Hi Rentzi,
Certainly don't feel bad you pushed to have that flu shot. I am 3 years post-ATG and opted to have the strongest possible flu shot this year (one called quadrivalent) at my doctor's advice.
Over the holidays my family got the flu, and I got a milder version than they did, so perhaps the shot helped.
And my thinking too is, if the flu shot can cause a drop in counts when recovering from aplastic anemia, then what could a full blown case of the flu cause?
My understanding is in England, Dr. Judith Marsh, who is an renowned aplastic anemia expert there, recommends against flu vaccinations in aplastic anemia patients, based on anecdotal evidence of relapse, as per the articles below.
But despite this, here in the U.S. the standard is to give flu shots in aplastic anemia patients.
At my hospital, I discussed the articles below with them, stated my concerns, but after careful consideration, I decided to do what my hematologist recommended, and got the flu shot (again based on the thinking that I have kids in school, they exposed me to things, and whatever risks a full blown case of the flu might pose, including relapse caused from that flu, seemed worse).
So with a rare disease like this, we are so often left with the experts having contradictory opinions to one another (and I have learned to be at peace with this too, because if scientists disagree, I want to see them each speak up and state their arguments, as this is a big part of how the science advances, and new better treatments arise).
I am glad your husband's ANC went up over 1000. The sort of bounce in counts you are reporting, anecdotally, is so incredibly common to my experience, both my own experience, and talking to other patients. While I was recovering, my ANC dropped from 2800 to 250 between appointments, yet in retrospect this terrifying drop just proved to be a mysterious bump in the road to recovery - the sort of instance I have also heard about from so my other recovering aplastic anemia patients.
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http://www.bcshguidelines.com/docume...h_june2010.pdf
"There have been anecdotal reports of vaccination producing
bone marrow failure or triggering relapse of aplastic anaemia,
so vaccinations, including influenza vaccination, should only
be given when absolutely necessary"
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1....379111.x/full
"It is our current practice to advise patients with aplastic anaemia against having influenza vaccination and only to give other vaccinations if medically indicated."