

I have not yet had my own flu injection it is not available to me until after 3/10/24 which is the day the kids are getting the live one at school.

i have now managed to book my COVID and flu injections for 3/10/24. How long does it take for the vaccine to become effective and offer me any cover?

in your response you state i should avoid children who have had the nasal vaccine for around two weeks. This may be difficult given that i work in a school, once i have had my own vaccine how long will it been before i have any protection from it?

i have suggested i work doing other roles away from the children which may be possible but not for 2 weeks. if i was to take Thursday and Friday plus the weekend, would this be enough time and start back in my normal role from next Monday?

I need some thing to go back to the head teacher with. 

thank you 

Hi Linnyshaw ,

My name is Keith and I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialist

We hope you are finding the support and information from the online community helpful.

Its good to hear that you have contacted your consultant for advice on contact with children who are having the nasal flu vaccine (live vaccine).

Conflicting advice in a situation like this can be common as every situation is different, and everyone can be affected differently by any diagnosis or treatment. Chemotherapy treatment can affect every cell in the body including your immune system.

As we don’t have access to individuals NHS record, we can’t give individual advice regarding this scenario.

If you still feel unsure it may be worthwhile re contacting your clinical team to confirm your status re risk of exposure to a live vaccine.

Your right the link  Children's flu vaccine - NHS (www.nhs.uk) only cover kids having this vaccination.

However, the information on risk to yourself would have been cover in this link from Cancer Research UK.  This information on immunisation and cancer treatment may also be helpful.

On this platform it can be difficult to have a two-way conversation and to fully understand what you are going through so if your question remains unanswered, it may be worthwhile to give us a call and speak to one of our nurses on the support line to discuss your concerns in more detail. The different options in how to do this are shown below.

If you’d like further explanation or have any other questions, please feel free to recontact us. By giving us a give us a call or contact us via our web chat platform.

take care.

Keith, Cancer Information Nurse Specialist

You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email.

Ref KM/KE

Hi Linnyshaw ,

My name is Keith and I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialist

We hope you are finding the support and information from the online community helpful.

This sounds like a really worrying time for you right now.

As we have already said every situation is different.

It important you feel safe and take precautions to reduce possible risks as much as possible during and after any diagnosis/treatment.

You previously mentioned discussing exposure to the nasal flu vaccine at your place of work with your consultant. It may be best to re contacting your consultant to confirm the advice given, however it sounds like they have no concerns about you being around the children after their flu vaccinations.

Up take of any vaccination is variable from person to person. This link will explain this in a little more detail. In general, immune response to most vaccinations takes about 2 weeks to fully develop. But in some cases, people don’t gain immunity even with a vaccination.

There seems to a lot of concern around this subject as I have previously suggested it may be worthwhile contacting one of our nurses on our support line to discuss all the above in a little more detail.

If you’d like further explanation or have any other questions, please feel free to recontact us. By giving us a give us a call or contact us via our web chat platform.

take care.

Keith, Cancer Information Nurse Specialist

You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email.

Ref KM/KS