Believe it or not, the cold and flu season isn’t too far away. Now is time to start thinking about getting a flu vaccine for yourself and your family. Because misinformation abounds about everything from who should get the flu shot to how the shot can affect you, we asked Dr. Keith Woeltje, Hospital Epidemiologist for the Medical College of Georgia for some help in separating fact from fiction.

Who should get a flu shot?
  “Anyone who doesn’t want to get the flu is a candidate for the flu shot,” says Dr. Woeltje. “People who provide essential services such as police officers and fire fighters should consider getting the shot to avoid disruptions in essential services in the event of an influenza outbreak.”
  In particular, Dr. Woeltje recommends flu shots for adults over 50, residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities, and adults and children over 6 months of age with chronic heart or lung conditions, including asthma, or those who need regular medical care for conditions such as diabetes, chronic kidney disease or a weakened immune system. In addition, children and teens on long-term aspirin therapy, women who will be more than three months pregnant during flu season, those who work in the healthcare field and anyone who shares a household with someone who has a chronic health condition should receive a flu shot.

When should you get your flu shot?
  “Flu shots are generally given starting in late September, early October,” says Dr. Woeltje. “October and November are probably the optimal months—early enough for the vaccine to kick in before flu season, but late enough so that the immunity doesn’t start to wane, in case of a late flu season. As long as flu season isn’t over, it’s still not too late to get a flu shot.”
Why not just risk getting the flu?
  “Many people don’t take the flu seriously, because we use the term ‘flu’ rather loosely,” says Dr. Woeltje. “Those who say, ‘Aw, I had the flu, it wasn’t so bad,’ probably had some other viral infection and not true influenza.”
  “True influenza can make even healthy people severely ill, and the disease can be fatal, especially in the elderly and those with chronic medical conditions. It can also predispose victims to getting bacterial pneumonia, which may also be fatal. Even if dying from it is not likely, missing a significant amount of work or school is almost certain for those who are inflicted with influenza,” says Dr. Woeltje.

Will it give me the Flu?
  “Because the virus is killed, there is absolutely no way to get influenza from the flu shot. I think part of the problem is that the vaccine is given at the start of cold season. People who get the shot and then coincidentally come down with a cold shortly thereafter tend to blame the vaccine,” says Dr. Woeltje.
  “Even if people know that the vaccine can’t give them the flu per se, many people think the vaccine has a lot of side effects, and will make them sick,” says Dr. Woeltje. “When this was carefully studied, recipients of a placebo vaccine—no active ingredients, just saline—reported almost as many side effects as those who got the vaccine.
  “For vaccine recipients, side effects seem to be less with subsequent receipt of the vaccine. So even if you did feel crummy due to the vaccine, the next time you get the vaccine, this is likely to be less significant,” he says.
  Flu shots, which are administered in the arm, are available in most doctor’s offices, many pharmacies, and the health department.