Flu Vaccine Options
To protect yourself against getting sick, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone 6 months and older get an annual flu vaccine. “Vaccination is probably the best weapon against influenza and reduces the risk of people transmitting a debilitating disease,†says Amy Behrman, MD, director of occupational medicine services at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. There are several flu vaccine options for the upcoming flu season, including standard flu shots, intradermal vaccines that get injected between the layers of skin instead of the muscle, egg-free vaccines, nasal vaccines, and a needle-free jet injector system. Flu vaccines are designed to protect against either three or four strains of the flu and thus called trivalent or quadrivalent. The trivalent vaccines protect against two strains of Influenza A and one strain of Influenza B, whereas the quadrivalent, which was first developed in 2013, protects against two Influenza A and two Influenza B strains. Here’s what you need to know about each of the vaccine options to determine which one is right for you.
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