What you need to know about the flu vaccine
2015-10-20
The causative agent of influenza is a virus that is extremely variable and therefore has an extremely large number of types - it's time to protect against it!
Twice a year, the World Health Organization (WHO) reviews epidemiological reports from all over the world to see which types occur the most in a given year.
On the basis of this information, the flu vaccines are compiled every year, which provide protection against the three most common strains. Unfortunately, viruses can change even after this, so protection is never complete. However, the course of the disease will be milder for the vaccinated, if they do get the infection.
There are 3 types of vaccines on the market:
- vaccine containing inactivated whole virus
- the so-called split vaccine is a vaccine produced after splitting the inactivated virus
- a vaccine made from only the particles of the virus responsible for triggering the immune response by means of chemical breakdown
At the Duna Medical Center, we use the second type of vaccine, which of course cannot cause disease
Who should be vaccinated?
- Anyone who wants to avoid a possibly severe flu.
- Everyone who comes into contact with many people every day (e.g. customer service workers) or works with many people in closed spaces at work.
- Everyone who is surrounded by a patient who for some reason cannot be vaccinated, but we want to protect them from infection. This is the so-called "nest immunity" principle.
- Everyone who is in the period of family planning.
- Every breastfeeding mother who uses breast milk to protect her baby from possible infection.