We have just gone through one of the toughest flu seasons in recent years. There are a lot of myths and misconceptions associated with the flu and and I thought it would be helpful to review our experience with some comments and explanations about the disease and its vaccine.

Influenza can be a very dangerous disease with a significant degree of illness, complications and mortality. There are many different types (or strains) of the virus which vary from year to year in terms of strength or virulence. The most common ones are Type A and Type B, which come in many different forms. The predominant strain this year was Type AH3N2k, which in general is more virulent than Type B.

The flu vaccine is developed each year based on what the next year’s predominant strains are expected to be. The development of the vaccine is a time consuming process which takes months to complete.

By the time the disease shows up, the vaccine may or may not be a good match for the predominant seasonal strain, but the development process has to start months ahead of the flu season. There is much research going on to find a method for the rapid production of the vaccine, so it can be better matched to the actual virus predominant in a given season. This is the reason the flu vaccine varies in effectiveness from year to year. The most common vaccine available is a quadrivalent vaccine, meaning it is designed to cover four different strains of the influenza virus, usually three of Type A and one of Type B.

We often hear, “I got the vaccine and I got the flu anyway so why bother?” The reason is that the vaccine is not designed to prevent you from getting the flu, but should offer some protection from the complications of the flu, like pneumonia, serious infections, hospitalizations and, in some cases, even death. There are many statistics bandied about during the postseason about how effective the vaccine was, from 10% to 35% to 50%, all measuring different populations in different countries. Look at it this way, if you were outside without a coat and it was freezing, would you be better off putting on a sweater if that’s all you had or wearing nothing? Any protection the vaccine offers can avoid severe complications even if you still might get seriously ill.

It is worth noting that every year about 50,000 adults in this country die from the flu. This year there was a lot of media hype about the mortality statistics, especially in children. This year, even though the flu was more widespread, there were not significantly more deaths than in any other year. The fact is each year in this country we average around 100 pediatric deaths from the flu, 85% in unimmunized children.

There are a lot of myths out there about the flu vaccine, just like the myths about vaccines in general. “It doesn’t work; you can get the flu from it; it has a lot of mercury, etc.” The truth is, it works; side effects are limited to a mildly sore arm, and single dose vials of the vaccine, the most commonly used, do not contain mercury. We recommend that everyone get a flu shot, especially young children, pregnant women and the elderly, who constitute the highest risk populations. Unfortunately, however, as we saw this year, the most severe cases can occur in even healthy adolescents and young adults without any previous health problems.

The bottom line is, if you would not consider getting into a car without you or your children being in seat belts, you should absolutely have your family protected by getting everyone flu shots. The risks are much higher without it, and the consequences much more deadly.

By David Wisotsky, MD

David Wisotsky, MD is the CEO and medical director of Tenafly Pediatrics.