When I moved to a new place of work almost six years back, I was not aware that seasonal cold and cough would be an everyday thing. But with a ten-month-old, you come to know such things soon. When my daughter was not a pre-schooler, it was easier to protect her from this. We just stayed at home during colder weather or bundled her up and got from home to car in record time.
Night travel or visits to relatives’ places were strictly curtailed. This caused some restrictions but was better than managing the sniffles and the problem of the entire family catching the flu.
It’s rightly said that motherhood gives us more insight than any other life experience and that’s when I started looking for more options than staying at home for protection. A family friend’s child getting admitted with flu in a hospital made us very worried. The child hardly left home, and her caregivers were the house help and my friend’s in-laws. Soon we heard the helper was suffering too
Our mind was made up. We could hardly prevent socialization for the child or us. The problem is people are infectious from a few days before and up to five to seven days after they are themselves ill. This makes the virus spread quickly. But we needed more than personal hand and cough hygiene.
We needed complete protection against all types of influenza which endangers us. As a doctor, I know about how the influenza virus constantly mutates and has changed its antigenic character regularly. So, the Quadrivalent influenza vaccine that protects against 4 types of flu viruses, was on our minds.
What is flu or Influenza?
Influenza is a virus causing a broad spectrum of upper respiratory and lower respiratory infections. There are different varieties which affect humans and different species. It’s communicable and spreads by cough droplets while sneezing and talking, that is both nasal and oral secretions.[1]
What are the different types of flu?
There are A, B, C, D types of Influenza virus. Most of the infections are species-specific, but the problem is they can change their transmissibility and have caused epidemics and pandemics.
What are the common flu symptoms?
High-grade fever with chills and rigor is common. But cough, rhinitis, headache, weakness, sore throat, respiratory problems, can all occur.
What does the flu vaccine do?
The flu vaccine protects against 4 types of flu viruses circulating in India. It’s a quadrivalent vaccine. [3]
Can you get flu twice?
It’s unlikely that you will get infected with the exact same genetic type of flu virus, but infection with the other types is possible. The flu virus is smart and keeps changing itself. So we get ourselves the flu shot every year. It is because prevention through vaccination is the best way to keep away flu.
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References
3.https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/quadrivalent.htm?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fflu%2Fprotect%2Fvaccine%2Fquadrivalent.htm
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459363/
2. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/health/swine-flu-virus-changing-seasonality-geography-639921)
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Vaccinations are such a must…now a days so many flu viruses are around and good that this vaccine can protect against them.
True that.
Wow. I didn’t know flu virus keeps mutating and we can get it multiple times. This is an eye opener. Thank you for sharing!
Glad you found this helpful Mrinal
In this changing weather flu is the most common disease for kids and everyone. I am also done with all the vaccines still I follow some healthy diet for kids to built their immunity power.
Thats very important too.
Flu can lead to severe complications in no time never know that. Vaccine is good way to get protected
Yes.Thank you
Informative post . Yes we need to take certain precautions and also need to ensure that kids are rightly vaccinated for the flu as a right prevention measure.
Flu vaccination is super important. Here schools take consent from parents and invite nurses to the school for giving flu jabs to the kids.
Yes it is very important. I feel so too.
Great post on educating on flu, we must get influenza shot beforehand, thankz for sharing
My family doctor advised me to take it just before the seasonal change and I ignored that advise and fell ill. I wasn’t aware of its benefits but now after reading your detailed post, I realise how important it is.
When I got to know about this.. it really opened my eyes. And now our whole family has taken this shot. It is very important.
It’s very important to be aware against the flu and get vaccinated at the right time to have complete protection. Very informative post
What a thoroughly informative post this about the flu vaccine. I will share it ahead as well.
Your posts always bring forth something to learn from and make us aware everytime. I am gonna talk to my dr abt this flu shot and get it done for all of my fam
Kids are so prone to infections, especially when they start going to school and playing outside. Flu is definitely something one needs to take on proactively and the best way to guard against it is by getting the kids vaccinated.
Thats a helpful and informative post on flu. Can adults take this vaccination too. Does it have any side effects??
People who are prone to cold should take these vaccine or else becomes difficult to maintain good health during monsoons and winter’s .