About Seasonal Flu Vaccines

Flu season is upon us once again as the cold weather causes cases all over the country to rise sharply. While it’s never a good time to come down with the flu, there are some cases where it can actually be dangerous. Young children and the elderly are especially vulnerable to severe cases, and as many as 710,000 people are hospitalized with the flu each year.

The best way to protect yourself this flu season is to get a seasonal flu vaccine. In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about these vaccines, including how they work and the different types available, who should and should not get vaccinated against the flu, and how effective seasonal flu vaccines are.

Seasonal Flu Vaccines: How They Work and the Different Types Available

Flu vaccines work in the same basic way as all immunizations, instructing the body’s immune system on how to combat a pathogen without having to expose it to the live organism. However, there are several different types of seasonal flu vaccines available for you to choose from, with some types offering unique benefits such as a stronger immune response. The different types of seasonal flu vaccines available today include:

• Standard-dose flu shots – These vaccines are manufactured using viruses grown in eggs. Standard-dose flu shots come available in numerous brands and are approved for use in children as young as six months.
• Cell-based flu shots – Cell-based flu shots are similar to standard-dose flu shots but are completely egg-free and instead made using viruses grown in cell culture.
• Recombinant flu shots – These vaccines are manufactured using recombinant technology to produce a vaccine that is made without flu viruses and are approved for people over the age of 18.
• High-dose flu shots – High-dose flu shots are approved for people age 65 years and older and contain four times as much antigen (the part of the vaccine that helps your body build up protection against flu viruses) as standard-dose flu shots.
• Adjuvanted flu shots – These vaccines contain an adjuvant – an ingredient that helps create a stronger immune response – and are approved for people age 65 years and older.
• Live attenuated flu nasal spray vaccine – These vaccines are administered via a nasal spray and are approved for people aged 2-49.

Are Flu Vaccines Effective?

Unfortunately, no vaccine is 100% effective at preventing illness, and how much protection flu vaccines provide depends on a number of different factors. This includes factors such as the age and health of the person receiving the vaccine, the type of vaccine, and how well the vaccine “matches” the flu viruses in circulation during that flu season. In seasons where vaccines have a good match with the actual viruses that people are contracting, flu vaccines can offer a high degree of protection. Even in years when the match isn’t so good, though, some protection is still better than none at all.

Getting vaccinated against the flu may be able to prevent you from contracting the flu and experiencing any symptoms. If you do get sick, having been vaccinated against the flu is likely to reduce the severity of your illness as well as reduce the risk of flu-associated hospitalization.

Who Should Get a Flu Vaccine?

Young children and older individuals are especially prone to severe cases of the flu, but the flu is a disease that can strike anyone regardless of their age. For this reason, the CDC has recommended since the 2010-2011 flu season that everyone over the age of six months should get a flu vaccine every season. There are rare exceptions to this recommendation, such as those with severe or life-threatening allergies to any of the ingredients in a flu vaccine. For the most part, though, everyone over the age of six months should get vaccinated each year.