When is the best time to get a flu shot?

When most of us catch the flu, we spend three or four days on the couch feeling miserable, then bounce back pretty quickly. But others have more severe symptoms and need to be hospitalized because they are at risk of life-threatening complications. Some people even die of the flu.

The size and impact of flu seasons vary from year to year. In 2017, Australia had its worst flu season in 20 years, with at least 1,255 lives lost. The 2018 season has been relatively mild, but it does not appear to have ended – cases have been reported throughout the summer and into the fall of 2019.

The best way to protect yourself against the flu is to be vaccinated every year. This is not as effective as other vaccines, but it reduces your risk of getting the flu by about 60%.

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Protection will often begin to decline four or five months later. Therefore, vaccinating you from mid-May to late May or early June will provide you with better protection during the peak of the flu season. However, there are many factors to consider before deciding when to get the flu shot.

Remind me, why get a flu shot every year?

Influenza viruses change every year and the vaccine is updated to track these changes. This year, for example, the vaccine protects against two strains different from those of the 2018 vaccine.

Our body's immune response to the vaccine also diminishes over time. Thus, even if you were vaccinated last winter, you may not be fully protected 18 months later, depending on your age and your response to the last vaccination.

When is the flu vax available?

Influenza vaccines are generally available in early April or March; although you usually have to pay the full price for early access, even if you are eligible for a free flu shot later.

In mid-April, inventories begin to arrive at general practitioner clinics and pharmacies for the government's immunization program, which offers free flu shots for those most at risk for flu-related complications. This includes:

• all Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders aged six months and over
• pregnant women (no matter the stage of pregnancy)
• all people aged 65 and over
• People aged six months and older with medical conditions that increase the risk of complications from an influenza infection.

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In addition, most Australian states offer free vaccination to all other children aged six months to five years.

For people not eligible for the free vaccine, influenza vaccines are available in pharmacies and GPs for between A $ 10 and A $ 25 (plus the cost of a consultation if your general practitioner does not bill the bill en bloc) ), or through workplace programs.

Is it good to go early?

Getting a vaccine immediately after it is available will make sure you do not miss any vaccine shortages. And this will protect against the "summer flu" that we have seen in recent months and that circulate earlier than normal.

But there is a potential disadvantage. Influenza protection peaks one to two months after vaccination and then decreases. This rate of decline varies from one person to another, depending on the age and strain of influenza.

The flu season usually peaks in August and sometimes even in September. So, if you're vaccinated in early April, it will have spent four to five months reaching the peak viral, and your level of protection will be lower.

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There are few good studies of all ages to measure this rate of decline accurately, although a 2015 study showed that measurable antibody responses to influenza vaccine components were slowly decreasing.

Another study in 2014 showed that the vaccine was less effective in people vaccinated three months or more earlier, which adds to the evidence that protection decreases over time.

When is it too late to get the flu shot?

If you delay your decision to get vaccinated until July or August, when the flu season is well underway, your chances of getting infected will increase dramatically.

Mid-May to the end of June or the beginning of June is the ideal compromise between trying to maximize the protective levels of antibodies generated by vaccination and getting vaccinated before high levels of the flu are in circulation.

Do not forget that it takes seven to ten days from the time of your flu shot to make the vaccine fully effective.

Being vaccinated at the end of May or early June should provide good levels of protection during the peak of the influenza season and may even last until November, when the influenza season is generally completed.

Vaccinate children one month earlier

The vaccination schedule is a little different for children. People aged six months to nine years who have not been vaccinated against the flu before need two doses of vaccine four weeks apart. They will have to start their vaccination program one month earlier than adults and the elderly.

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So, if you want to get vaccinated in 2019, there is no need to hurry, and in fact, the month of May or even early June may be the best time to get vaccinated. But it is better to be vaccinated early than not at all.

Your GP or pharmacist will advise you on the most appropriate vaccine and the best time for you.