Campaigns urging people to get the flu shot, not the flu, have been underway for months. I regularly get the flu shot and I vaccinate my children, too. I know the vaccine doesn't fully protect me or my family from the flu.
Campaigns urging people to get the flu shot, not the flu, have been underway for months.
I regularly get the flu shot and I vaccinate my children, too. I know the vaccine doesn't fully protect me or my family from the flu. It's just one of the many strategies I use during flu season to keep us healthy, like frequent handwashing, adequate rest and a balanced diet.
Canada's seasonal vaccine includes the three flu strains that scientists believe will be in highest circulation this season. And now, a quadrivalent inactivated vaccine delivered by needle protects against four flu viruses.
We all know that the flu shot offers only partial protection at best, and in some years (like last year), the vaccine didn't perform well.
The flu shot is not perfect, but it is still worthwhile.
Michelle Driedger is an expert advisor with EvidenceNetwork.ca and professor and Canada research chair in environment and health risk communication in the department of community health sciences, in the Max Rady College of Medicine at the Rady faculty of health sciences, University of Manitoba.
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