Influenza Vaccine For 2021
| Flu vaccine for 2021 |
Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and the flu vaccine
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How Do Flu Vaccines Work
Flu vaccines cause antibodies to develop in the body about two weeks after vaccination. These antibodies provide protection against infection with circulating influenza viruses.
Seasonal flu vaccines are designed to protect against the influenza viruses that research indicates will be most common during the upcoming season. All flu vaccines in the United States are quadrivalent vaccines, which means they protect against four different flu viruses: an influenza A virus, an influenza A virus, and two influenza B viruses.
Myth #: Pregnant People Shouldnt Get The Flu Vaccine
The flu shot is not connected to miscarriage, as some people falsely assume. In fact, the influenza virus not its vaccine is whats linked to miscarriage and other potential problems for a pregnant person and their unborn child. According to the CDC, millions of pregnant people have gotten vaccinated safely, and a large body of evidence supports the shots safety.
For this reason, except in rare cases when the pregnant person has a severe, life-threatening allergy to a component of the vaccine, experts strongly recommend they get a flu shot. Besides protecting the parent and the developing fetus from the virus, the immune defenses from vaccination will continue to safeguard the baby once theyre born. This coverage will last until the child is six months old and can receive their own flu vaccine.
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Can I Get The Flu Vaccine If I’m Breastfeeding
Yes, you can safely have the vaccine if you are breastfeeding. Getting yourself protected can help prevent you becoming infected and passing the flu on to your baby. Breastfeeding may also offer some protection to the baby. However, babies have more protection if you get vaccinated during pregnancy.
The Flu Shot Is Effective
The effectiveness of the vaccine varies from season to season. It depends on:
- how well the vaccine matches with the circulating flu viruses
- the health and age of the person getting the flu shot
The viruses circulating in the population can sometimes change during the time it takes to produce a vaccine. When this happens during the flu season, the flu shot may not work as well as expected.
It’s also important to remember that the flu shot protects against several different flu viruses each season. The seasonal flu shot can still provide protection against the remaining 2 or 3 viruses, even when theres:
- a less-than-ideal match
- lower effectiveness against one virus
If you do get the flu, the flu shot may reduce the severity of flu-related complications.
Getting your flu shot is still the most effective way to protect yourself against the flu and flu-related complications.
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Flu Strains Explained And How The Vaccine Works
As we approach flu season, UAB Medicine already is getting questions about the different strains of the flu virus and the vaccine itself. With expert input from Rachael Lee, MD, assistant professor in the UAB Division of Infectious Diseases, we explain the differences in flu strains, including how many strains exist and what the flu shot will cover this year. We also answer some common questions, such as whether the flu shot for one strain reduces the risk of contracting another strain and whether flu vaccines are reissued after the virus mutates during the course of the season.
Understanding Flu Types
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , there are four types of flu viruses: influenza A, B, C, and D. The seasonal flu viruses that humans face every winter season in the United States are caused by human influenza A. Influenza A viruses are categorized as either the hemagglutinin subtype or the neuraminidase subtype based on the proteins involved, and there are 18 distinct subtypes of hemagglutinin and 11 distinct subtypes of neuraminidase. Influenza A is the primary cause of flu epidemics, and they constantly change and are difficult to predict.
This Years Flu Shot
Dr. Lee says this years flu vaccine covers four strains of the flu that are recommended by the World Health Organization. The strains recommended for vaccination for the 2020-2021 flu season in the northern hemisphere are:
Flu Shot Effectiveness
Benefits of the Vaccine
When Should You Get Your Flu Shot Dr John Torres Weighs In
In no case was repeated vaccination associated with lower effectiveness than vaccination in the current season only, Sarah Cobey, who studies the bodys immune response to germs at the University of Chicago, wrote in a commentary.
In other words, there was no evidence of diminished vaccine effectiveness in frequent vaccinees, even though the study included seasons in which such effects had been reported elsewhere, added Cobey, who was not involved in the study.
Medical leaders recommend that nearly everyone 6 months and older get a new flu shot every year. Thats because the circulating flu strains vary from year to year, they mutate constantly, and because the effects of the vaccine wear off pretty quickly.
Flu vaccines are not as effective as most vaccines, which provide near-universal protection against infection and whose protection lasts for decades. Flu vaccines do, however, reduce the severity of disease and prevent death from influenza.
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Why Is It So Important For Children To Get The Flu Shot Every Year
Influenza is different from most other vaccine-preventable diseases because the viruses are always changing, meaning that immunity acquired one year may not protect against future influenza viruses. That’s one reason a yearly vaccine is recommended .
