Flu shots are extraordinarily safe and a great way to avoid getting the flu. But in very rare cases, they can cause injury. The medical field has a name for these types of injuries: they’re called “SIRVA” injuries, which stands for “Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration.”
These SIRVA injuries typically come in two forms. The first and most typical type of SIRVA injury happens when the doctor or nurse administering the flu shot places the needle too high on your shoulder, injuring the bursa underneath your shoulder. This causes inflammation and can often result in a rotator cuff-type injury. The other type of SIRVA injury happens when your body has a negative reaction to the flu vaccine itself, which again can cause inflammation and damage to your shoulder.
If you’ve ever had a shoulder injury, you know how painful and nagging it can be—and how difficult it can be to heal. Flu shots have become so common that SIRVA injuries are now the most common type of vaccine injury claim filed with the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. And depending on the extent of the injury and the treatment you’ve received, they can result in relatively significant compensation to help you deal with and overcome the SIRVA injury.