CDC offers flu prevention tips

Submitted by Canton1 on

With flu and flu-like symptoms continuing to spike nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued a list of preventative tips and other helpful information to help mitigate the illness.

Flu vaccination can reduce flu illnesses, doctors' visits, and missed work and school due to flu, as well as prevent flu-related hospitalizations. If you have not gotten vaccinated yet this season, you should get vaccinated now — it's not too late!

Healthy people can get very sick from the flu and spread it to friends and loved ones. The following are the most important steps to help protect your family against the flu this season.

Take three steps to fight flu

-The first and best way to protect against the flu is to get vaccinated every flu season.

-Everyone 6 months of age and older is recommended to get vaccinated against the flu every year, with rare exceptions.

-Flu vaccines made to protect against three different flu viruses (called "trivalent" vaccines) are available this season. In addition, flu vaccines made to protect against four different flu viruses (called "quadrivalent" vaccines) also are available. It takes two weeks after vaccination for your body to build up antibodies to protect you from the viruses. With many more weeks of expected for this flu season, there is still time to get vaccinated if you haven't already done so. As long as flu viruses are circulating, vaccination can protect you against the flu.

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