Dog summer days are about to come to an end in the United States, and while fall can mean cool breezes and pleasant walks in the park, it should also mark the arrival of the flu vaccine or the ‘annual spray. Influenza vaccination remains one of the simplest and best things you can do for your health, especially in a world where covid-19 is still close. This year, it’s probably best to get a flu shot sooner rather than later.
Typically, the flu season runs from October to March, with the peak around January or February. But there are some important considerations that could make us have a more intense and unpredictable face than usual next season.
On the one hand, the flu was practically non-existent last winter, possibly aided by one higher vaccine uptake, as well as measures taken to limit the spread of covid-19, such as avoiding meetings and wearing masks in public (covid-19 vaccines arrived in mid-December but were not widely available). until March 2021). You may have this amortization reduced the number of different strains of flu circulating around the world. But it could also mean there is a reduction in flu immunity in the community, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. warned. The flu mutates so quickly that we never have complete immunity to it, but our pre-existing experience with a returning strain of flu can alleviate the harm it causes. Therefore, people who are not vaccinated and whose immunity has decreased may be at increased risk for infection and serious illness.
Available as both a nasal spray and a vaccine for most people six months of age and older, flu shots will protect against four circulating flu strains. Because immunity takes two weeks to start, getting it already September it is usually recommended anyway and you should try to get it at least before the end of October. But as the situation is changing this year, scheduling the dam as soon as possible in September may be even better.
Unlike last year, it will focus less on social distancing measures to contain the ongoing pandemic, as many people are now vaccinated against covid-19. It should be noted that the Biden administration does he said explicitly which will not drive the kind of movement restrictions seen last year, in the hope that the use of masks and vaccination will be enough to keep the coronavirus under control. This relaxed environment will no doubt allow the flu to spread more easily and perhaps earlier than normal, as other seasonal respiratory viruses that became inactive last year returned in unexpected moments.
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Experts were concerned about the double threat of covid-19 and the flu last winter, a prediction that did not occur because the flu did not exist (unfortunately, our measures were not enough to stop the deadliest peak of covid – 19, a disease apparently more contagious than influenza). But for people who aren’t heavily protected against both this year, which may include children who can’t get vaccinated against covid-19 and immunocompromised people who don’t respond so well to vaccines, this threat seems very real. now.
Due to the rapid evolution of influenza, our seasonal vaccines are not usually very effective in preventing the disease. And they can sometimes be very mediocre, due to a large mismatch between the strain included in the vaccine and a circulating strain that is mutated to be less recognizable by the trained immune system when the season begins. But even in one low year, flu vaccines prevent millions of cases, tens of thousands of hospitalizations, and thousands of deaths in the U.S. each year, and they would do even more if more people were taken (usually about half of all Americans). receive flu vaccines). This protection also reduces transmission to the community, which can prevent some unprotected people from getting sick as well. So far, according to the CDC, there is no indication that this year’s batch of vaccines is not very adequate.
Covid-19 may be worse than the flu, but as anyone who has experienced it knows, the flu will make you seriously miserable. So take the shot or spray this fall or winter and significantly reduce your risk of getting sick over the next few months.