Yes, the Flu Vaccine Still Works
Flu season is particularly bad this year, and you may be alarmed to learn that some people have received the flu vaccine and are still getting the flu. (This happens every year, but it seems more real when it happens to you or someone you know.) But the flu vaccine still works . Here’s what you need to know.
This season is bad
At least as many flu cases, hospitalizations and deaths are expected this year as in any other season in recent years . (It doesn’t look like we’ll win in the 2009-2010 H1N1 season, but only time will tell.)
The vaccine is probably more than 10 percent effective
It was announced in several news articles that the 10% figure was proof that the flu vaccine would hardly work. But it was actually from a report that the vaccine was only 10 percent effective against one flu strain (like H3N2) in Australia . If you want to know how well photography is performing in the US, you need more information.
The CDC says last year’s U.S. vaccine contained the same H3N2 component, and that the H3N2 circulating in the wild this year appears to be similar to last year’s H3N2. This means that we can make a good guess about the effectiveness of the vaccine this year by looking at these numbers. And it turned out that the vaccine was about 32 percent effective against H3N2 last year.
We have a lot of H3N2 in circulation this year. It is represented by the red bars in the chart above. But this is not the only type of flu, and others are generally better suited for the vaccine (H3N2 is a particularly slippery little virus). Over the past ten years, the effectiveness of influenza vaccines has ranged from 19 to 60 percent . This year may be the end, but it’s really too early to talk about it.
But but but…
You should know this now, but:
- No, the flu vaccine cannot cause the flu , in the same way that ingesting a watermelon seed can cause a watermelon vine to grow in your belly. It just doesn’t work that way .
- If you got the flu shot and then got sick , congratulations, you are a statistician. But many people have been inoculated against the flu and did not get the flu and did not pass it to babies, the elderly or people with cancer.
- The flu shot helps you respond better to the flu , so even if you get sick, you will be better off with it than without it.
- The vaccine has practically no drawbacks , so it is recommended for almost everyone, starting with six-month-old children. Read the CDC guidelines here . Babies need two injections, the elderly – a large dose and a nasal spray version is not offered, because in the past it was not effective.
- Not too late. Your local pharmacy may not have flu shots, so use Vacinefinder.org to find where they are still available. But immunologically, it is still worth getting vaccinated now, if you have not done it before. (If you still get one early this season, sit down. You are done.)
- Big Pharma is not paying me to say any of this . I write about the benefits of the flu vaccine because it has a good ROI: you spend a few minutes a day on a sore arm and getting insurance papers (PSA: it’s free), and in return you have a pretty good chance of preventing the spread of flu viruses.