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Last updated on Friday, November 21, 2014
(UNDATED) - If you haven’t gotten your flu shot yet, one doctor says you shouldn’t wait.
The arrival of the first bitter cold of the year should be a good reminder that it is flu season. Still, the CDC says the percentage of Americans who get flu shots every year is typically only around 20-to-30-percent, despite their general effectiveness.
"We are finally getting high rates (of flu vaccine use) among health care workers - typically 80-to-90 percent, and we generally have higher rates among children since they are already in doctor's offices for vaccines," said Dr. Christopher Belcher, director of pediatric infectious disease at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital in Indianapolis.
Many people avoid flu vaccines because of misconceptions, the primary one being that it can make you sick.
"The injectable (flu vaccine) is a dead virus. It is also just part of the virus - not even the whole thing is there," Belcher said. "The live virus (flu mist) is weakened, so while it can cause some stuff noses or sore throats because it grows in the nose, it cannot cause real influenza."
Belcher says the flu mist appears to be more effective in younger children than the flu shot, though he says either should offer plenty of protection. A flu vaccine with a higher dosage level is available for people with weaker immune systems, and Belcher says most doctors recommend it for everyone over the age of 65.
If you do get sick during the flu season, you may not necessarily have the flu, no matter what your grandmother tells you. "Influenza is typically high fever, headaches, sore muscles and dry cough.
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