It’s winter, and flu season is in full swing, which means it’s time to talk about the benefits of the flu shot. Vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from getting sick with the flu, which can have serious complications.
December 5th marks the beginning of national influenza vaccination week. In the spirit of the event, this article will tell you about the benefits of the shot and why you should get a flu shot. Flu vaccines should be performed annually by your healthcare provider. Appointments can book out during this busy time of the year, so be sure to be proactive and schedule your vaccine in advance.
What is the Flu?
The flu is a respiratory illness caused by the influenza virus. This virus is incredibly contagious because it can be passed from one person to another through respiratory droplets in the air. Symptoms of the flu can vary between individuals, with some infections being mild and others being severe enough to cause hospitalization or even death. Symptoms may include:
- Headache
- Muscle ache
- Fever
- Chills
- Stuffy or runny nose
- Fatigue
- Coughing
- Sore throat
- Severe respiratory complications
People who are elderly, very young, or have chronic health conditions are at the highest risk for severe and potentially deadly complications from the flu. However, there is a potential for it to cause life-threatening complications in healthy people of any age, which is why it’s essential to get the flu shot at every age.
How Does the Flu Shot Work?
National influenza vaccination week is a great time to educate on how the vaccine works to protect you. Like most vaccines, the flu shot puts influenza antigens into your body. Your body uses these tiny molecules to identify the flu virus without being infected by it.
Your immune system makes antibodies based on the influenza antigens, training itself to identify and attack the influenza virus. Then, your immune system makes influenza antibodies that can act like soldiers on watch, ready to attack the virus as soon as it invades your body.
So, why get the flu shot? Because without the vaccine, your immune system will have to scramble to produce the antibodies after you have already been infected with the actual virus, which gives influenza time to replicate itself and spread far and wide in your body before your immune system can build enough defenses for itself. This is why unvaccinated people tend to get sicker faster than vaccinated people.
Getting The Flu Vaccine Can Prevent You From Getting Sick
One of the most significant benefits of the flu shot is that it can keep you from getting sick with influenza. Even if you do get ill, your flu symptoms will likely not be as severe as they would if you were unvaccinated.
Between 2019 and 2020, it was estimated that flu vaccines prevented 7.5 million infections, 3.7 million doctor visits, over 100,000 hospitalizations, and 6,300 deaths from influenza. When the flu vaccine is similar to the strain of the circulating virus, being vaccinated reduces the risk of needing to visit a doctor by up to 60 percent.
Vaccines are not guaranteed to keep you from falling ill with influenza, but this national influenza vaccination week, it should be made clear that getting the vaccine is still beneficial. Getting the shot has been associated with a 26 percent lower risk of being admitted to an intensive care unit. Those who get admitted to an ICU are likely to spend an average of four fewer days in the hospital than people who are not vaccinated. The shot has also been associated with a 31 percent decrease in risk of dying from the flu compared to those who are not vaccinated.
Flu Vaccines Are Preventive Tools For People With Chronic Conditions
If you suffer from certain chronic health problems, there should be no question about getting a flu shot. People who have heart disease and get the flu vaccine are less likely to suffer from cardiac events than those who are unvaccinated. This is especially true among people who have had a heart attack or other cardiac event within the past year.
For people with chronic lung diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD), the benefits of the flu shot include the fact that it can reduce the risk of flu-related worsening of these diseases. The vaccine also lowers the risk of hospitalization with flu in people with lung diseases and diabetes.
Flu Vaccines Protect Pregnant People And Children
Should you get a flu shot if you’re pregnant? According to the CDC, you should because it will reduce your chance of being hospitalized with the flu by almost half. It has also been shown that having the flu vaccine not only helps protect pregnant people, but it helps to protect the baby for several months after he or she is born. This is especially important because newborn babies are too young to get the flu vaccine until they reach six months old.
Young children who are old enough to get the vaccine should be immunized, even if they are healthy. Even young, healthy children can be at risk of getting severe symptoms from the flu, and being vaccinated significantly reduces the risk of dying from the illness.
Having the Flu Vaccine Protects Others
If you’re a young, healthy person, you might wonder, why get the flu shot? The reality is that even if you don’t get a severe flu infection, there is a risk of you passing the virus on to someone more vulnerable to the flu. Influenza is highly contagious, and babies are too young to have the vaccine to protect themselves. People with chronic conditions or immune system disorders are at a higher risk of life-threatening flu symptoms. By getting the vaccine, you’re lowering your chance of getting the flu and thus reducing your chance of spreading the virus to someone at risk.
Why You Need a Flu Shot Every Year
Some vaccines last years or even your entire lifetime, so why get the flu shot every year? The influenza virus mutates faster than some other viruses, meaning that it’s constantly changing its appearance to hide from the antibodies your body has built based on the flu vaccine that was given last year. To combat this, scientists have to develop a new vaccine every year that matches the most common version of the virus that’s going around at the time.
Getting the flu vaccine every year is an important part of protecting yourself and others. It lowers your risk of getting sick, and if you do get the flu, your symptoms will most likely be mild. The vaccine helps protect pregnant people, newborns, and those who are most vulnerable to getting severe influenza.
Do you still have questions about flu vaccines? At the Pediatric Endocrine and Metabolic Center of Florida, our healthcare providers are experienced, compassionate, and can answer any questions you have. Call or make an appointment online today to schedule your flu shot.