The single best way to prevent the flu is to get a flu vaccination each year. You can get the vaccine at your doctor's office and at some workplaces, supermarkets, and drugstores. There are two types of vaccines:
- Flu shot. Given using a needle, the flu shot injects a person with a vaccine that contains an inactive virus that has been killed with heat, chemicals, or radiation. Because the virus has been killed, it cannot infect you. The flu shot is approved for use in people six months of age and older, including people with chronic medical conditions.
- Nasal spray flu vaccine (FluMist). The nasal spray flu vaccine (sometimes called LAIV for live attenuated influenza vaccine) is made with live, weakened flu viruses that generally cannot cause the flu. There is an extremely small risk that the virus in LAIV could mutate (all living organisms can mutate) and regain the ability to cause the disease. This risk is greatest in people with already-weakened immune systems. Therefore LAIV is approved only for use in healthy people 5 – 49 years of age who are not pregnant. People who are 50 or older, are pregnant, or have a weakened immune system (or live with someone who does) should get the flu shot instead of the nasal spray.
No matter which vaccine you get, about two weeks after vaccination your immune system develops proteins called antibodies that protect against infection from flu viruses. Flu vaccines will not protect you from colds or other flu-like illnesses caused by non-influenza viruses.
You must get a flu vaccine every year to be protected. Scientists make a different vaccine every year, because the strains of flu viruses expected to infect people change from year to year. The vaccine preparation is based on the strains of the flu viruses that scientists anticipate will circulate that winter. Sometimes an unpredicted strain may appear after the vaccine has been made. This is why you may still get the flu, even if you’ve been vaccinated. But if this happens, the disease is usually milder, because the vaccine will give you some protection. A flu shot cannot cause the flu, but if you were to be exposed to a different flu virus right before you got vaccinated, you could get the flu and think it was because of the vaccination.
October to November is the best time to get vaccinated, but getting vaccinated in December or even later can still be beneficial since most influenza activity usually occurs in January or later. The flu season can last as late as May.
Who should get vaccinated?In general, everyone who wants to reduce his or her chances of getting the flu should get vaccinated. Getting a flu vaccine is especially important for people at high risk of having serious flu-related complications and those who live with or care for people at high risk.
People at high risk for complications from the flu include:
- Children six months to five years
- Pregnant women
- People age 50 and older
- People of any age with anemia, diabetes, a compromised immune system, or chronic medical conditions of the heart, lungs, or kidneys
- People who live in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities
Children younger than six months cannot get vaccinated, so it is important for people living with these children to do so.
Who should not get vaccinated?Certain people should consult a physician before being vaccinated. They include:
- People who have a severe allergy to chicken eggs. Viruses used in the production of the vaccine are grown in chicken eggs. The flu vaccine may contain some egg protein, which can cause an allergic reaction if you are allergic to eggs.
- People who have had a severe reaction to an influenza vaccination in the past.
- People who developed Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) within six weeks of getting an influenza vaccine in the past.
- People who have a moderate or severe illness with a fever. These people should wait until their symptoms improve to get vaccinated. It is fine to get a flu vaccine if you have a mild cold with no fever.
Talk with your doctor if you have questions about whether you should get a flu vaccine. Children younger than six months old can not be vaccinated.
Can you boost immunity to help fend off colds and flu?
Will certain vitamins or herbs make a difference? What about diet and exercise? Your immune system is your most powerful protector but it’s not fool proof.
The Truth about Your Immune System from Harvard Health Publications will give you the straight facts about how your immune system works, including practical advice on what you can do to keep it strong.
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Click here to join the group Harvard Med: Talking About Health
You can find the following related articles on Gather:
Myths Die Hard, by Robert Schmerling, M.D.
Handwashing
Flu Vaccinations
What causes cold or flu?
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Comments: 9
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976805692
Sorry for the "sour grapes", but these articles dredged up from your archives really should be more useful. This appears to be something posted on the fly, just to have an article form the illustrious Harvard.
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976805692
Sorry for the "sour grapes", but these articles dredged up from your archives really should be more useful. This appears to be something posted on the fly, just to have an article form the illustrious Harvard"
Donna F,
Is it necessary to post mean-spirited comments on the articles of new members? A bit of thought before posting might lead one to a different conclusion about this situation. As I recall, in early March a copy and pasted, plagiarized article was featured in Gather's Health Essentials group. You posted a comment on that article.
donna f. wrote: "My question is...How does a "cut & paste" article, plagarized from "Everyday Health.com" make it to being a feature. it is copied verbatim from the website. Isn't this a violation of TOS? If anyone is interested..here is the url for the original...".
I was one of two other members who posted comments on that article, chastising the author (and alerting Gather) to this flagrant case of copyright infringement. I'm surprised that, as a nurse, you weren't concerned about the level of misunderstanding which arose as a result of that article (the information was taken out of context and posted to 100 non-health-related groups). For example, one reader, who had recently been diagnosed with diabetes, mistakenly believed that Type I diabetics could stop taking insulin once their diabetes was under control. Does that sound like a good idea to you?
Let's see if we can figure out what happened: Gather members complained about the C&P plagiarized health articles being featured by Gather; Gather is in Boston; Harvard is in Boston; three weeks after the complaining began Harvard Health Publications appeared on Gather. Coincidence? Probably not.
I, like many other members, am glad to see them here because, unlike the name of "donna f.", everyone recognizes "Harvard" as a reliable source of health information.
