It’s October which means the leaves are turning color and flu shot campaigns have started. Doctors claim getting an annual flu vaccine is the first and best way to protect yourself and your family from the flu and that vaccination can reduce flu illnesses, doctors’ visits, and missed work, as well as prevent flu-related hospitalizations.

Every winter you hear of thousands of people who got the flu and were hospitalized. Many of these people probably got the flu shot to be safe. But it is possible to get sick from the flu even if you have been vaccinated. So is it worth getting a flu shot even though you still might catch the flu?

I personally have never gotten the flu shot and have never gotten the flu. But I know plenty of people who get one every year and don’t get the flu either.  It can go either way. The flu vaccine is free so why not get? I think it’s a mental thing.

If you haven’t ever gotten the flu or the flu shot then you wouldn’t go out of your way to the nearest CVS or Target. If every year you get the flu shot and you have never gotten the flu then you probably swear by the vaccine and will be back to a local pharmacy to receive it yet again this fall.

The flu vaccine cannot give you the flu but it can cause minor side effects that include soreness, redness, and/or swelling from the shot, headache, fever, nausea, and muscle aches.

Because colds and flu share many symptoms, it can be very difficult to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone. Cold symptoms are usually milder than the symptoms of flu and people with colds are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose.

I won’t be getting a flu shot this year along with many others, but I’m sure many people will be lining up to get their vaccination as well.