Influenza (flu) is a highly infectious disease of the lungs, and it can lead to pneumonia. Each year about 114,000 people in the U.S. are hospitalized and about 36,000 people die because of the flu. Most who die are 65 years and older. But children younger than 2 years old are as likely as those over 65 to have to go to the hospital because of the flu.

The vaccine usually protects most people from the flu. Sometimes a person who receives flu vaccine can get the flu, but it will frequently be milder than without the vaccine. Flu vaccine will not protect you from other viruses that sometimes feel like the flu.

The worst side effect you?re likely to get with injectable vaccine is a sore arm. The nasal-spray flu vaccine might cause nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, or cough. The risk of allergic reaction to flu vaccine is far less than the risk of severe complications from flu itself.

You might not be able to get this protection if you are allergic to eggs (used in making the injectable vaccine), are very sick with a high fever, or have had a severe reaction to the flu vaccine in the past.

Adults and children with conditions like asthma, diabetes, heart disease, and kidney disease need to get flu vaccine. And people who are active and healthy can also benefit from the protection the flu vaccine offers.

Flu vaccine can be given before or during the flu season. While the best time to get flu vaccine is October or November, getting vaccinated in December or later can still protect you against the flu.
 

Close Contacts of People at High Risk of Severe Illness

Child Getting a First Flu Shot Ever

Flu Shots
The flu shot uses an inactivated or ?killed? vaccine. This vaccine can?t give you the flu. However, flu vaccine, like other vaccines, can occasionally cause a reaction. Feeling some response to the shot is not unusual. The vaccine acts to stimulate your immune system and prepare you to resist infection. You may feel your body's protective activity through mild symptoms. Also, some people may experience symptoms of mild sickness after getting a flu shot, but these symptoms are not necessarily connected to the shot.

If you do experience a reaction to the flu shot, it is usually local and mild?redness, soreness, and swelling at the site of the injection. Usually if you have this kind of reaction you find that it doesn't interfere with normal daily activity and does not make you feel sick. Fever and more generalized aches and pains can occur but are even less likely; those who are receiving the vaccine for the first time ever are most likely to have this type of reaction. You feel the symptoms, if any, within a few hours of the injection. The symptoms typically cause discomfort, not sickness, and last for a day or two.

Treating a Mild Reaction
To treat a mild reaction to the flu vaccine, use over-the-counter medication only for the symptoms you have (fever, swelling, nasal congestion, cough, and aches and pains). Do not give aspirin to children; use another medication to relieve their fever or aches and pains. If fever is high or symptoms persist or are severe, talk to your doctor or healthcare professional.

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The nasal-spray flu vaccine is approved for vaccinating healthy people aged 5 to 49 years and is a useful alternative flu protection for those who find the flu shot frightening or painful. This vaccine may cause nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, and cough--symptoms of a cold. Mild reactions to the nasal mist vaccine are not unexpected and should be brief. Read more about the newly approved nasal-spray flu vaccine FluMist. For detailed recommendations for the vaccine, see the Vaccine Information Sheet for FluMist (look for "live intranasal influenza vaccine").

Treating a Reaction to FluMist?
To treat a mild reaction to this vaccine, use over-the-counter medication only for the symptoms you have (runny nose, sore throat, nasal congestion, cough). Do not give aspirin to children; use another medication to relieve their fever or aches and pains. If fever is high or symptoms persist or are severe, talk to your doctor or healthcare professional.

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Vaccination against influenza (flu) works to protect you from infection by influenza viruses. The flu vaccine does not provide protection against the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) or viruses that cause illnesses similar to flu (called "influenza-like illness" or ILI).

Flu, SARS, and ILI
During the fall and winter flu season, many other infectious agents circulate and cause influenza-like illness. Influenza, influenza-like illness, and SARS have similar symptoms and may be difficult to distinguish initially. Flu, SARS, and influenza-like illness are characterized by fever, body aches, and headaches. Like flu, SARS spreads primarily from person to person.

SARS Symptoms and Diagnosis
SARS generally begins with a fever of at least 100.4?F (38?C). Other possible symptoms include headache, an overall feeling of discomfort, and body aches--much like flu or flu-like illness. Some people with SARS also experience mild respiratory symptoms. After a few days, SARS patients may develop a dry cough and have trouble breathing. In addition, most SARS patients have visited an area where SARS has been diagnosed or have been in contact with others who are known to be infected with SARS.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not recommend using influenza vaccination to reduce the risk of contracting SARS, ILI, or an illness that resembles SARS. If you are protected against the flu, you can still become sick with SARS or ILI, and your flu vaccination does not mean that SARS can either be assumed or ruled out as a diagnosis. Initial diagnosis must be made on the basis of your specific symptoms. Your doctor or healthcare professional must determine whether you do or don't have SARS by monitoring your condition and, if needed, testing specifically for SARS.

How Your Flu Vaccination Helps You
The flu vaccine is valuable as the best prevention against influenza and its severe complications, including pneumonia, hospitalization, and death. Complications from flu most often occur among those older than 65 years of age, those not yet 65 years of age who have certain medical conditions, and children younger than 2 years of age. Influenza vaccination is recommended or encouraged for these groups and their close contacts and for others including

• all persons 50 years of age and over (people in this age group are likely to have at least one high-risk condition)
• healthcare workers
• household contacts of high-risk persons