Health officials recommend that everyone 6 months and older get the flu vaccine every year, with a few exceptions. Although there is no guarantee that the flu vaccine will prevent the spread of the disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Live Science presents the reasons for obtaining it in the following report.

Reduce the risk of infection

On average, those who receive the flu vaccine are 40% to 60% less likely to be infected with the virus than those who are not vaccinated. Therefore, although the influenza vaccine does not prevent all influenza cases, it can help protect against severe infections and death and reduce the spread of the virus in communities.

According to CDC figures, between 2010 and 2020, between 12,000 and 52,000 people die of the flu in the United States each year, and between 140,000 and 710,000 people are hospitalized, and the proportion of flu deaths among immunocompromised children is 80%.

Influenza vaccine

The flu vaccine stimulates the body to produce antibodies against the flu, which fight the immune system the next time it sees the virus.

The flu vaccine is available in many forms, some of which work well for specific groups. For example, most flu vaccines are given as inactivated vaccines for the dead virus, and the nasal spray flu vaccine contains a weaker version of the live flu virus.

“Most of the current influenza vaccines are quadrivalent vaccines, which protect against four different influenza viruses: two influenza A viruses and two influenza B viruses,” said CDC spokeswoman Katrina Crosick. Antibodies are present in both bodies. Weeks after vaccination, it provides protection against infection.
The four influenza strains included in the seasonal flu vaccine are selected regionally, i.e. based on what is circulating in each region of the world during the seasonal flu outbreaks.

How effective is the vaccine?

When researchers study vaccines, they look for different types of data that reveal how well these vaccines work:
எந்த The extent to which the vaccine works in a controlled clinical trial, by protecting the number of people who receive the vaccine from infection compared to those who are not vaccinated. If a vaccine is 80% effective in preventing disease, only 20 out of every 100 people who receive the vaccine will be affected by clinical trials.
Impact is how the virus functions in the real world, usually analyzed by surveillance studies after a certain season. The real world population is much larger and different than the sample included in the clinical trials. If a vaccine is 80% effective in preventing disease, less than 80% of people who receive the vaccine will become ill that year.
Statistics and data indicate that the average effectiveness in preventing laboratory-confirmed influenza diseases between the 2009-2010 season and the 2019-2020 season was approximately 43%, meaning that those who received the flu vaccine averaged 43% less likely to contract the disease in those years. No need to go to the doctor or hospital for a flu test.

It is necessary to vaccinate

Although the flu vaccine is not the most effective vaccine, it can still provide some protection against infection, especially in healthy people. Most importantly, even with its somewhat mild effect, the flu vaccine helps protect against the ill effects of influenza infection: hospitalization, intensive care admission or death.

The results of a scientific review published in the 2021 issue of Vaccine show that adults who have been vaccinated against the flu are still 26% less likely to be admitted to intensive care units for treatment than those who have been vaccinated. After being treated in hospital, they had a 31% lower chance of dying from the flu. Compared with non-vaccinated individuals.

Protection for pregnant women, infants and children

The CDC recommends that certain groups, including women, receive the flu vaccine during pregnancy, as they experience changes in their immune system, heart and lungs, which may increase their susceptibility to influenza.
According to the 2018 Medical Infectious Diseases Survey, it reduces the risk of a pregnant woman contracting the flu and being hospitalized by 40% compared to pregnant women who have not been vaccinated between 2010 and 2016.

Other studies cited by the CDC suggest that getting the flu vaccine during pregnancy may protect your newborn from catching the flu. Between 2010 and 2014, flu vaccines reduced the risk of dying from the flu in children by 65 percent, according to a 2017 study published in the American Journal of Pediatrics.