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Why do we need a flu vaccine every year?

The vaccine is not a one and done situation, as it is with shots for other viruses.
Flu season is approaching, and people all across metro Atlanta are lining up for the flu vaccine.

ATLANTA – Flu season is approaching and people all across metro Atlanta are lining up for the flu vaccine.

The vaccine is not a one and done situation, as it is with shots for other viruses. To be effective, you have to get the flu shot every year.

Why?

Tetanus shots require a booster every ten years. Typically, you get measles and polio vaccines as a child, then never again.

But the flu is different and, therefore, so is the vaccine.

“The influenza virus is tricky and changes over time,” says Dr. Mark Cohen, Chief Medical Officer at Piedmont Hospital. “Compared to other viruses, like polio or measles, influenza can change fairly quickly.”

Each year, the CDC studies the genetics of the virus. There’s a dominant strain; last year it was the H2N2. But there are other strains mixed in there. Last year, that included the H1N1, or swine flu.

The CDC uses information gathered one year to predict what will happen the following year and create the appropriate vaccine.

Every year it’s possible for a new strain to crash the party. When that happens, the CDC adjusts the vaccine to address the flu’s new look.

While it is not a guarantee of preventing the flu, the CDC says getting a vaccine lowers your risk by about 40 percent.

“For the best protection, everyone 6-months and older should get vaccinated annually,” says the CDC’s Kristen Norlund.

The CDC also tells us that as you get older, your body’s immune system doesn’t respond as well to the vaccine.

“The body’s immune response declines over time, so an annual vaccine is needed for optimal protection,” says Norlund.

There are specific flu shots for anyone over the age of 65.

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