VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: CNY medical experts share ways to protect yourself and others this flu season
Shayna Lakin: Even though it is feeling more like summer outside today, flu season is here. With the winter months on their way, I took a look at how to best protect yourself from sickness. It’s that time of year when the signs and posters start appearing and tell people it’s time to get their flu shot. Despite this, flu vaccination rates in the United States remain low each year, hovering at somewhere around 30% of the population. Dr. Brittany Kmush is an associate professor of public health at Syracuse University. She says healthy individuals getting a flu shot every year can help others who may be vulnerable to the flu.
Brittany Kmush: “If you’re protected and not bringing that infection with you, then you could also protect them. And so I think it’s really important to get those vaccines every year to not only protect yourself, but also protect your loved ones who may be more at risk to getting really, really sick or dying from influenza or COVID.”
Lakin: Dr. Kmush says that she thinks COVID-19 will be co-circulating with the flu for the foreseeable future, so preventative measures like wearing a mask and washing your hands can help minimize the spread of both viruses. Mason Burley is a Syracuse University student who says he plans to get his flu shot soon.
Mason Burley: “I have an autoimmune disease, so it tends to be more horrendous if I don’t. That’s with any sickness or illness, it tends to hit me a lot harder, so I try to get my flu shot when I can.”
Lakin: Pharmacies like CVS, Walgreens and Kinney Drugs are all offering flu and COVID-19 vaccination appointments and experts like Dr. Kmush even say you can get both vaccines at the same time. Dr. Kmush also told me that although flu vaccination rates did increase slightly following the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, they still remain relatively low across the country.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Flu season is officially underway and experts say getting your flu shot is one way to protect yourself and the people around you this year just like any other.
Flu vaccines work by exposing the body to a small piece of the flu virus. The body then reacts to that small piece so if someone is exposed to the actual flu virus, their body is prepared to react very quickly and prevent as much illness as possible.
The flu virus changes very quickly so researchers need to make a new flu vaccine every year to match the circulating strain. In the spring of each year, researchers guess what they think the most common versions of the virus will be and then manufacturers start making vaccines to match those guesses.
“In years when we guess correctly, then the efficacy can be quite good,” said Brittany Kmush, associate professor of public health at Syracuse University. “But sometimes we don’t make the right guess, and a new strain comes along that we weren’t expecting. Then the efficacy against all illness can be a lot lower, but it is still surprisingly effective against severe disease.”
COVID-19 may also affect upcoming flu seasons.
“I think COVID is going to be circulating with influenza for the foreseeable future,” said Kmush. “Any preventative measures that you’re doing for COVID, masking, washing your hands, those will also be helpful for flu and so I think getting your COVID vaccine and getting your flu vaccine at the same time can then help minimize the amount of those viruses circulating and can be very helpful.”
Healthy individuals getting their flu shot every year can help protect populations that may be more susceptible to severe illness from influenza by minimizing the spread of infection throughout communities.