Influenza is a contagious infection of the respiratory tract of viral origin. The flu period runs from mid-autumn to mid-spring, with most cases occurring from late December to early March.
Children, especially those under 5 years of age, are most at risk of severe flu-related effects. Vaccination against the virus offers the best protection against the disease.
How vaccination works
The flu vaccine encourages the immune system to make antibodies. In turn, these antibodies help the body fight the types of influenza virus present in the vaccine. It takes about two weeks to form.
Should you get the flu shot?
Influenza is a serious infection that sometimes leads to hospitalization and sometimes fatal. The seasons of influenza differ, and influenza infection can affect people in different ways, but millions get the flu every year, hundreds of thousands of people are hospitalized, and thousands or tens of thousands die from influenza-related causes each year. Even very healthy people get the flu and spread it to others.
Getting a seasonal flu shot every year is the best way to reduce your risk of getting seasonal flu and spreading it to others.
Although the vaccine against the virus is not 100% effective, it still significantly reduces a person's chances of contracting the flu, which is very important indeed. The vaccine can relieve symptoms in case of illness after vaccination.
How effective and how long is the flu shot?
The effectiveness of the vaccine depends on the degree of correspondence between the viral strains used to prepare the vaccine and the viruses in actual circulation. A person's age and health status also play a role in determining the effectiveness of a vaccine.
Research has shown that when there is a good match between the viral strains selected for the vaccine and those that are common in a given season. The vaccine prevents the flu in about 70 to 90% of adults under 65.
Examinations of children from 1 to 15 years old revealed that inactivated influenza vaccination was 77 - 91% effective for the prevention of influenza.
Immunity from vaccination lasts for a significant period of time. In recent years, people feared that immunity would disappear, but now there is data that confirm that immunity can really last the entire season until spring, and in a significant percentage of cases, in fact, next year.
Nevertheless, experts require that you get vaccinated against the flu annually, as the vaccine is slightly different each year, and it is advisable to get protection as soon as possible and as quickly as possible for the upcoming flu season.
How much does a flu shot cost?
By federal law, the flu shot is included in the national vaccination schedule. Therefore, you have the right to contact the clinic in your locality, and if you have a compulsory medical insurance policy, you will be vaccinated for free.
Who should be vaccinated?
Experts recommend getting vaccinated against the virus for everyone over six months of age.
Some people are most at risk of complications from the virus, so it is especially important that these people (and the people who live with them) are vaccinated:
- children under 5 years old;
- pregnant women;
- persons with chronic diseases;
- people over 65.
When to get the flu shot?
The virus season runs from October to May. It is best to get vaccinated as early as possible, as this gives the body a chance to build up immunity from the virus. But getting the flu shot later is better than not getting vaccinated at all.
How and where is the flu shot?
According to the rules, the vaccine is injected into the muscle. The upper arm or thigh is suitable for this purpose. This is due to the fact that the muscle tissues are constantly moving, which ensures the rapid resorption of the drug and its absorption into the blood.
For adults and older children, an injection is given in the arm. It happens that after the vaccination, the hand hurts at the injection site. If you inject the vaccine into the leg, where there is always a heavy load, then lameness may appear. And this is not very comfortable. The hand does not experience severe discomfort.
It is advisable to inject into the less active arm.
For babies from six months to 3 years, it is safer and more convenient to inject into the thigh.
A child from 6 months to 9 years old who gets their first flu shot will need to be vaccinated twice, four weeks apart.
Does my child need a flu shot every season?
Children should be vaccinated against the virus every season for better protection. Even if your children were vaccinated last year, this will not protect them from the virus in the current season, as the flu changes regularly. This is why the vaccine is updated annually to include the most recent strains of the virus.
A new vaccine is produced annually, about six months before flu season. Scientists are studying which viruses are currently circulating around the world and are trying to predict which strains will be predominantly prevalent during the upcoming flu season in your area.
Sometimes the same strains are included in the vaccine one year after the next. In this case, it is still important that a vaccine against the 2017-2018 flu is obtained, that is, to receive the vaccine of this season, because the body's immunity against the virus decreases over time.
Swine flu vaccine
Now in the world the most common influenza A H1N1 virus, therefore, many of the detected episodes of the disease are associated with this type of virus.
The H1N1 flu is popularly called "swine flu" because it is commonly found in pigs.
You cannot get the H1N1 flu from pork.
The H1N1 influenza virus is transmitted through small droplets of saliva released into the air when an infected person sneezes and coughs. The virus is also transmitted from contact with things that the sick person has touched, for example, a door handle and other surfaces.
Getting infected with the virus is much more dangerous to your health than getting vaccinated to protect yourself from it. Like any medication, this vaccine causes side effects, but the risk of serious side effects is very low.
Can I get the flu shot for a cold?
In general, a mild infection without fever should not prevent vaccination.
If your child has a high body temperature, delay vaccination until the temperature returns to normal.
