When Should People Get The Flu Vaccine
Flu season runs from October to May. It’s best to get a flu vaccine as early in the season as possible, ideally by the end of October. This gives the body a chance to make antibodies that protect from the flu. But getting a flu vaccine later in the season is better than not getting it at all. Getting a missed flu vaccine late in the season is especially important for people who travel. That’s because the flu can be active around the globe from April to September.
When To Get Vaccinated
Its a good idea to get the flu shot at the beginning of the flu season, usually September or October in the U.S.
If you arent able to get vaccinated by the end of October, dont skip it flu season typically peaks in February.
The CDC recommends early vaccination for children as well as for people in the third trimester of pregnancy. Adults, especially those aged 65 and older, should avoid early vaccination because protection from the vaccine wanes over time.
Why Should I Get The Flu Vaccine
Nationally, influenza vaccination prevented an estimated 7.52 million illnesses, 3.69 million medical visits, 105,000 hospitalizations, and 6,300 deaths due to influenza during the 2019-2020 season. When more people get vaccinated against the flu, less flu can spread through the community.
It is especially important to get the flu vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic:
- Flu vaccination reduces the prevalence and severity of illness caused by flu, reducing symptoms that might be confused with those of COVID-19
- It will reduce the overall burden of respiratory illness that will protect people at higher risk for severe illness of both flu and COVID-19
- The reduction of outpatient illnesses, hospitalizations, and intensive care unit admissions from flu vaccination will alleviate stress on the health care system
For additional information, please see the CDC page: This Season a Flu Vaccine is More Important than Ever!
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Standard For The Uniform Scheduling Of Medicines And Poisons
The Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons is an Australian produced by the . Before 2010, it was known as the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Drugs and Poisons . The SUSMP classifies and into different Schedules signifying the degree of control recommended to be exercised over their availability to the public. As of 2021, the most recent version is the Poisons Standard February 2021.
The Schedules are referred to under legislation for regulatory purposes. Although each State and Territory has its own laws, the vast majority of medicines and poisons are classified according to the SUSMP to achieve uniform national regulation.
Schedule : Pharmacy Medicine
Schedule 2 drugs and poisons, otherwise known as Pharmacy Medicines, are substances and preparations for therapeutic use that
- are substantially safe in use but where advice or counselling is available if necessary
- are for minor ailments or symptoms that
- can be easily recognised by the consumer and
- do not require medical diagnosis or management.
Examples:
- , a cough suppressant
- Simple analgesics such as , and in packs containing more than 24 tablets
- , used to treat motion sickness, postoperative nausea and vomiting.
- containing or
The SUSMP March 2018 defines a Schedule 2 substance as “Substances, the safe use of which may require advice from a pharmacist and which should be available from a pharmacy or, where a pharmacy service is not available, from a licensed person.”
The location of these medications in the pharmacy varies from state to state.
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I Still Got The Flu After The Flu Vaccine Why Should I Get The Flu Vaccine This Year
Although the flu vaccine wont prevent every case of the flu, getting an annual vaccination is the best way to reduce your risk of serious illness. Getting the flu vaccine may make illness milder. A 2017 study in Clinical Infectious Diseases showed that influenza vaccination reduced deaths, intensive care unit admissions, ICU length of stay, and overall duration of hospitalization among hospitalized influenza patients.
A flu shot cannot cause flu illness. If you get flu-like symptoms after receiving the flu vaccine, there may be a few reasons why you have a low grade fever, and headache, including that they may be mild side-effects of the vaccine. If you get diagnosed with the flu shortly after receiving the flu vaccine, you may have been exposed to the flu virus beforehand, as it takes approximately two weeks for the vaccine to work.
Why Do I Need A Shot Every Year
While some vaccinations last for several years , other shots need to be given on a regular basis to ensure your body produces the antibodies it needs to fight off certain diseases. When a recurrent vaccine is needed, its usually to help your body maintain a specific level of antibodies that fight against one kind of germ that has the same susceptibilities year in and year out. But with the flu, its a bit different.
The influenza virus is capable of fairly rapid change. Each year, these changes to the virus result in different strains of flu that can make us sick. And every year, scientists develop a new flu vaccine to combat the strains that are most prevalent during that flu season. We need a flu shot each year to keep up with those changes, so our bodies can produce the antibodies they need to fight off the current strains of flu.
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What Protection Does A Flu Vaccine Provide If I Do Get Sick With Flu
Some people who get vaccinated may still get sick. However, flu vaccination has been shown in several studies to reduce severity of illness in people who get vaccinated but still get sick:
- A 2017 study showed that flu vaccination reduced deaths, intensive care unit admissions, ICU length of stay, and overall duration of hospitalization among hospitalized flu patients.
