What’s New with the Flu?

The Flu Virus: explained

The flu virus is a hot button topic every year when winter rolls around. However, there is a lot of false information and wives tales floating around. How much do you really know about the flu? The CDC breaks down everything you need to know to stay healthy this flu season. Influenza, or the flu, is a very contagious respiratory virus that spreads through respiratory droplets. Basically, an infected person can spread this virus by simply talking, sneezing, or coughing. Infected droplets can spread up to 6 feet away! Gross!

These are the common symptoms you should be on the look out for: fever, chills, coughing, sore throat, muscle aches, headaches, and fatigue. Non of those symptoms sound too fun, so let’s learn how to protect ourselves. The CDC says preventative measures like; washing your hands, covering your nose and mouth, avoiding touching your face, and avoiding close contact will greatly decrease your chances of getting the flu. But above all, get the yearly flu vaccine!

On average, 8% of the U.S. population gets sick from flu each season”

The Center for Disease Control

Is the Flu Vaccine Really Even Effective?

Let’s start with a couple common misconceptions that i’m sure you’ve all heard: “There are so many strains of the virus, the vaccine can’t be effective”, “Don’t get the flu shot! It’ll give you the flu”, “They’re just purely guessing which strain to vaccinate against”, the list goes on. Thankfully, US Pharmacist goes through these misconceptions and explains the truth. The most common form of flu vaccine is called IIV, inactivated influenza vaccine, this vaccine does not carry a live form of the virus and cannot give you the flu. Some people may experience feelings of malaise after receiving the flu shot, but that’s just your immune system gearing up and preparing in case it ever comes into contact with the live virus. More specifically, the flu vaccine works by inducing antibody production against the HA and NA surface proteins on the influenza virus. The World Health Organization annually studies the circulating viruses and makes suggestions about which strains should be included in the vaccine that year. Most of these vaccines protect against 3 or 4 of the most common strains. This year, the FDA made a change and the quadrivirulent vaccine can now be administered in a low dosage to children 6-35 months. When it comes to efficacy, when the vaccine matches the circulating virus, the risk is reduced by 40-60 percent among the population. To put your mind at ease, no the flu shot cannot give you the flu, the vaccine protects against more than one strain, and there is a lot of research that goes into studying the virus strains that will be circulating each and every year.

Side Note: if you do happen to be among the unlucky and you come down with the flu this year, there’s still hope! As soon as you come down with flu-like symptoms, go to the doctor and begin antiviral medication. Antiviral medication can lessen the severity of symptoms and protect against complications like pneumonia.