With the flu season starting to gradually set in, the debate regarding whether the flu and other types of vaccines are more helpful than harmful for your health. Doctors always recommend getting a flu shot to prevent the spreading of the disease, but new reports also warn about the dangers of serial vaccinations.
The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report which evaluated the state of flu vaccines in the 2015-2016 seasons. It revealed that only 41.7 percent of all the surveyed adults with ages between 18 to 64 got a flu shot. Another new survey from CityMD, which is a network of centers for urgent care, found that around 52 percent of questioned millennials, do not plan to get the vaccine. Twenty five percent out of which saying that the rising cost of the shot was the main reason they will avoid it.
This types of reports paint of bleak picture when we consider that all the research until now recommends we get a flu shot. However, a new study calls into question how often should we receive the flu vaccine. Dr. Danuta Skowronski is the lead author of the study and the lead epidemiologist for flu and emerging pathogens at British Columbia Centre for Disease Control.
The study analyzed various flu seasons during the previous years and found that people who got vaccinated every year for at least three years in a row, had a much higher chance of being infected with the flu virus in a future season. Another interesting finding is that people who skip at least or two years of the annual recommended flu shot can benefit the most when they actually decide to get it.
Dr. Skowronski pointed out that although they can’t explain as of yet why serial vaccination poses this negative effects, it still raises some important questions regarding the recommendations that doctors have wholeheartedly issued during the flu season. The study’s finding may not yet have any immediate implications for the policies of flu vaccines, but together with other similar studies, it adds to a growing concern about a future change.
Will you get a flu shot this season? If not, why and what’s the last time you have been vaccinated?
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