# 4914
Taking a bit of my own advice (see OK To Get Your Flu Shot Early), yesterday morning I drove down to my local chain pharmacy to get my yearly flu shot.
Admittedly it was 9am on a Saturday morning, but I was amazed how quickly I was in and out – the whole process took less than fifteen minutes.
This year I received a `flu packet’ in the mail from my pharmacy as a reminder, along with a couple of application forms. I filled mine out in advance, saving me a minute or two at the store.
Twenty-four hours later, and I’ve no ill effects save a slight ache in my arm last night as I went to bed. This morning, it has disappeared completely (the ache, not the arm).
Hopefully I’m well on my way towards building a nice load of antibodies against this year’s flu strains, and in a couple of weeks I should be pretty well protected.
Not 100%, of course.
Vaccines aren’t perfect. But most years they are pretty effective, and despite the daily demonization of them on the Internet, pretty darn safe, too.
This year we’ve a new strain of H3N2, one that most of the community probably doesn’t have much immunity to. H3N2 – unlike last year’s novel H1N1 - is no respecter of age, and this winter may prove burdensome to old codgers like me.
Luckily, the new flu vaccine has antigens against it.
So even if you had the pandemic flu last year, or got the H1N1 vaccine, you still need to get a flu shot this year.
The CDC wants you to know:
The Seasonal Flu Vaccine
A seasonal vaccine is distributed routinely every year.
- While there are many different flu viruses, the flu vaccine protects against the three viruses that research suggests will be most common.
- The 2010-2011 flu vaccine will protect against an influenza A H3N2 virus, an influenza B virus and the 2009 H1N1 virus that caused so much illness last season.
- Everyone 6 months of age and older should get vaccinated against the flu as soon as the 2010-2011 season vaccine is available.
- People at high risk of serious flu complications include young children, pregnant women, people with chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes or heart and lung disease and people 65 years and older.
- Vaccination of high risk persons is especially important to decrease their risk of severe flu illness.
- Vaccination is important for health care workers, and other people who live with or care for high risk people to keep from spreading flu to high risk people.
- Children younger than 6 months are at high risk of serious flu illness, but are too young to be vaccinated. People who care for them should be vaccinated instead.
