The Flu Shot: Why Do I Need to Get It?

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The Flu Shot

To get the flu vaccine or not to get the flu vaccine? This is a huge controversial question millions of Americans today ask themselves every year. There are many myths that come along with the topic of the flu vaccine that lead to people questioning the effectiveness of the medication. Safety for our families and loved ones is what we aim to achieve, but what are the pros and cons of this vaccine? What are the consequences and what are myths, but most importantly: what are the reasons we should get it in the first place? In this paper you will learn the many reasons for the flu vaccination and how it affects different populations beginning with children all the way to the elderly population. First of all, what is the flu vaccine and its purpose? According to Wikipedia, The influenza vaccination is an annual vaccination using a vaccine specific for a given year to protect against the highly variable influenza virus. Each influenza vaccine contains antigens representing three (trivalent vaccine) or four (quadrivalent vaccine) influenza virus strains: one influenza type A subtype H1N1 virus strain, one influenza type A subtype H3N2 virus strain, and either one or two influenza type B virus strains. Influenza vaccines may be given as an intramuscular injection, also known as a flu shot, or as a nasal spray.
How does it work? Once you are given the flu shot, it sort of “tricks” your immune system into thinking that it has been infected by the flu. Therefore, your body produces antibodies against the virus. These antibodies bind to the flu virus and aim at it for destruction. Then, when someone actually does come in contact with the real live virus, the body is armed and ready to fight off the illness before it even st...

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...rovide the population with free flu vaccinations. If this is the matter, then why hesitate? The CDC provides families with a free flu vaccination each and every year. Students at Stanbridge University were able to participate in a few flu clinics this year and help out in giving the flu shot. I myself, was assigned to Long Beach Flu Clinic where we were able to administer the vaccination to Long Beach Fire Fighters. Now we don't want our fire fighters getting sick do we? I was very happy to be a part of this flu clinic and know that I did my part in decreasing mortality rate or at least decreasing the likely hood of our firefighters getting and becoming sick with the influenza virus. I was also able to attend the flu clinic at my assigned hospital rotation of Garden Grove, where we the students practiced our IM injection administration on the staff of Garden Grove.

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