How to beat cold and flu season

You may not do that be able to It is forbidden You may have a cold or flu, but you can greatly reduce your chances of getting sick and less likely to develop a severe case if you get sick. Well-established advice to stay healthy also protects others by reducing the spread of these diseases.

Get a flu shot

“The best way to reduce your risk of seasonal influenza and its potentially serious complications is to get vaccinated every year,” according to the CDC.

Several health professionals, including infectious disease specialist Steven Gordon, MD, and infectious disease clinical pharmacist Caitlin Rivard, PharmD, both at the Cleveland Clinic, say the best time to get vaccinated is in September or October, when new annual versions of vaccines typically become available in North America. But don’t worry if you miss that window, because the second best time is “now.”

Elena Diskin and Lisa Solot, respiratory specialists at the Virginia Department of Health, and Christy Gray, director of the immunization division there, agree there is still time to get an annual flu shot. “The season runs from October through the end of April,” they wrote in an email, adding, “We typically see the most influenza activity in January and February.” So, yes, it’s still worth getting a flu shot if you haven’t gotten one yet.

Flu vaccines cannot give you the flu

While it’s possible to feel unwell after getting a flu shot, you can’t get the flu from it. In Public Health Information on Flu Vaccines last updated in 2024, the CDC emphasizes that “flu vaccines cannot cause influenza illness. Flu vaccines given with a needle (i.e., flu vaccines) are made either from inactivated (killed) viruses, or from just one protein of the influenza virus.” The nasal spray vaccine, intended for people ages 2 to 49, and which you may be able to give at home, “contains live viruses that are attenuated (weakened) so that they do not cause disease,” according to the CDC.

After receiving the vaccine, it takes up to two weeks for it to have its full effect. This means that if you are exposed to the influenza virus immediately before or two weeks after receiving the vaccine, you can get sick, but it will not be due to the vaccine.

Flu vaccines are very effective in preventing serious illness

The flu vaccine changes every year based on which strains of the virus experts believe will be prevalent, and while it’s not foolproof, it is highly effective at preventing severe illness. In the 2024-2025 season, for example, influenza vaccines were 56% effective, higher than in nearly 15 years.

“Vaccine effectiveness is measured by comparing the frequency of health outcomes (eg, disease symptoms, hospitalization, death) in vaccinated and unvaccinated people in the real world,” say Diskin, Solot, and Gray of the Virginia Department of Health. effectiveness Different from effectivenesswhich measures outcomes in controlled trials.

“In clear language, [vaccine effectiveness] “It describes how likely a vaccinated person is to get the disease compared to an unvaccinated person, based on real-world data,” says Sai Paritala, an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center School of Public Health and a former epidemiologist.