Flu shot season arrives amid summer-like temperatures

Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the mix of strains in this year’s new formula will include the troublemaker strain that was absent in last year’s shot.

Federal health officials on Thursday urged Americans to start getting their influenza shot and emphasized that, unlike last year, this year’s vaccine appears to be a good match with strains of the flu expected to hit the U.S.

As a result, the overall effectiveness of last year’s flu vaccines was only 23%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Frieden expressed confidence that this year’s re-formulation will be more effective, although he did add that flu viruses are “unpredictable” and that the CDC would be closely monitoring this season’s strains in case they need to update guidance for health care providers.

Everybody starting at 6 months of age, the CDC says. The 2015 flu vaccine A number of companies produce flu vaccine for use in the United States, and 171 to 179 million doses will be produced. He said that amount of vaccine would be enough to meet demand. Many medical offices, such as Woodridge Clinic, don’t require appointments to walk in and request a vaccine that can prevent the flu, and the consequent symptoms of fever, chills, muscle aches, cough, congestion, runny nose, headaches, and fatigue.

According to the study, seniors living in counties with the highest flu vaccination rates among individuals ages 18 to 64 were 21% less likely to contract flu-related illnesses than those living where vaccination rates were lowest, Reuters reports.

“The bottom line is, even if it’s not a really good match, it will still give you some protection and will give you protection for the other viruses that could be spreading…because you actually get vaccinated against three or four different strains of flu”, Quinlisk says. Last year, a strong mutated flu strain became largely resistant to flu shots, leaving doctors and public in surprise. Flu-related hospitalizations of seniors were the highest recorded in the decade that CDC has counted.

“Unfortunately, many people are still unaware of this universal recommendation”, said. So far, about 40 million doses have been distributed nationwide, officials said.

New research suggested that vaccinating younger adults in a community helps the rate of flu in the elderly.

The reason for which researchers are asking to get flu shots early is that it can reduce the days lost from work because of the virus. Flu season typically peaks between December and February.