Help protect yourself with yearly flu shot

Nobody wants to see a repeat this winter of the unusually high death toll exacted by the influenza virus during the same period a year ago. An estimated 80,000 Americans died of the flu and its complications last winter — the most deaths from the disease in 40 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in an Associated Press story.

In recent years, flu-related deaths in the U.S. have ranged from about 12,000 to 50,000 each winter season, the CDC stated.

After seeing the number of flu-related deaths spike during the winter of 2017-18, we’re wondering if some people might feel it’s not worth getting an annual flu shot this year.

However, we hope that people will think and act differently. An annual flu shot is still a good example of preventative medicine, even though it doesn’t come with a 100 percent guarantee.

Let’s be clear — we’re not downplaying the alarming increase in the number of flu deaths in 2017-18. And for people who have questions about why the flu vaccine last season didn’t do a better job in preventing those deaths, hopefully we can offer some insight.

First, understand that the effectiveness of a newly developed flu shot varies because there are multiple strains of the flu that spread each season, the Food and Drug Administration stated in a Fortune magazine story.

Each vaccine is formulated to target three or four of the “most likely to circulate” strains each year, but figuring out which strains to include in the seasonal flu shot isn’t an exact science.

“One of the challenges in fighting flu is that the viruses can change their genetic makeup rapidly — not only between flu seasons, but also during the course of a single season,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said in a statement.

“As a result, the seasonal influenza vaccine needs to be evaluated annually to see whether its composition needs to be adjusted.”

Among the reasons that researchers believe last season’s flu season proved so deadly was that the virus mutated.

“We guessed right about the common strains that dominated last year’s flu season,” Gottlieb said.

“It’s now believed that part of the reason that the vaccine was not as protective is that the flu strain used to manufacture the vaccine mutated very subtly during the development process.”

The FDA, World Health Organization, and CDC review global data each year to determine which strains to include in the vaccine — a decision that has to be made months in advance of the next flu season, the Fortune magazine story stated. The strains for this year’s flu shot were picked in March.

Components in the 201819 quadrivalent flu vaccine include updated versions of the A-strain known as H3N2 and the B-strain known as the Victoria lineage.

“Hopefully, these changes will make this season’s flu vaccine a little more effective than last season’s,” said Carol Tackett, public health nurse for the Lake County General Health District.

For people who remain skeptical about the need for an annual flu shot, Tackett offers this advice.

“Any protection against the flu is better than none at all,” she said.

Also, consider these three important points made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The flu vaccine can: • Keep you from getting the flu.

• Make the flu less severe if you do get it.

• Keep you from spreading the flu to your family and other people.

Perhaps now is also a good time to clear up misconception. Getting a flu shot cannot give you the flu. There is no live virus in flu shots, the CDC stated.

As for the ideal time to get a flu shot, Tackett said the rule of thumb is by the end of the October.

“That way, it will continue to give protection throughout the entire flu season,” she said, adding that the vaccine supposed to last for six months.

It takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against influenza virus infection, the CDC stated.

Although it’s not guaranteed, we still believe the advantages of getting a flu shot clearly outweigh the drawbacks.

If you don’t believe us, ask your family doctor.

Hopefully, someone will help convince you of the value of getting a flu shot before you get the flu.