Annual influenza vaccination is now recommend for EVERYONE six months of age and older! Viruses are always changing, so it's important to get a flu vaccine annually. Since the flu can happen anytime, the CDC recommends getting vaccinated as soon as it's available. There are two kinds of flu vaccine: the flu shot and nasal spray vaccine. The 2012-2013 flu vaccine will protect against the three influenza viruses that research indicates will be most common during the season. This includes an influenza A (H1N1) virus, an influenza A (H3N2) virus, and an influenza B virus.
While everyone should get a flu vaccine each flu season, it's especially important that people in the following groups get vaccinated:
- all children aged 6 to 59 months
- all persons over the age of 50
- pregnant women
- adults and children who have immunosuppression
- any persons living in nursing in nursing homes or long-term care facilities
Persons who live with or care for persons at high risk, including
- household contacts and care givers of children under 5 years of age
- household contacts and care givers of persons with certain medical conditions that put them at higher risk to severe complications from influenza
- health care providers
Most patients experience few side effects after getting a flu vaccine. They are generally mild when compared to a bad case of the flu. Vaccinating is the single best way to protect your family from getting the flu!
For more detailed information:
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/keyfacts.htm