Photography via Flickr/Daniel Paquet
The holiday season is upon us, and with that usually comes runny noses and dry coughs. It's the season of learning the hard way to appreciate the little things, like the simple pleasure of breathing out of our nose. More so, it's the season of giving—and getting—the flu.
Every year around this time we can count on seeing conflicting information as we scroll through our social news feeds. If you’re anything like me, an internal dialogue ensues, weighing the pros and cons of the flu shot. We asked an expert to help us navigate this flu season.
What is the purpose of the flu vaccine?
Dr. Sharon Frey, clinical director of Saint Louis University Center for Vaccine Development and a vaccine researcher, says, "The purpose of the flu vaccine is to protect individuals and communities from contracting the flu as well as minimizing it’s impact. It is meant to keep the illness from spreading; it benefits perfectly healthy people as well as people who are at a higher risk for complications from contracting the flu.” In short, the flu vaccine is meant to protect the public, and everything from those week stints of feeling not-so-hot to potentially life-threatening complications.
Who creates the vaccine?
Although the vaccine itself may be created by pharmaceutical companies, the standards are set on a much larger scale. Dr. Frey pointed us to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which says leading experts from all around the world meet once a year in Switzerland as a part of the World Health Organization’s efforts to combat influenza worldwide. Based on the input from these experts around the world, the currently circulating strains, and research from past years, the W.H.O. makes recommendations on how to create an effective flu vaccine. The national organization responsible for setting the standard in each country (for us it’s the C.D.C.) then creates, tests, and confirms the recommendation given by W.H.O. and sends that off to manufacturers to be replicated and distributed to the public.
Does it really work?
For some, this is debatable. Overall effectiveness in the last ten years is between 19 and 60 percent, and 40 percent to 60 percent when the vaccine matches the circulating strains. Even if you aren’t a math person, you can see that those odds aren’t stellar. But Frey feels differently. She says, “60 percent is huge when you are talking about saving lives.”
Now let’s address some claims we hear every year about the effectiveness of the flu shot.
“The flu shot gave me the flu.”
The shot includes only inactive (or dead) virus, so this is really impossible. It is much more likely that you caught something before the vaccine became effective as it can take up to two weeks for your immune system to become resistant to the virus.
“Even if I get the flu shot I still get the flu.”
You may have something that is only flu like, but not actually influenza. What the flu could look like this year changes and sometimes they get it wrong. If that’s the case, then you may in fact have the flu, but it is likely that the impact is lessened by the vaccine even if it’s not a complete match. Not only would this make your symptoms more manageable, but it also could make you less contagious.
Dr. Frey says that if you are experiencing less severe symptoms, your viral shedding may be lower so you could potentially be less likely to spread the virus. This means that not only does the vaccine lower your chances of getting the flu, it lowers your chances of spreading it even if you do get it.
