Why is it important to get the Influenza (flu) vaccine?
There are three reasons why getting the flu vaccine every year is important:
The flu vaccine protects you against a debilitating illness.
The flu vaccine is effective.
The flu vaccine is safe.
The flu vaccine protects you against a debilitating illness. In the U.S., in typical flu seasons, there have been up to 61,000 deaths and 810,000 hospitalizations from the flu virus. Of importance is that as many as 2000 children die yearly from the flu, only 50% of which had a preexisting medical condition.
The flu vaccine is effective. The flu virus is constantly morphing, so each year, there are new flu strains in your community, and a new vaccine is created to target the new strains. Because the flu virus is constantly morphing, the vaccine is never 100% effective. In typical years the flu vaccine is 40-60% effective at preventing the flu. But those who are immunized with the flu vaccine and get sick with the flu are much less likely to be hospitalized or die from the flu or flu-related illnesses.
The flu vaccine is safe. Flu vaccines have an excellent safety record and are precisely monitored with three official modalities in the U.S. Flu vaccines, regardless of how they are made, do not contain viruses that can reproduce and make you sick with the flu. The low-grade fever, mild muscle aches, and fatigue you experience result from your bodybuilding immunity to the new strains of flu virus, which will lead to protection.
Resources:
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/vaccines/flu-vaccine.html#anchor_1597337635340
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm
