You can get some vaccines just once in your life, but others, like the flu vaccine, need to be refreshed every year.
There is a lot of information available in different places about the flu shot, but some of it is more accurate than others. Jean Welsh, MD, from Primary & Alternative Medical Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, demystifies some of the myths and facts about the flu vaccine.
Fact: Elderly adults, young children, pregnant women, and people with chronic health issues are more likely to develop severe complications from the flu. However, being a healthy adult or teen doesn’t make your risk zero.
Influenza is a much more dangerous virus than the common cold, and even the healthiest adults can end up hospitalized from the flu. A flu vaccine all but eliminates your risk of hospitalization.
Our team recommends the flu shot to almost everyone older than 6 months.
Fact: The flu vaccine provides excellent protection against the virus and greatly reduces your risk of catching it, but no vaccine guarantees you won’t become ill. You can still get the flu after being vaccinated.
If you do catch the flu after the vaccination, you’re much more likely to have mild symptoms than someone unvaccinated. Vaccination can keep you from developing a complication like pneumonia or needing to be hospitalized.
Fact: The flu virus mutates. During the summer, scientists develop the annual flu vaccine based on what strains are likely to be most prevalent during the winter.
This vaccine usually targets the most common strains, offering effective protection against the current flu strain. Taking this most recent form of the vaccine makes you much less likely to develop serious complications.
If you get a breakthrough case, you will get a milder case.
Although the flu shot doesn’t provide 100% protection against illness, getting the vaccine every year provides significant protection against the virus.
Fact: The flu shot can’t give you the flu. The virus in all flu vaccines is inactivated or deceased, making it impossible to pass it on.
Some people experience mild side effects from the vaccine that aren’t related to the virus. You might have a sore arm from the injection or mild aches or tiredness for 1-2 days.
Any side effects you might experience from the vaccine are minor and not dangerous, unlike the complications you can get from catching the flu if you don’t get the vaccine.
Fact: The most prevalent strains of the flu virus change every year. Protection from the vaccine only lasts for six months.
You need to get the flu vaccine every fall to get full protection for when the virus circulation rates peak in the winter months. A flu shot you got a year ago won’t give you any protection.
Make it a priority to get your entire family vaccinated against the flu. If you have any questions about the flu shot or would like to make an appointment, contact us today.