- Another study in 2018 showed that a vaccinated adult who was hospitalized with flu was 59% less likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit than someone who had not been vaccinated. Among adults in the ICU with flu, vaccinated patients on average spent 4 fewer days in the hospital than those who were not vaccinated.
In addition, its important to remember that flu vaccine protects against three or four different viruses and multiple viruses usually circulate during any one season. For these reasons, CDC continues to recommend flu vaccination for everyone 6 months and older even if vaccine effectiveness against one or more viruses is reduced.
‘what Is The Flu Shot’
Flu season has arrived, and you may have seen signs urging everyone to get a flu shot.
So what is the flu shot, exactly?
The flu shot is a vaccination that helps your body make the necessary antibodies it needs to fight off the influenza virus if you happen to get infected by it. Most flu shots contain influenza viruses that have been inactivated, so they cant infect you. Your immune system recognizes those inactive viruses as invaders, though, and creates antibodies to destroy similar-looking active virus cells if they appear in your body again.
Because the flu comes in many different varieties, the most common flu shot in the U.S. protects you against four strains of influenza. Some flu shots also contain ingredients called adjuvants that create a stronger immune response, and flu shots for people over age 65 come in a high dose version to stimulate the immune system even more.
The flu shot usually is given by injection into the upper arm. Its a quick, relatively painless procedure. Pro tip: Shake out and dangle your arm to relax it before and during the shot, and then keep your arm moving all day to minimize discomfort.
And if you just cant stand the thought of an injection, ask about getting the mist-based version of the flu shot instead. A health care professional will spray this mist up your nostrils — BOOM! Youre vaccinated. That said, the flu mist may not be as easy to find as the flu shot. Call ahead to find out if your doctor’s office or clinic offers it.
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How Effective Is The Seasonal Flu Shot
Influenza vaccine effectiveness can vary. The protection provided by a flu vaccine varies from season to season and depends in part on the age and health status of the person getting the vaccine and the similarity or match between the viruses in the vaccine and those in circulation. During years when the flu vaccine match is good, it is possible to measure substantial benefits from flu vaccination in terms of preventing flu illness and complications. However, the benefits of flu vaccination will still vary, depending on characteristics of the person being vaccinated , what influenza viruses are circulating that season and, potentially, which type of flu vaccine was used. For more information, see Vaccine Effectiveness How well does the Flu Vaccine Work. For information specific to this season, visit About the Current Flu Season.
*References for the studies listed above can be found at Publications on Influenza Vaccine Benefits. Also, see the A Strong Defense Against Flu: Get Vaccinatedpdf icon! fact sheet.
Factors That Determine Effectiveness
The vaccines effectiveness depends on the following:
- The age of the person vaccinated
- The state of the persons immune system, meaning the system that allows their body to defend itself against infections
- The degree of kinship between the virus strains circulating and those contained in the vaccine
The vaccine therefore does not offer 100% protection against the flu. The vaccine prevents the flu in about 40 to 60% of healthy people when the strains of viruses it contains correspond to strains circulating.
A strain of the virus included in the vaccine may not match the circulating strains. Indeed, the virus can evolve differently from what was predicted. As a result, the vaccine will be less effective against this strain. Nonetheless, the annual flu vaccine is still recommended, since it protects against the other strains included the vaccine that might be circulating.
For people aged 75 and over and those with chronic illnesses, the vaccine especially help reduce the risks of complications from the flu, hospitalisation and death.
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How Is The Flu Shot Made
Tran: Vaccine developers use three different types of processes to make flu shots.
Currently, most influenza vaccines are made using an egg-based process. Manufacturers use a fertilized chicken egg to grow whichever four strains of the virus the U.S. Food and Drug Administration decides will be dominant during the upcoming flu season. Manufacturers incubate the egg, allowing the virus to replicate, harvest the virus and then deactivate or weaken it before adding it to a mass-produced injection. A second method uses an animal cell instead of egg cells.
The third process isolates the genes that have the instructions for making the target protein that your body’s immune system must identify. Those genes are combined with a different virus that infects invertebrates, such as worms and helps pass the genetic instructions to a host cell. These proteins are grown in bulk, purified and become so-called recombinant vaccines.
What Are The Types Of Flu Shots For Seniors
Its typical for your body to adapt less to immunizations as you become older. As a result, the immunological response of older people who get the flu vaccination is often less than that of younger people who receive the vaccine. However, vaccination is still beneficial in lowering flu-related medical visits and hospitalizations.
Some flu vaccines are intended to elicit a higher immunological response. Therefore, these flu shots may provide better protection for those aged 65 and over. There are 2 kinds of senior flu vaccines exclusively available to persons aged 65 and over. Those two kinds are specified below.
