December 14, 2001
Other
Question from Norfolk, Massachusetts, USA:
My 14 year old son, who has had type�1 diabetes for three years, had a slight cold when he received his flu shot a few weeks ago. He quickly became more ill and was diagnosed with a low grade pneumonia. Do you believe there could be any connection between these events? I am concerned that he should have maybe waited until he was feeling 100% before receiving his shot. I received my shot at the same time and experienced no ill effects.
Answer:
This is not really a question best asked of this forum. You might want to talk with your regular pediatrician, but I would say that generally I would not expect there to be a relationship as to his minor illness and the flu shot or the development of the pneumonia, presuming that other than his diabetes, he is in good health. Was this an x-ray confirmed pneumonia? If not, I’d be a little hesitant to label it as such.
DS
