“The best way to protect yourself from the flu is to get a flu vaccine,” says Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC. “It’s really unfortunate that half of Americans are not getting the protection from flu they could get.”
Starting in 2010, the agency has recommended that, unless there is a specific medical reason not to, everyone older than the age of 6 months should get vaccinated. But this begs the question: Which is the best vaccine for me?
Since 2013, there have been more than a dozen different varieties of vaccine available. Options include traditional injections given in the arm to a mist in the nose; there's also a variety that offers protection from three flu strains, and one that protects against four. There is even a vaccine that is produced in a cell culture as opposed to an egg for people with egg allergies.
Let’s break down some of the most popular choices.
Traditional Vaccine Shots
Traditional flu shots, called trivalent vaccines, offer protection from three flu strains -- two influenza A viruses (typically H1N1 and an H3N2) and an influenza B virus.
Standard-dose trivalent shots are manufactured using virus grown in eggs. Different flu shots are approved for people of different ages, but there are flu shots that are approved for use in people as young as 6 months of age and up.
One kind of trivalent injection is called an intradermal trivalent shot and uses a much smaller needle than the regular flu shot.
High-Dose Shots
Recommended for those 65 and older, the high-dose flu shot contains four times the antibody-producing antigen as traditional shots. Known as the Fluzone High-Dose, the vaccine is a trivalent injection that creates a stronger immune response in the elderly population, which is at greater risk of severe flu. Seniors produce 50 to 75 percent fewer antibodies than younger adults, and some studies report that those who receive the high-dose shot reduce their risks of developing flu by 25 percent compared to traditional vaccines.
Quadrivalent Flu Vaccine
In 2013, protection from a fourth virus, another B strain, was made available, which meant manufacturers did not have to choose between two different B viruses.
“For decades, we only had vaccines for two A subtypes and one B,” says Dr. Sherif Mossad, an infectious disease specialist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. “Researchers would try to predict which B virus would be most prevalent in the Northern Hemisphere based on what happened in the Southern Hemisphere. For the past 10 years, [researchers] have tended to pick the wrong B, so now you can be protected against both.
“The best estimates are that adding another B subtype may prevent up to 100,000 additional infections and up to 8,000 hospital admissions.”
The quadrivalent vaccine has been approved for children as young as 6 months old. One factor that may prevent a person from choosing the quadrivalent vaccine is cost -- it tends to be more expensive. Be sure to ask your healthcare provider or insurance company the price of the quadrivalent vaccine before making your choice.
You may ask why the CDC doesn’t recommend the quadrivalent vaccine if it offers more protection. The answer is that the shot isn’t as widely available as other methods, and the CDC doesn’t want people to miss out on protection if the quadrivalent vaccine is unavailable.
Nasal Spray Flu Vaccine
The nasal spray vaccine can be given to healthy, non-pregnant people between 2 and 49. While the CDC doesn’t typically recommend one flu vaccine over another, they do make an exception when it comes to children ages 2 through 8 and recommend the mist because recent studies have found that the nasal spray vaccine is up to 50 percent more effective in kids than shots.
If you’re unsure of the best form of protection, speak to your physician and have him or her weigh the pros and cons. Regardless, be sure to take some form of preventive measure to stave off this dreaded seasonal sickness.