October is reported to be the best time to get your flu shot, but it’s still not too late to get yours! Healthcare officials urge people to get their flu shots as early as possible so that your body can have time to adjust to the vaccine before the flu season starts up. In fact, Dr. Alicia Fry, Chief of the Epidemiology and Prevention branch for the CDC’s influenza divisions states, “Now is the perfect time to get vaccinated … it gives your body enough time to respond to the vaccine and mount a good immune response so you’re ready for the flu season.”
Last year was one of the worst flu seasons on record since 2009 during the H1N1 outbreak. Coincidentally fewer Americans got a flu shot than in years past. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that less than 4 out of 10 Americans were protected last flu season. [1]
Nearly 12 million children came down with the flu, and 48,000 were hospitalized, CDC statistics show. Of those, 183 died. Among those aged 18 to 64, 30 million were sickened and 10,300 died.
In all, 70 percent of those hospitalized for flu were aged 65 and older, as were 90 percent of those who died, according to the CDC. [2]There were a record number of deaths and hospitalizations last season. The CDC estimates that the flu sickened 49 million, hospitalized nearly 1 million and killed 79,000.
Many doctors and health officials are constantly monitoring and updating information about the flu virus. Scientists carefully work with these virus’ tweaking and perfecting the vaccines to get them to be the best defense against flu. Many health officials say that the vaccine is the best protection against getting the flu or being hospitalized or dying from the flu.
