How does the flu shot prevent me from getting the flu?
Preventive Medicine Specialist Dr. David Katz explains how the flu shot prevents you from getting the flu. Watch Dr. Katz's video for information on preventive medicine and overall wellness.
Transcript
Immune system does the same thing. It basically has a list of bad actors. These proteins are now on that list. Takes a look at that list and say,
uh-uh, no, you're not getting through the gate. [MUSIC PLAYING]
One of the great fallacies about the flu shot or vaccine is, "I got it, then it gave me the flu."
And it can't. We actually have vaccines that can make you sick way, like the measles vaccine.
The measles vaccine is what's called an attenuator virus, meaning, the measles virus is alive. We just beat up on it, so it's less likely to make you sick.
And then you expose your immune system to a live virus. You react to that live virus. And then what we call the wild type, the measles virus
that you don't want to get, you're defended against it. Flu doesn't work that way. The flu vaccine is just antigens. It's just proteins from the flu virus.
It is not a living virus. It's not even a whole virus. And there's no way you can give you the flu. What it can do, of course, is produce
a local inflammatory reaction. It's really supposed to, but sometimes that hurt. Sometimes your shoulder gets red and sore. Mine often does.
And the other thing, of course, that happens is you tend to get your flu shot November, maybe into early December.
Well, it's cold season. So you may very well get sick around the time that you got the flu shot. And then you'll think the flu shot made you sick,
but that's not true. In terms of how it defends you-- essentially, you're putting into your body
proteins that ride the surface of the influenza virus. And so you produce antibodies to those proteins.
Your immune system remembers what those proteins look like. And those antibodies basically go into a storage depot.
And then if you are, several weeks later, exposed to the actual flu virus-- the flu virus ideally is wearing those same proteins
on its surface-- your immune system immediately recognize it. They've been-- it's like putting them in a database of enemies
like-- you know, they scan you at the airport to see are you on the list of bad guys. And if you are, you can't get through. The immune system does the same thing.
It basically has a list of bad actors. These proteins are now on that list. Takes a look at that list and say, uh-uh, no, you're not getting through the gate.
So you immediately amount a brisk white blood cell and antibody response, engulf all of the viral particles.
And they can't get into your airway to make you sick. So that's pretty much how vaccination works. [AUDIO LOGO]
vaccinations immunizations
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