Managing Population Health with a Flu Hotline
Preparing for Flu Season in North America
In many parts of North America the flu season arrives as early as the fall. Each year an estimated 5-20% of the US population gets the flu and more than 200,000 people are estimated to be hospitalized from flu complications. It is important to note that the H1N1 virus that caused a global pandemic is now considered a regular human flu virus and continues to circulate seasonally worldwide. Accordingly, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommend a yearly flu vaccine as the first and most important step in protecting against this serious disease.
Protect Yourself and Your Family with the Flu Vaccine
While there are many different flu viruses, the flu vaccine protects against the main flu viruses that government research indicates will cause the most illness during the flu season.
This year’s flu vaccine includes 3 strains (trivalent) or 4 strains (quadrivalent) of the virus.The trivalent vaccine protects against 1 strain from last year and 2 new strains. These are:
- Influenza A (H1N1)
- Influenza A (H3N2)
- Influenza B
The quadrivalent vaccine protects against the same 3 strains as the trivalent vaccine, and it adds a second influenza B strain (the same one added to last season’s quadrivalent vaccine). One flu vaccine is not preferred over another.
The vaccine can protect you and your family from getting sick from these viruses or it can make your illness milder if you get a different flu virus. See the CDC’s Vaccine Benefits for more information.
Flu Prevention Tips from the CDC
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pdf/freeresources/family/burden-averted-infographic.pdf (opens in new tab)
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