Vaccination against the virus is not dangerous when there is a high fever. It will simply be impossible to understand whether the infection is getting worse or the antiviral vaccine provokes a higher temperature.
Contraindications to the flu shot
It is surprising to realize that many people do not assume that not getting the flu shot is dangerous. Influenza is an infectious contagious disease that in the past often occurred in the form of epidemics. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure vaccination against this disease. However, there are quite a few conditions when you cannot get the flu shot.
Who shouldn't get the flu shot?
- Children under five years of age with chronic asthma should not be vaccinated.
- Individuals with a long-standing medical condition that makes them more vulnerable should also completely avoid vaccination. These are people who have a disease that affects any important organ (heart, liver, kidneys, lungs), diabetics with uncontrolled sugar levels, anemia.
- Persons suffering from any disease affecting the central nervous system. For example, those suffering from cerebral palsy or epilepsy. These children should also avoid this vaccine, as it can lead to reaction symptoms such as shortness of breath.
- Anyone with a disease that puts the immune system at risk should not receive this vaccine, as it is a live vaccine and a person can get the virus rather than gain immunity.
- Young people and children on long-term low-dose aspirin therapy to prevent blood clots should also ask their doctor if they are allowed to be vaccinated or not.
- If you have Guillain-Barré Syndrome, tell your doctor and find out if it is safe to be vaccinated.
- People with severe egg allergies should avoid vaccination. If you or your child have allergies, talk to your doctor.
Immunization against a highly preventable but potentially fatal disease such as the flu is of the utmost importance.
If you fall into any of the above categories and cannot get vaccinated, talk to your doctor or health professional about possible precautions you can take against getting the virus.
Where can you get the flu shot?
Usually, vaccinations are carried out in the clinic. You can also vaccinate in other organizations that are equipped with a facility, equipped with everything you need, and which have a license to conduct such activities.
It can be:
- medical office in an educational institution;
- equipped room at the enterprise;
- hospital;
- commercial medical institutions where vaccinations are paid for.
How to get a flu shot at the clinic? It is necessary to make an appointment with a therapist or contact the doctor on duty. The specialist will examine you and give you a referral for the vaccination.
Which flu shot is best?
Vaccinations against the virus are divided into two broad classes.
- live vaccine (contains weakened viruses);
- inactivated vaccine (contains killed viruses).
The inactivated vaccine is more popular, since it is more effective and does not lead to complications.
There are three types of inactivated vaccines:
- whole cell. The composition includes only whole cells of the killed virus. This type of vaccine is prohibited for use in childhood;
- split vaccine. It contains fragmented viral cells. The vaccine contains practically no chicken protein and various viral fats. As a result, the drug becomes safer due to the reduced allergenicity;
- subunit. In the composition of the surface proteins of the virus. This flu shot is prohibited for children under 6 years of age.
Popular drugs
You need to choose a high quality certified drug to keep your family safe from complications.
Recently, the following brands are most popular:
- flu shot Influvac (Netherlands);
- flu shot Grippol plus (Russia);
- flu vaccine Sovigripp (Russia);
- flu vaccine Ultrix (Russia);
- French vaccination Vaxigripp.
These drugs are relatively inexpensive and the safest. Thanks to them, a stable immunity is formed against the common strains of influenza.
Complications after a flu shot
Many people worry about the side effects of the virus vaccine, but serious complications are rare. Some people think it is possible to get the flu from the vaccine, but this is not the case. For most people, the risks of developing the flu are much greater than any risks associated with the vaccine.
Typical side effects
There are several common side effects associated with getting vaccinated against the virus. This is a typical reaction to the flu shot that many (but not all) people receiving the vaccine may experience. Symptoms are not considered health threatening.
- soreness, redness, or slight swelling at the injection site;
- cold-like symptoms such as sore throat, runny nose, cough, headache, and body aches;
- low temperature;
- redness of the eyes or itching.
These symptoms should not persist for more than a few days after receiving the vaccination.
If you notice that these symptoms appear after vaccination, but do not go away after a few days, see your doctor to make sure that there is no allergy, or you are not experiencing symptoms of another disease.
Potentially dangerous complications
Many people fear that getting vaccinated may actually make the virus sick rather than prevent it. However, this is virtually impossible, since the injected influenza strain is completely inactivated.
There is one potentially dangerous complication of influenza vaccination. There is always a risk that a person may experience a life-threatening allergic reaction to the vaccine. If an allergic reaction does occur, it usually occurs within minutes after vaccination. In the most distant case, an allergic reaction occurs several hours later.
But the chances of an allergic reaction are much lower than the chances of getting severe complications from the virus, which can also be very dangerous to health or even fatal. Therefore, it is safer for most people to get the flu vaccine.
Thus, it is very important to prevent infection. After all, the flu virus leads to many problems that will last for a long time if not properly treated.
