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Nuvance Health looking to clear up myths about the flu shot

Nuvance Health is looking to clear up a couple of myths about the flu shot.  One is about the vaccine not working.  Health officials say different strains circulate with every flu season. Because the annual flu shot is created in advance, it can vary in terms of how effective it is in a given year. But even if it is not the perfect match, Nuvance says it has been proven to decrease how sick a person gets and how long the symptoms last. 

Another myth is that if someone gets a flu shot each year, their body won’t learn to fight off the virus on its own.  Health officials say vaccination involves giving the body killed germs to allow it to “practice” making the right kinds of antibodies against the germ.  They call it the best kind of immunity a person can have.

Health officials say people cannot get the flu from the vaccine. However, people  may experience side effects, such as a low-grade fever, body aches and headaches, as you make antibodies.   It takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop so if someone does get influenza, they may have already been sick before fully vaccinated.  Another possibility is someone received a vaccine, and then caught a cold with similar symptoms.

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Markley van Camp Robbins

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