flu shot

Do you want grandma to keep baking cookies? Well, she won't anymore if she dies from the flu. So go get your shot when the next flu season rolls around in October.
Many Americans hold beliefs about the flu vaccine that are at odds with the best available scientific evidence. For example, a recent study found that 43 percent of Americans believe that the seasonal flu vaccine can give us the flu. Scientific research strongly suggests that this is not true. Because most modern flu shots do not contain a live virus, the shot itself simply cannot get us sick.
The media reports of a polio-like condition mostly impacting children sound pretty scary. But let's give acute flaccid myelitis, also known as AFM, some well-needed context.
Kentucky just reported its first flu-related death of the season. With last year’s overall hospitalization rates (among all ages) the highest recorded by the CDC surveillance system, it's time to make things less confusing.
As ACSH's Ana Dolaskie approaches the final weeks of pregnancy, she is making sure all her vaccinations are up-to-date. This includes the TDAP vaccine (Tetanus-Diphtheria-Pertussis) and influenza shot. And she also wants to makes sure dads, partners, and others who are spending time with baby understand why getting vaccinated is key in protecting a newborn baby against potentially life-threatening illnesses, like pertussis (whooping cough).  
Each year the recommended childhood and adolescent vaccine schedules are reviewed, adjusted and approved. The 2017 revisions are now available, and here are some of the recent changes affecting everyone from infants to those up to the age.   
Flu Season Ahead
This Saturday marks the beginning of flu season -- which spans the months of October to May -- so that means it's time to get your flu shot. The ideal time is to get vaccinated before the end of October. The CDC has issued immunization guidance with a few changes worth noting, which we have for you here.  
Researchers say that the U.S. cities whose teams play in the Super Bowl see a spike in flu cases, as well as an 18-percent increase in flu deaths among those 65 and over. The reason? These locations are always where game interest is highest, leading to a higher percentage of parties thrown, which ups the odds of germs being spread in close quarters.
The seasonal nature of the flu shot, as well as misinformation about its perceived toxins, have damaged the vaccine's public image and contributed to its perceived ineffectiveness. But as researchers attempt to come up with a long-lasting universal flu vaccine, a new study may have an answer as to why we are failing to develop it.
A recent Boston Globe article about flu vaccinations raised the notion that those who receive a flu shot every year to have less protection than those who get it less frequently. What does science make of this? It's hard to say. But we say that some protection is better than none at all.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is seeking to mandate that all healthcare workers receive flu vaccinations. Many healthcare workers, especially nurses, believe this is a violation of personal rights. But the science on the safety of the jab is clear and the policy could potentially benefit thousands of people.
We have taken Vani Hari The Food Babe to task multiple times for her charade posing as a credible science-based resource on nutrition, acting in the best interests of her followers, when she really is a metaphor for anti-science hype and fear, according to