Should I get a flu shot?

There are two types of flu vaccines: the injection and the nasal spray. Injectable flu vaccines usually contain inactivated strains of types A and B flu virus and help your body to provide immunity to these two common strains of the flu. The nasal spray vaccine contains a live, but weakened version of the same strains ? but its use isn't currently recommended [2]. Any immunity from these vaccines is short-lived; with the predominant influenza virus strain(s) changing each year, the flu shot must be administered annually to continue protection. Further, the protection you do get doesn't kick in until about two weeks after getting the vaccine. Because of the yearly differences in flu virus strains, annual studies are conducted to determine how well it worked to prevent illness; it currently stands at about 40 to 60 percent effective against influenza (though there are a few factors to consider that can impact effectiveness [3]). What this implies is that while a person reduces their individual risk of getting the flu after having received the vaccine for that year, it?s still possible to get sick from the illness ? but it will likely be milder as compared to not having been vaccinated.