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The return of the school, the end of the summer and the pharmacies of the region encourage customers to get vaccinated at a lower cost on every street corner. Here's what you need to know:
• When to get vaccinated against the flu: it would be nice now. The flu season tends to peak during the colder months when children are touching each other indoors. You should be vaccinated before the end of October. But the sooner, the better: the vaccine takes a week or two to be effective, and those waiting may be out of luck if the flu strikes early. Children who are vaccinated for the first time need two doses, four weeks apart.
• Who should get a vaccine: Almost everyone. The Center for Disease Control recommends that all persons older than 6 months receive a flu shot.
• Not everything depends on you: remember that you get a flu shot to protect people around you, like babies, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems. The principle of "herd vaccination" means that the more a population is covered by a vaccine, the lower the risk of an epidemic. If children do not get sick, they can not spread the flu.
Will it be a bad flu season? Hard to say. Influenza can be a deadly disease, but its virulence varies from one year to the next. Although last year was a severe season in the United States, it was less severe in other parts of the world. Doctors can not say when it will hit or how virulent it will be.
• The alternative to an injection: this year the nasal spray will be widely available in the United States. This is as effective as a shot for people 2 years and older.
• Possible drawbacks: The influenza vaccine has been around for a long time and scientists have studied it to prevent side effects. Common side effects include a sore arm of the shot or a runny nose of the nasal spray. Although older versions of the vaccine, perhaps 40 years ago, may have had side effects, modern vaccines are well tolerated.
You can not get sick from a flu shot because it contains no live virus. Some people may find that, coincidentally, they have a headache the next day and may be tempted to blame the vaccine. And sometimes, other viruses, not covered by the vaccine, circulate in your community.
• You can still catch the flu: the vaccine is never 100% effective. Yet even for those who end up catching the flu, the vaccine will help it to be less severe and it will be less likely that the patient will end up in the hospital.
– Christina Tkacik, The Baltimore Sun
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