It was effective for only half of those who received it.
Did you get a flu vaccine this year? If so, you might be interested to learn it has worked for only about half of those vaccinated this flu season, according to a Reuters report that cites information released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And this year's vaccine failed entirely in protecting the elderly. "Experts generally estimate the effectiveness of flu vaccines to be between 50 percent and 70 percent, but this vaccine appears to have fallen on the low side of that range," the report reads. While the vaccine is still the best protection available against the flu, CDC Director Thomas Frieden said, we need better vaccines. Did you get vaccinated this flu season? What do you think about news of the vaccine's …
According to a USA Today report, three main flu strains are circulating nationwide.
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Saturday, February 2
The flu is always more dangerous to those 65 and older, but it is worse this year because the prevalent flu strain is especially dangerous to older people, a USA Today report says. That prevalent flu strain, H3N2, has not circulated much since 2005, so people have little immunity to it unless they were vaccinated this year. But it's not too late to get a flu shot, the report says, and several more weeks of the flu season are still ahead. If people, especially the elderly, start to feel ill, they should contact their doctor quickly, Michael Jhung, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in the report. Antiviral drugs, taken within 48 hours of the onset of the flu, are helpful in preventing complications …
Flu activity remains intense in Georgia. There's still time to protect yourself.
