With this year's flu season already underway, it's time to take a moment and get a shot that may well keep you out of the hospital or even save your life. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, last year's vaccine prevented 6.6 million cases of the flu and as many as 80,000 hospitalizations. Vaccination is especially important if you or anyone in your family is at high-risk of experiencing complications from the virus. This includes young children, pregnant women and people with chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes or heart and lung disease. It also includes people 65 and older.
It is also important to get the vaccine if you care for anyone in one or more of these high risk groups, or for babies younger than 6 months because they are too young to get the vaccine.
Along with getting vaccinated, there are other precautions to help your body resist the flu viruses. Avoid contact with people who currently have or recently had the flu. Stay home if you or someone you are caring for gets the flu, to avoid infecting others. Frequent hand washing is also important, throughout the flu season, to keep you and your family as healthy as possible.
