COLD AND FLU CARE

Myths About Flu Shots - Myth 6

By Katharine Paljug @kpaljug
 | 
October 20, 2017
627191500

Myth #6: Flu shots don’t work

The flu virus is constantly mutating. Every year, researchers must predict which three or four strains will be most common and develop a vaccine against them.

Sometimes these predictions are highly accurate, and the vaccine can lower your risk of developing the flu by 40 to 60 percent. Other times an unexpected strain of flu will become common, and the flu vaccine can be less than 20 percent effective.

Getting a flu shot does not guarantee that you will not get the flu. But it will protect you against some strains of the virus and lower your risk of dangerous complications.

 

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Updated:  

March 20, 2020

Reviewed By:  

Janet O’Dell, RN