The flu shot helps protect against the flu viruses that research suggests will cause the most influenza illness for that particular season.
When To Get The Flu Shot
Flu season typically runs from late fall to early spring.
Flu shots are now available for all Ontarians. You should get a flu shot as soon as possible because it takes two weeks to take effect.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization now recommends that COVID-19 vaccines may be given at the same time as the flu vaccine.
Talk to your doctor or pharmacy to learn more.
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Do You Need The Flu Shot If You’ve Received The Covid
Video transcript
If youve already gotten the COVID-19 vaccine, it is also recommended and important that you get the flu shot this year. One covers you against the influenza virus, and the other covers you for the COVID-19 viruses. Theyre two distinct vaccines.
Every year, the flu vaccine is different.
This year, we suspect that the cases for the flu may increase.
Once you get the flu shot, it takes two weeks to become effective in your system. So the earlier you get it, the less exposure you have to others who are sick within your community.
People At High Risk Of Complications From The Flu
- people with health conditions, such as:
- cancer and other immune compromising conditions
- diabetes
- kidney disease
- neurological or neurodevelopmental conditions
- children up to 18 years of age undergoing treatment for long periods with acetylsalicylic acid
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Benefits Of An Annual Flu Shot
Every year in the United States and around the world, millions of people are infected by the flu virus. In the US alone, the CDC estimates as many as 11% of people are infected with the flu each year thats more than 30 million people. In some people, influenza causes uncomfortable symptoms like fever, chills, headaches, and muscle aches and pains. But in others, the effects are much more serious and sometimes even life-threatening.
The best way to reduce your risks of getting the flu is to have an annual flu vaccine. At Healthy Life Family Medicine in Goodyear, Arizona, top-ranked primary care doctor John Monroe, MD, offers the most up-to-date flu vaccines for patients of all ages according to the most recent CDC recommendations. Heres why you should schedule your flu shot today.
Still Getting The Flu
Sometimes you can get the flu shot and still come down with the flu. It takes around 2 weeks after receiving the vaccination for your body to develop immunity. During this time, you can still get catch the flu.
Another reason why you can still catch the flu is if there wasnt a good vaccine match. Researchers need to decide which strains to include in the vaccine many months before flu season actually starts.
When theres not a good match between the selected strains and the strains that actually end up circulating during flu season, the vaccine isnt as effective.
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Why Is The Flu Vaccine Recommended
While the flu vaccine isn’t 100% effective, it still greatly reduces a person’s chances of catching the flu, which can be very serious. It also can make symptoms less severe if someone does still get the flu after immunization.
Even if you or your kids got the flu vaccine last year, that won’t protect you this year, because flu viruses change. That’s why the vaccine is updated each year to include the most current types of the virus.
Sometimes the same types are included in the vaccine one year after the next. Even then, it’s still important to get the yearly flu vaccine because the body’s immunity against the influenza virus declines over time.
Purpose Of This Survey
Results from the survey provide information about how well Canadians are protected against vaccine preventable diseases as well as what they know and think about vaccines.
Survey results are used to:
- measure progress towards achieving Canadas national vaccination coverage goals
- assess how well vaccination programs are working, and how they could be improved
- report Canadas vaccination coverage to the World Health Organization
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Types Of Flu Vaccines
For most people, one dose of the standard flu shot can be administered with a needle, for people five and older, or with a jet injector for people 18-64. Flu shots dont always have to be delivered with a needle. The elderly may also benefit from a high-dose vaccine that offers extra protection.
Nasal sprays that deliver the flu vaccine are available.
Southern Hemisphere Influenza Season
The composition of virus vaccines for use in the 2018 Southern Hemisphere influenza season recommended by the World Health Organization on September 28, 2017, was:
- an A/Michigan/45/2015 pdm09-like virus
- an A/Singapore/INFIMH-16-0019/2016 -like virus
- a B/Phuket/3073/2013-like virus
The WHO recommended that quadrivalent vaccines containing two influenza B viruses should contain the above three viruses and a B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus.
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Can Flu Vaccination Make My Child Sick
Most people have no reaction to flu vaccination. Anyone can have flu vaccination except people who have had a previous severe allergic reaction to flu vaccination in the past. Your child may have one or more of the following responses after the vaccination:
- soreness, redness or swelling where the vaccine was given
- fever
These are usually mild and only last 1 or 2 days.
