Doctors Advise People to Get Flu Vaccination

Flu VaccinationThe US Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) warned that the flu outbreak could occur this month in October. Flu activity has remained low in the US, but the recent news reveals that an outbreak could occur very soon, with children’s health being affected the most. About 20,000 cases of the flu are reported among children each year. Last year, around 140 deaths were associated to the influenza virus in the US.

According to the head of general pediatrics for Children’s & Women’s Physicians of Westchester, Dr. Robin Altman, we may encounter large cases of flu this month similar to last year. He suggests people should get vaccinated now to allow the body to develop immunity against the virus, which takes almost two weeks.

According to Richard Kanowitz, one of the founding members of Families Fighting Flu, every adult and child should get vaccinated each year. He says that vaccination protects against severe flu infection by regulating the immune system.

The flu vaccine remains the most effective protection against the virus. Dr. Robert Amler of New York Medical College says that Vaccination is important before the flu season starts. He says that no one can predict when the next flu season will start and how severe it will be. There are a number of virus strains that cause the flu. The severity of the flu will depend on the virus strain that is prevalent during the flu season.

CDC will officially start monitoring the spread of flu infection later this month. Preliminary tests suggest that there is a good match between circulating virus and the vaccine. This means that the fluvaccine shots this year will be more effective in preventing flu infection as compared to the last season.

According to the CDC director Tom Frieden, “The 2015/2016 flu vaccine consists of updated influenza B and H3N2 virus components.” These two strains were detected in previous year’s flu infection that sickened many, even those who were vaccinated.

According to CDC’s estimates, the vaccine shots last year were only 19% effective in combating the flu infection in the US. The shots had largely become ineffective since one of the strains of the virus had mutated. The vaccine introduced this year is designed to protect against 3 versions of the viruses (one B and two A). Moreover, the quadrivalent vaccine will immune against one more B virus.

A problem pointed out by Dr. Nunziato-Ghobashy is that most people wrongly diagnose the flu. The symptoms of both flu and common cold are the same. However, flu is more severe andcan also lead to death in some cases.

“You’ll get a high fever, body aches, chills, a cough, and a lot of times it comes on really quickly,” she said. “In a matter of hours you feel like you’ve been hit by a truck. Patients can literally point to the time in the day that they started to feel terrible.”

Health experts say that individuals cannot catch the flu from flu vaccination. They suggest that even individuals that had already suffered from the flu this season need to get vaccinated. Drugs like Tamiflu and others do not work well against the flu virus. Vaccination is the only course of action to protect against the serious consequences of flu.

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