Flu shots are something that are in high demand every
year. Pharmacies and doctor’s offices
are swamped every year with people rushing to get their shots. This rush is hard to believe with the number
of people who question the effectiveness of the shot, though. How many times have you heard someone say, “I
always get sick more often when I get the flu shot”?
To answer the question of whether or not a flu shot is a good idea for you, I want to first delve into how the flu shots work. Epidemiologists (people who study the distribution and determinance of disease) have noticed that most of the flu strains start in Asia and work their way around to the United States. With this information, they can predict the flu strains that are most likely (and the most dangerous varieties) to hit the United States every year. Once they have determined the most likely sources, they can make vaccines for these particular strains. Vaccines are just strains of the disease that have been weakened to the point where they won’t infect you, or that have been deemed impotent. Once these strains are in your system, your body goes to work making an antibody for that specific strain (it makes a receptor that acts like a key to unlock that specific strain of disease). Once the antibody is made (which works for most viruses), your body will store some prototypes that will be used if the body is ever attacked by the same strain again. This is why once you have had a virus you aren’t likely to suffer from it again. You may be asking yourself, “Why should I get the flu shot if I can only get the flu once”? Unfortunately there are many different strains of the flu virus. The antibodies that you made for one strain won’t work for any other strain, so you have to go through the illness while your body builds up an antibody for each strain that you are being attacked with. This is why the flu shot can be effective in preventing illness. Now that we know HOW flu shots work, let’s answer the question of DO they work. Flu shots are only effective against the strains of the flu that they are made for. So if you are exposed to the strains that were in the shot, you aren’t going to get sick. If you are exposed to strains that aren’t in the shot, you will still be vulnerable. Because of this, some years your shot will be more effective than other years. You just have to remember that you aren’t going to know how effective the shot really is, because you don’t know about the sickness you would have gotten if you hadn’t had the shot. Now…to answer the million dollar question; do I recommend that you get the flu shot? I view the vaccine as a type of insurance. I think the flu shot is important for people who have compromised immune systems. Children, the elderly and anyone who has decreased immune function (people who have received transplants, people with diseases that attack the immune system, etc…) will be much more vulnerable than the general population. Since the flu can kill you in certain circumstances, it is worth the cost and risks associated. For those of you that aren’t immune compromised, you can make your own decision. Dying from the flu is very unlikely, but if you are in a position that you can’t afford to get sick (perhaps due to work or family concerns) it may be worth looking into. That leads us to our final question. Will you be one of the many swamping the pharmacies, or are you going to take your chances?
If you have questions, or would like to discuss this further, please contact me at: Jeffrey L. Cumro, Doctor of Chiropractic, Certified Personal Trainer |
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Should You Get a Flu Shot?posted Nov 10, 2011 6:34 AM by Jeffrey Cumro |