Flu Flu Basics

The Flu - An Ounce of Prevention Equals a Pound of Cure

Summary & Participants

When it comes to the flu, a flu vaccine is your best defense.

Medically Reviewed On: August 04, 2008

Webcast Transcript

ANNOUNCER: The flu – it can be hard to escape

Steven Lamm, Internist: You cough, you sneeze, you shake hands with people, and that’s how this disease is spread, and it is very contagious.

ANNOUNCER: Doctors say getting a flu shot is your best defense.

Steven Lamm, Internist: Vaccines are very, very effective and can reduce the likelihood of contracting influenza by anywhere between 60 and 80%.

ANNOUNCER: And you’re not only helping yourself when you get a flu shot

Steven Lamm, Internist: You’re protecting your family, maybe an elderly parent or grandparent or your kids or a pregnant woman or people at work. So it’s not just yourself that you’d be immunizing. You’d be reducing the likelihood of spreading this infection.

ANNOUNCER: And despite the myths, getting a flu shot can not give you the flu because it’s made from inactive or “dead” viruses.

Steven Lamm, Internist: What happens is a lot of people are vaccinated where they’re already incubating a series of different kinds of respiratory viruses. So it would not be unusual to give somebody a vaccine, and within days they come down with a cold, and of course they blame it on the vaccine

ANNOUNCER: Because the flu virus changes every year, there’s a new vaccine every year.

Steven Lamm, Internist: I think if you have a pulse you should get the vaccine. I mean, other than if you’re allergic to eggs, which is where this vaccine is created, or you’ve had some unusual reaction to the vaccine in the past. I would recommend that each and every one of you really get the vaccine.

ANNOUNCER: Thanks for joining us on today’s Once Daily!

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