Guest Column | Fight the Flu by Getting the Vaccine This Fall

Category: News, Latest Articles
Posted On: Sep 10, 2023
Written By: Rena Salamacha, CEO, Mee Memorial Healthcare System

Believe it or not, it’s time once again to talk about influenza. The typical flu season in the United States begins after Labor Day, and can extend into the early spring of the following year. Our best defense has always been, and continues to be, flu vaccines.

How well the flu vaccine works can depend in part on the match between the vaccine viruses and circulating viruses. Preliminary estimates show that last season, people who were vaccinated against flu were about 40 to 70% less likely to be hospitalized because of flu illness or related complications.

Flu viruses are constantly changing. The composition of U.S. flu vaccines is reviewed annually by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee and updated as needed to best match the flu viruses that research indicates will be most common during the upcoming season. For the 2023-24 season, U.S. flu vaccines will contain an updated influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 component.

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