Roll up your sleeves, it’s flu season

As flu season approaches the U.S., medical experts around the country begin their season emphasis on the importance of receiving a flu shot.  

According to the CDC, in the years 2020-21, flu shot distribution was at an all-time high with 193 million flu shots being distributed, a number that has nearly doubled within the last decade. 

Diane Salvador, executive director and professor of the department of nursing and health sciences at EU, stresses the importance of getting your flu vaccination. 

“The flu is a seasonal virus, it’s a virus just like the COVID-19 virus. As a seasonal virus, what they’ve done is come up with a vaccine that can help stop the virus in your body. So that’s what a vaccine does. It finds a way to attack the virus and stop it from replicating,” said Salavdor in a Zoom interview.

Salvador said that there are two types of the flu and many mutations of each. Every year, the CDC tries to anticipate which flu would be prevalent and come up with a vaccine for that type of mutation of the virus. 

By getting that flu vaccine, you are heading off the virus’s ability to make you sick.