As temperatures drop, so do your chances of making it through the next flu season unscathed.
During the last flu season of 2022 to 2023, there was an early start to the season, higher-than-normal pediatric hospitalizations and deaths, and an unprecedented “tripledemic” with three respiratory viruses circulating (influenza, RSV, and COVID-19).
As a result, there were at least 26 million illnesses, 290,000 hospitalizations and 19,000 deaths in the United States caused by the flu last season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Heading into the new flu season, here are some key medical facts that dispel six myths about the flu vaccine and the virus itself.
Myth 1: The flu vaccine can give you the flu
Not possible: the flu vaccine contains an inactive virus and cannot cause the flu.
Your immune system may respond to the vaccine by giving you a slight sore or runny nose, but that is very different from a case of the flu.
People who think they got the flu after getting vaccinated probably had an unrelated upper respiratory illness or were already infected with the flu when they received the vaccine.
According to University of California San Francisco Health, it takes about two weeks for the vaccine to start preventing the flu.
Looking ahead to the new flu season, it is necessary to dispel some myths about the annual vaccine. Illustration from the NY Post
Myth 2: The flu is not that serious
Worldwide, up to 650,000 people die from the flu each year, according to the World Health Organization.
People who say they have a “mild” case of the flu often have a cold or a seasonal allergy. But the symptoms of the flu are much worse: high fever, vomiting, difficulty breathing, sore throat, cough, chills, body aches, headache, fatigue and diarrhea.
The flu can often be a deadly illness, especially for people in high-risk groups, such as infants, the elderly, and people with underlying health problems.
The flu is a serious and preventable infectious disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people each year around the world.AP
Myth 3: Pregnant women should not get the flu vaccine
The flu vaccine is especially important for pregnant women, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all pregnant women get a flu vaccine.
In fact, pregnant women are at higher risk of serious complications from the flu than other women.
And getting a flu shot during pregnancy protects your baby for months after delivery. This is especially important because babies younger than six months cannot get a flu vaccine on their own and are more likely to suffer serious complications if they get the flu.
Since the flu vaccine comes in two forms: the shot, which does not contain a live virus, and a nasal spray, which contains a weakened one, pregnant women should only receive the vaccine as an injection, not nasally.
Doctors, including those who are pregnant, urge pregnant women to get the flu vaccine. Greg Woodward / Boots
Myth 4: If you got the flu (or the flu shot) last year, you’re safe.
Each year a different strain of the flu virus circulates, and each year’s vaccine is tailored to that year’s strain.
Additionally, the flu vaccine loses its potency over time, so a vaccine given a year ago needs an update.
The current 2023 to 2024 flu vaccines worked well against viruses circulating in the Southern Hemisphere during the flu season, which is now nearing its end, so this year’s vaccine is believed to be very effective.
A CDC study found that people who had received the flu vaccine in the Southern Hemisphere last year were half as likely to be hospitalized with the flu compared to people who had not been vaccinated.
Myth 5: You are safe if you are young and healthy
Anyone can get the flu, even if you are not in a high-risk group. Additionally, even young, healthy people can spread the flu to someone who is in a high-risk group, possibly killing them.
And young people who miss work (and miss having fun with their friends) cost the U.S. economy an estimated $3.2 billion in direct medical costs and $8 billion in indirect costs, according to a 2022 study.
The CDC estimates that vaccination prevented 79,000 flu hospitalizations and 6.6 million flu-associated illnesses during the 2012-2013 flu season.
Myth 6: The flu vaccine has many side effects
In fact, the flu vaccine is one of the safest and most reliable vaccines ever devised. Side effects of the injection, if any, are usually very mild and are usually limited to pain at the injection site.
In very rare cases (about one in a million), a person can suffer from Guillain-Barré syndrome, which causes muscle weakness and paralysis. But given how widespread the flu is and how deadly the disease can be, any risk of serious side effects is considered negligible.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn