Flu Information
"Flu Season" can be anytime but usually is more prevalent from October through May. To help protect yourself and your family against getting the Flu the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommend everyone 6 months of age and older get the vaccine as soon as it is available to help protect you in the event flu season comes early in a particular ear.
The FAQs below can help you learn more about the flu vaccine:
You may think that influenza (flu) is just a slightly worse version of the common cold, but the flu is a specific and serious respiratory "disease." The flu and its complications can cost you time away from work. In severe cases, flu may cause hospitalization and may even lead to death.
The flu vaccine helps to protect people from the flu. The viruses selected for each seasonal flu vaccine are updated each year. This decision is based on:
Currently, 130 national influenza centers in 101 countries study flu activity and trends all year long.
The traditional (trivalent) flu vaccine protects against 3 flu viruses: two type A viruses and one type B virus. A quadrivalent flu vaccine protects against 4 flu viruses: two type A viruses and two type B viruses. Both types of vaccines are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are available in the US.
You cannot catch the flu from the flu vaccine. The flu vaccines that are given by needle are made with viruses that are killed (inactivated) or virus proteins that are artificially made (recombinant influenza vaccine). The viruses used to develop the nasal spray flu vaccine are alive but weakened (attenuated).
For more information and resources about the Flu visit the Texas Flu.org.