In addition, Donna, you missed the point of this article. The title is: "How do I keep my immune system strong?". They are using flu vaccination as an example of using your immune system to keep you strong, not as a reminder to get your annual flu shot. A vaccine uses the immune system to protect a person from the virus it was designed for. Those who want to learn more about the immune system can purchase the publication shown at the bottom of the article.
Concerning the flu vaccination article you authored last October (the link to which is posted in your comment above), coming from a nurse, it's less than satisfactory. In that article, you start off by saying: "As a nurse, I recommend everyone get one, but as a citizen, I say, "It's your call". There are arguments both pro and con, and truthfully, both are valid."
What follows is two excuses people make for avoiding the flu vaccine: a brief period of mild flu-like symptoms and a fear of needles. The bulk of your article, a list of who should get the vaccine, is copied straight from the CDC's Web site (with a URL to their site). However, you forgot to include information about several groups who should consult their physician before getting vaccinated. The only group you mentioned was the one with egg allergies.
While you do mention that close contacts of the high risk groups should get vaccinated, you don't explain why. (Close contacts should get the flu vaccine because the vaccination is less effective for those in the high risk groups than in healthy people.)
You end your article by saying, "What will you do? ", when you should be telling readers to discuss the need for a flu vaccine with their own physician (who knows their medical history and who can properly advise them.) Being a nurse doesn't mean that you can effectively communicate your knowledge of health information to laypeople via the written word. And, not to be unkind, but in cyberspace, no one knows if you're really a nurse or not. That's why people should obtain health information from a reliable source, like a well-known academic medical center.
Let's make all new members of the Gather Community feel welcome; shall we? Thanks.
1)Drink freshly squeezed orange and carrot juice with ginger root juice extra with my usual multivit-supplement.
2)Drink organic-miso soup with seagreens.
3)Practice good hygine around sick people_wash hand and stay away.
This year I finally got my husband and daughter in for shots after years of them avoiding it. I am happy to say that not one of us got more than a mild cold this season!
Also, I notice that my asthma attacks are fewer and far between and my upper respiratory problems are almost non-exisitent now too after starting singulair and zyrtec together.. a tip for all your lung sufferers!
I call them as I see them. This site permits opinions to be stated, and this is mine. Your "new member" argument has no bearing whatsoever, in that if I note a piece is plagiarized, I will call someone on it . Should I do it privately, so I and the plagiarist are the only ones who are aware of it? Or should I call it to the attention of the community? Ask the community.
As for this article, I felt it was a little too late. While the title implies ways to strengthen one's immune system, only one is listed, and yes, it is a little late for this seasons flu vaccines. I expected more from the illustrious Harvard, and I have now received it, in their excellent breast cancer series, but this, IN MY OPINION, was another piece posted by Gather's hired guns, to merely throw something on the site.
If you don't like my opinions, I'm sorry, but do not decry my right to state them.
No one said that you couldn't state your opinions on this site. The problem was that you made your comments in the form of a personal attack on a new member, who was unfamiliar with the site. Why would being employed in the Harvard system mean that one would automatically know what sort of content to post on Gather.com, when first joining? You expected them to know what to post on a Web site that they've probably never heard of? Many members post writing from their "personal archives", particularly while they are familiarizing themselves with this site. Does it say somewhere in Gather's TOS that there are special content requirements for members whom you label as "illustrious" or "hired guns"?
My "new member argument" had nothing to do with plagiarism. I was referring to the choice of content Harvard Health Publications made when first joining. They were probably invited to the site due to the complaining about poor quality health content. Some members (including me) continued to complain about Gather's featuring plagiarized health content after reporting the article I mentioned in my original comment. And, my point was that first you complained about plagiarism and then you complained about professional quality content. The professional quality content is here to address the complaints about plagiarism.
That's the crux of the problem. You don't read what other people write before formulating "an opinion".
It is obvious that a group of Harvard physicians, all affiliated with Harvard Medical School and Harvard Health Publications, have joined this site. Once they got a better handle on what Gather was about, they posted additional content (which, luckily for them, you approve of).
Whether or not flu vaccinations are usually given in October and November (although getting vaccinated in December or even later can still be beneficial), you can discuss them at any time of the year (doing so is referred to as "education"). Most flu activity occurs in January or later, and the flu season can last until May. When promoting a publication, an excerpt is provided, which consists of one example from the publication.
If you believe that Gather has brought in "hired guns", whose purpose is to "merely throw something on the site", then why don't you address your concerns to Tom Gerace or his staff, instead of taking your frustrations out on Harvard Health Publications (a new member)? They have as much right to be here as you do. Attacking their choice of content, due to your perceptions about Gather's policies, is unfair. Quite frankly, it is the attitude of people like you, not the "hired guns" that Gather has brought in to provide quality content, that drives away the more interesting members of this site.
The tone of your reply to my original comment only serves to lower the value of your opinion in my estimation, and makes me even more glad that Gather has enough sense to invite professionals to their site - especially for a subject as important as health information. Instead of defending your rudeness, in the guise of "expressing an opinion", you might have apologized for your hostile tone and then expressed appreciation of the newer content Harvard Health Publications has posted.
Feel free to state any opinion you wish, on any subject. But, do so in a civilized manner. And, please, spare the rest of us from the misery of having to endure your personal attacks on other members. Thanks.