Why should people get vaccinated against the flu? Influenza is a potentially serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and sometimes even death. Every flu season is different, and influenza infection can affect people differently, but millions of people get the flu every year, hundreds of thousands of people are hospitalized and thousands or tens of thousands of people die from flu-related causes every year. An average of 200,000 Americans are hospitalized each year due to complications caused by the flu. An annual seasonal flu vaccine is the best way to help protect against flu. Infected adults can pass on the flu beginning one day before symptoms develop and up to seven days after becoming noticeably sick. Vaccination has been shown to have many benefits including reducing the risk of flu illnesses, hospitalizations and even the risk of flu-related death in children.
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 the viruses that are in the vaccine. The seasonal flu vaccine protects against the influenza viruses that research indicates will be most common during the upcoming season. Four processes take place once a drug has been administered: absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion. A person’s genetics can determine how their body functions during these processes. Immunization prevents between two and three million deaths per year, according to the World Health Organization.
Where can I get a flu vaccine? Flu vaccines are offered in many doctor’s offices, clinics, health departments, pharmacies, and college health centers, as well as by many employers, and even in some schools. Even if you don’t have a regular doctor or nurse, you can get a flu vaccine somewhere else, like a health department, pharmacy, urgent care clinic, and often your school, college health center, or workplace. However, these places may need to order flu vaccines while other locations will have pre-filled syringes with the vaccination or preservative-free vaccines on hand and ready. In addition, hospitals and health clinics may have more concentrated vaccine formulas.
So, make an appointment with your doctor or another health department so that they can order flu vaccines for you and your family.
