Flu shot or not?

Flu shots are vaccines made to fight the influenza infection and are considered completely safe for anyone who is older than six months old. Flu shots are vital not only for protecting yourself but also those around you from the flu virus and its complications.

You might be wondering how often are these flue shots being administrated? Well, flu shots are usually given to people once a year from October to mid-November. Yes, it's important to get a new flu shot every year, as each year the flu shots are different to adapt to the newest variation — otherwise it will no longer be effective for preventing the flu.

Are you wondering if you should get the flu shot or not? Here's everything you need to know about the flu shot — how effective it is, possible side-effects, and more.

Children under the age of 9 who have never had a flu shot will need two doses of the vaccine, given at least 4 weeks apart. However this doesn't mean that all children should get flu shots, but if a child is in one of the high risk groups or if he or she has contact with someone in a high risk group, then it should get one every year. Most of the people understand the importance of a flu shot for elderly, particularly those above the age 65, but many people overlook the fact that children need the same kind of protection.

What is influenza?

The flu or influenza is a specific viral infection caused by influenza virus. It is very contagious because it can be spread from person to person in secretions of the nose and lungs, for example when sneezing. Flu represents a respiratory infection, or infection that develops primarily in the lungs. A lot of people are making a mistake by reffering to every respiratory infection as flu eventhough there are many other viruses causing similar respiratory problems.

Symptoms of influenza 

A lot of people think that cold and flu are the same, but this isn’t true and flu symptoms can be much more severe. Influenza usually comes suddenly and may include the following symptoms:

• headache
• cough,
• sore throat,
• nasal congestion
• higher fever,
• more malaise,
• severe body aches

Although other viruses may cause the same symptoms, they do so less commonly. The symptoms are usually mild to moderate in most people, but can be more severe in the elderly or very young children, causing thousands of deaths each year.
 

Types of flu viruses

Scientists have classified influenza viruses into three types:

• Type A is the most common and usually causes the most serious epidemics.
• Type B outbreaks also can cause epidemics, but the disease it produces is generally milder than that caused by the previous type
• Type C viruses on the other hand, have never been connected with a large epidemic.

Incidence of the condition

Flu is a common illness. Every year in the United States, 5% to 20% of the population gets the flu; more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications, and; about 36,000 people die from it.

Flu vaccine

The bast way to prevent a flu is to get a yearly flu vaccine. It can be given almost everywhere: at a doctor's office, local clinic, and in many communities at workplaces, supermarkets, and drugstores. The problem with the vaccine is that you should get the vaccine every year because the virus is changing.

Why should you get a flu shot?

Many people think that they don’t need to get a flu shot because flu is not a serious infection. This isn’t so because, beside the fact that this infection really stresses the body,  there is also a danger of developing a superinfection which is very common. What exactly is a superinfection? It is a bacterial infection that occurs due to some respiratory infection. They could be very serious because having both viral and bacterial infection at the same time can overwhelm the lungs and the body and even cause death. 

Preparation of the vaccine 

Scientists make a different vaccine every year because the strains of flu viruses change constantly and each year different strains become dominant. That’s why, due to the very high mutability of the virus, a particular vaccine formulation usually only work for no longer than a year. About 9 to 10 months before the flu season begins, experts are preparing a new vaccine made from inactivated (killed) flu viruses. Since the viruses have been killed, they cannot cause infection. The vaccine preparation is based on the strains of the flu viruses that are in circulation at the time. This should be 100% effective. Sometimes however, an unpredicted new strain may appear after the vaccine has been made and distributed and that’s why, even if someone gets the flu vaccine, he or she may still get infected. 

Mechanism of work

What is the most important thing we should know about the mechanism of flu vaccination? Well, the flu shot contains killed flu viruses that will not cause the infection, but will cause body to fight off the infection by the live flu virus. This is because getting a shot of the killed virus causes body to protect itself against that particular type of live flu virus. The flu vaccine reduces the average person's chances of catching the flu by up to 80% during the season. Although there is still a possibility that person could get a flu even after vaccination, the good thing is that in this case the symptoms are usually milder.
 

Who should get the flu shot?

High-risk adults who should get the flu vaccine include:

• everyone 65 years of age or older
• those who have chronic lung or heart disorders
• those who were, in the past year, hospitalized for chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus, kidney disease, severe anemia, or immune deficiency  
• pregnant women who will be in the second or third trimester of pregnancy during the flu season
• pregnant women who have medical conditions that increase their risk for complications, regardless of the stage of pregnancy
• residents of nursing homes and other facilities that care for people with chronic medical conditions
• police, fire fighters, and other public safety workers
• those who are planning to travel to the tropics at any time or to the Southern Hemisphere, especially if the trip is scheduled from April through September
• those who have a kidney disease
• those who have anemia or hemoglobinopathy

Contraindications for vaccination

The flu vaccine is contraindicated with several conditions.. The most common groups of people who shoudn’t get the flu shot are:

• anyone who's severely allergic to eggs and egg products. This is because the ingredients for flu shots are actually grown inside eggs.
• infants under 6 months old
• anyone who's ever had a severe reaction to a flu vaccination
• anyone who has Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a rare medical condition that affects the immune system and nerves. It is proven that the vaccine can cause several complications in people with GBS
• anyone who's sick with a fever

Possible flu vaccine side effects

It is important to point out that most people do not experience any side effects from the flu shot. Anyway, there are some side effects that could be seen at the site of the shot. The most common are soreness or swelling. Other side effects may include headache or low-grade fever.

The fact is that side effects of the flu shot are most likely to occur in children who have not been exposed to the flu before. Another possible complication is a slight fever or aching for the first day or two after the immunization, especially after the first dose of the vaccine. The more serious side effects are rare and can include a life-threatening allergic reaction. It is important to know that, because the nasal spray flu vaccine is made from live viruses, it may cause some mild flu-like symptoms, including runny nose, headache, vomiting, muscle aches, and fever.

There are harmful chemicals in the vaccine that some children might be sensitive to. The following is a partial list of those substances:

• Aluminum- it has been implicated in Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and seizures
• Formaldehydes – it is known to cause cancer
• Mercury - has been a topic of wide discussion.
• Monkey Tissue - is used to prepare the polio vaccine.

“The famous myth”

The most famous myth about the flu shot is that it can actually cause the flu. Because the influenza vaccine is made from killed influenza viruses, it means that it's IMPOSSIBLE to catch a flu by getting the vaccine.

Vaccination, pros and cons

Benefits

Most healthcare professionals believe that vaccinations are very effective. This is mainly based on the fact that vaccinations are responsible for the vast decline in many of our infectious and childhood illnesses. Vaccines are relatively harmless and pose very little risk.

Cons

Healthcare professionals against vaccinations have presented various arguments against vaccinations. They include the following:

• The susceptibility of different children isn't taken into account and for example, if a baby is born by a mother who has been using the intravenous drugs, the baby is more susceptible to such illnesses as hepatitis
• It is virtually impossible to eradicate all diseases.
• The fact is that natural immunity lasts longer.  
• There are benefits from having an illness like chickenpox, measles mumps or rubella in that there is lifelong immunity following infection.
• Diseases declined before the vaccinations. The disease of the 19th century in our society that had high fatality rates were smallpox, measles, tuberculosis, typhoid, diphtheria and influenza.
• The number of vaccines have increased over the years from 8 to 22