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Flu Vaccine And Coronavirus
Flu vaccination is important because:
- more people are likely to get flu this winter as fewer people will have built up natural immunity to it during the COVID-19 pandemic
- if you get flu and COVID-19 at the same time, research shows you’re more likely to be seriously ill
- getting vaccinated against flu and COVID-19 will provide protection for you and those around you for both these serious illnesses
If you’ve had COVID-19, it’s safe to have the flu vaccine. It will still be effective at helping to prevent flu.
What Is A Flu Vaccine
Influenza vaccines are vaccines that protect against the four influenza viruses that research indicates most common during the upcoming season. Most flu vaccines are flu shots given with a needle, usually in the arm, but there also is also a nasal spray flu vaccine.
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Schedule : Prescription Only Medicine
Schedule 4 drugs and poisons, otherwise known as , are substances and preparations for therapeutic use that
- require professional medical, dental, or veterinary management or monitoring
- are for ailments or symptoms that require professional medical, dental, or veterinary diagnosis or management
- may require further evaluation for safety or efficacy
- are new therapeutic substances.
The price of many Schedule 4 substances are subsidized by the through the , when prescribed by an authorized prescriber. Certain medications may require an authority from the . Situations that may require an authority include where the drug may only have benefit in limited conditions, the true cost of the drug is high, or when there is a risk of dependence. Some states have subsets of Schedule 4 with additional requirements . Schedule 4 medicines cannot be advertised directly to the public.
Examples:
Q& a With Pharmacy Expert Hai Tran Pharmd
As the first cases of flu are reported in Los Angeles this season, public health experts are urging anyone who isn’t already vaccinated to get the flu shot. It’s the best protection against the flu, which could pummel the U.S. this winter after nearly disappearing last year.
“Getting vaccinated against the flu reduces your risk of becoming infected as well as your risk of being hospitalized with an infection or dying,” said clinical pharmacist Hai Tran, PharmD, associate director of Pharmacy at Cedars-Sinai. “You not only protect yourself but also those around you, and you are helping build the herd immunity that protects the most vulnerable people in our community.”
With everyone paying more attention to how vaccines work during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Cedars-Sinai Newsroom interviewed Tran to get a closer look at the flu vaccine. It’s easy to take this long-established tool for granted, but a lot of work throughout the year goes into developing a new formulation of the shot each season.
We spoke with Tran for more details on the flu shot’s origins, how it works and how it’s developed each year.
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Iv2 Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine
LAIV contains standardized quantities of FFU of live attenuated influenza virus reassortants. The virus strains in LAIV are cold-adapted and temperature sensitive, so they replicate in the nasal mucosa rather than the lower respiratory tract, and they are attenuated, so they do not produce ILI. There have been no reported or documented cases, and no theoretical or scientific basis to suggest transmission of vaccine virus would occur to the individual administering LAIV. As a live replicating whole virus formulation administered intranasally, it elicits mucosal immunity, which may more closely mimic natural infection.
Vaccine currently authorized for use:
- FluMist® Quadrivalent
Efficacy and effectiveness
After careful review of the available Canadian and international LAIV VE data over many influenza seasons, NACI concluded that the current evidence is consistent with LAIV providing comparable protection against influenza to that afforded by IIV and does not support a recommendation for the preferential use of LAIV in children 2-17 years of age.
Refer to the Statement on Seasonal Influenza Vaccine for 2018-2019 for detailed information supporting this recommendation.
Immunogenicity
LAIV4 has shown non-inferiority based on immunogenicity compared to LAIV3 in both children and adults. The immune response to the B strain found only in the quadrivalent formulation was better in children who received the quadrivalent vaccine Footnote 158, Footnote 159, Footnote 160.
Safety
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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Who Should Avoid The Flu Vaccine
The flu vaccine is very effective, but it isnt right for everyone.
Dont get the vaccine if youve had a severe allergic reaction to any ingredient it contains, including egg protein.
You also should avoid the flu vaccine if youve had Guillain-Barré syndrome. In 1976, a swine flu vaccine was linked to an increased risk for Guillain-Barré, which causes the immune system to attack and damage the protective coating around nerve cells.
Guillain-Barré syndrome causes extreme weakness and tingling in the limbs, known as severe peripheral neuropathy. It can be life-threatening in rare cases.
Theres no clear link between the current flu vaccine and Guillain-Barré. If any risk exists, its very small, affecting about 1 out of every 1 million people vaccinated.
The vaccine also isnt recommended for babies under 6 months old because it hasnt been proven safe in infants.
Talk to your doctor if you have a weakened immune system, or if you take medicine to suppress your immune system. You may not respond as well to the vaccine.
If youre sick, you might want to put off the flu shot until you feel better.