Flu vaccine is the best protection

The first and most important step in protecting against the flu is to get a flu vaccine each season.

• A flu vaccine reduces your risk of illness, hospitalization, or even death and can prevent you from spreading the virus to others.
  
  
• Flu can affect people differently based on people’s immune systems. Even healthy children and adults can get very sick from the flu. Anyone with the flu can spread it to family and friends. Protect your family and friends from the flu by getting yourself vaccinated.

Since protection from flu vaccine has been shown to decline over time, annual vaccination is recommended for optimum protection against influenza, even in seasons in which vaccine virus strains do not change.
    

Everyone 6 months of age and older is recommended to be vaccinated against flu every year, even if they got vaccinated the year before.
    

• Some children 8 years of age and younger may need two doses of the flu vaccine. Ask your doctor.

Vaccination is especially important for people at higher risk of severe flu and their close contacts, including healthcare personnel and close contacts of children younger than 6 months and pregnant women.
    

• Children younger than 6 months are at high risk of serious flu illness, but are too young to be vaccinated. People who care for them, including new and expecting mothers, should be vaccinated instead.

Get vaccinated as soon as vaccine becomes available in your community.
    

The flu vaccine provides protection that lasts throughout the flu season.
    

While there are many different flu viruses, the flu vaccine protects against the three viruses that research suggests will be most common.
    

• The 2011-2012 flu vaccine will protect against:
  
  
• an influenza A H3N2 virus,



• an influenza B virus,



• and the H1N1 virus that caused a pandemic in 2009


• Although last flu season’s vaccine also provided immunity against the same three viruses, it’s still important to get vaccinated this season. 



• Protection from flu vaccine wears off over time, and last year’s vaccine may not fully protect you this season. For the best protection, get vaccinated every year.