Who Needs An Annual Flu Shot
Short answer: You do. The CDC says everyone 6 months of age and older needs an annual flu shot, and young children might need two doses. Typically, immunity kicks in about two weeks after your vaccination, and even if you come in contact with a different strain of the flu, your vaccine may still provide some important protection.
At Healthy Life Family Medicine, we offer the most up-to-date flu shots,a s well as other vaccines you might need to stay healthy. If youd like to learn more about this years flu shot, or if youd like to schedule a vaccine to help keep the flu at bay, call our office at 623-232-9194 and schedule a visit today.
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Who Should Have The Vaccine
In 2021/22 flu season, the following people are eligible to receive the flu vaccine for free:
- All children aged 2 to 15 on 31st Aug 2021
- Those aged 50 years or over
- Those in long-term residential care homes
- Carers
- Frontline health and social care workers
- Close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
- Those aged 6 months to 65 years in at-risk groups including people with the following health conditions:
- Respiratory diseases, including asthma
- Heart disease, kidney disease or liver disease
- Neurological conditions including learning disability
- Diabetes
- A severely weakened immune system , a missing spleen, sickle cell anaemia or coeliac disease
- Being seriously overweight
Babies under 6 months old are too young to receive a flu vaccine. This is because they have maternal antibodies passed on from their mother which prevent the vaccine from working so well. Flu vaccination is offered to all pregnant women in the UK . As well as protecting pregnant women themselves, this also helps to protect their newborn babies from flu.
Your doctor may recommend the flu vaccine in other circumstances as well.
How Many People Die Of The Flu Each Year On Average
According to data collected by the CDC from 2010 to 2020, the agency estimates that the flu has caused 12,00052,000 deaths annually. During that time, the flu also caused 9 million41 million illnesses, and 140,000710,000 hospitalizations. Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that the flu kills 290,000 to 650,000 people per year.
Those numbers can vary so much from year to year, because what we know as “the flu” isn’t one specific thingit’s actually made up of different influenza strains that circulate. “How many people die of the flu each year of the flu is definitely related to the strains that are circulating, how accurately researchers were able to predict what should go into the flu vaccine, and how many people are vaccinated,”Anjali Mahoney, MD, MPH, family medicine specialist with Keck Medicine of USC, tells Health.
Certain influenza strains can also be more severe than others. “Sometimes there are years where there are big genetic shifts, and we can see a very different virus,”Cassandra Pierre, MD, MPH, an infectious disease physician at Boston Medical Center, tells Health. Robert L. Murphy, MD, a professor of infectious diseases at Northwestern Medicine Feinberg School of Medicine, agrees, saying that the flu virus is always changing. ” it can be a nastier strain,” he tells Health. “It goes up and down.”
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How Will My Child Get The Vaccine
If your child misses their vaccination in school, please contact your local NHS Board to find out about local arrangements for getting their vaccine at another time.
Home-schooled children are also eligible for the flu vaccine. Your local health board will contact you directly to offer vaccination.
Children aged 6 months to less than 2 years of age with an eligible health condition will also be offered the flu vaccine. Your local health board or GP practice will invite you by letter to get your childs flu vaccine.
Primary and secondary school-aged children will be offered the vaccine at school.
If a young person has left secondary school, they are not eligible to get a flu vaccine at school. 16 and 17 year olds with an eligible health condition who have left school can phone 0800 030 8013 to receive an appointment for the flu vaccine.
If you don’t know the phone number for your local health board, you can phone 0800 030 8013.
What Getting The Flu Vaccine Every Year Does To Your Immunity
A JAMA Network Open study compared vaccine effectiveness in kids who had and had not gotten the flu… vaccine the prior year.
Getting a flu vaccine is like wearing underwear. Just because you did it last year, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it this year.
Also, similar to underwear, the protection offered by a flu vaccine does not last forever. While the duration of protection can vary significantly from person to person, in some cases, the protection may wear off in 6 months or so, which is still much longer than you should wear a pair of underwear. That’s one reason why you should get a flu vaccine every year. Assuming that you are 6 months and older because you can read this and you don’t have a medical reason to not get the vaccine.
Another reason is that strains of the flu virus are like reality television stars. Different ones come and go from year to year. Therefore, the strains in a flu vaccine and thus the strains that you end up being protected against vary from year to year.
And if you are worried that getting the flu vaccine every year will somehow reduce your immunity against the flu, look at the study just published in JAMA Network Open. In fact, don’t just look at it, read it.
- Received the vaccine both the enrollment year and the prior year.
- Received the vaccine just the enrollment year
- Received the vaccine only the prior year.
- Did not receive the vaccine either year
The Flumist vaccine is back this year.
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