If the very word "vaccine" makes you roll your eyes, you are really not alone. Global psychology and medicine have already given this phenomenon an official name: "Vaccine fatigue." The decline in vaccination rates in the world today stems from burnout, a desire to return to "naturalness," and the settling in of a sense of complacency and myths on social media. Dr. Shelly Lipman, head of the Infectious Diseases Unit at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, points out 5 myths about flu and presents several facts that will make you run to get vaccinated.
While we deliberate whether to get vaccinated or not, flu research continues to advance dramatically, and new data reveals that the flu vaccine is long no longer just a tool for preventing sick days, but a kind of biological-systemic protective vest. In order to arrive prepared for the upcoming winter, it is time to shatter a few basic myths and get to know the new facts that will make you look at the small prick in a different way.
5 'Fake News' items about flu
1. Flu is altogether a bad cold – flu is not a cold that causes discomfort, but a violent systemic illness. It manifests as high fever, severe muscle pain, headaches, and cough, and is defined as one of the most lethal and contagious viral diseases in existence.
2. I am young and healthy – complications only happen to old or sick people – flu has a tendency to surprise. Severe complications also occur in completely young and healthy people. The virus can lead to ear infections, neurological damage, and even acute inflammation of the heart muscle (Myocarditis).
3. When I am sick I stay at home and then I don't infect anyone – the virus is smarter than our social conscience. The time window in which one can infect begins several days before feeling the first symptom. By the time you stay at home, you have already spread the virus at the office, on the train, or at a family meal.
4. There is no point in getting vaccinated because they say anyway that the vaccine doesn't always hit this year's strain – the vaccine indeed does not provide 100% protection from infection, but this is precisely where the twist lies: Even in years of a "miss" in strains, the vaccine significantly reduced the viral load. Data shows that vaccinated people who fell ill with flu suffered from a much shorter and milder illness, and the rate of hospitalizations and complications decreased dramatically.
5. The vaccine itself makes me sick and is dangerous to the nervous system – the concern of many regarding the safety of the vaccine is natural, but the biological facts are unequivocal: The killed vaccine cannot cause flu. Standard vaccines are based on killed viruses or isolated proteins, which are incapable of translating themselves into an active infection.
Common side effects, such as local tenderness in the arm, mild fatigue, or a transient low-grade fever are not signs of illness, but evidence that the immune system is learning and producing antibodies. As for the concern regarding Guillain-Barré syndrome – large-scale studies have proven that the chance of developing this neurological syndrome as a result of flu infection is higher than the negligible chance of developing it as a result of the vaccine.
In conclusion, Dr. Lipman notes: "Getting vaccinated against flu is no longer just a matter of 'not missing work days.' This is an advanced, safe, and proven preventive technology that protects the heart, the brain, and the people you love. So it is time to put 'vaccine fatigue' aside and go get vaccinated for the health of us all."