HHS HealthBeat (January 23, 2012)

Still time left

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

There’s lots of time left in the flu season, and there are two ways of looking at that. If you haven’t gotten your flu vaccine, you still have time to get vaccinated. The alternative is that if you haven’t gotten your dose of protection, you still have time left to get the flu.

At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researcher Erin Kennedy notes that flu seasons can occur from October through May, usually peaking in January or February.  

``It’s never too late to get vaccinated, and the vaccine can still protect you against the flu, as long as flu viruses are circulating.’’  (6 seconds)

There are flu vaccine options for different people. Everyone 6 months and older should get vaccinated. But remember that it takes a couple of weeks after vaccination for your immune response to kick in.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: January 23, 2012