- Newsflash! The stomach
flu isn't the flu,
it's just what you tell your
boss, when you're hungover.
Science!
(calming guitar music)
Each year, infection by the
influenza virus hospitalizes
more than 200,000 Americans alone.
But why do so many people fall so ill?
In this case, what you
don't know can hurt you.
So let's clear up some
misconceptions about the flu.
There's a notion among
grandmothers everywhere
that going out in cold
weather will give you the flu.
Winter is, indeed, peak flu season,
but experts think it's our tendency
to actually stay indoors
during these months
that gets us sick.
When you share air and surfaces
with gross, infected people,
you're more likely to be exposed yourself.
- Oh my, oh my god! Oh my god!
Oh my god!
Oh yea. Yea, yea. Oh my god!
- Another myth is that the flu
vaccine can give you the flu.
Ok, listen, injected flu vaccines
do not use active viruses.
They use either virus proteins
or inactivated viruses,
which have been chemically murdered,
meaning there's just
enough virus protein left
to trick your immune system
into thinking there's
a threat and attacking.
The white blood cells that
your body makes in the future
will thus be primed to attack any invader
bearing those proteins.
But the crippled viruses can't reproduce,
so they can't infect you.
In a horrifying twist,
nasal spray vaccines
do contain live viruses,
but they're modified so
that they can't survive
at your normal body temperature.
They can, thus, only cause infection
in your relatively cool nostrils,
which may give you a couple
of days of the sniffles
before your immune system clears them out.
Ok, the flu vaccine
doesn't work all the time.
First of all, it's most
likely to be effective
in younger, healthier people.
Second, there's the question of
how well this year's vaccine
will match with the flu strain,
or strains, that emerge as threats.
It's a huge challenge.
Influenza isn't a chunk of
unchanging genetic code.
Different strains evolve all the time,
and more than one strain can
spread in a single season.
Every year, the vaccine is concocted
from three or four strains
that researchers estimate
will be the most active,
based on data from
patients around the world.
- That's a pretty stupid
thing to do during flu season.
- I bet she's getting the tongue.
- And then there's the idea
that the flu is no worse
than the common cold.
The symptoms are similar,
but virulent strains of the
flu have killed millions.
The flu is harder to fight.
It weakens your body
and occupies your immune
system's attention,
making you susceptible to other diseases,
like bacterial pneumonia
and pre-existing conditions
like heart disease.
And what's worse?
The people most in danger
from flu complications
often can't receive
the flu vaccine at all.
Their immune systems can't handle
even inactive or weak viruses,
which is why doctors and
public health officials
urge healthy people to help
their fellow humans out
and get vaccinated.
If you don't get the flu,
you can't spread it to
someone more vulnerable
to its effects.
So tell me, have you gotten the flu
in the past couple of years?
And remember, the stomach
flu doesn't count.
You can learn why in our article,
"Ten Misconceptions about the Flu"
on howstuffworks.com.
- Now we're getting to flu season here,
and I just wanted to give
every body a head's up
as to what to expect
with getting a flu shot.
I'm always really good about knowing
when I'm about to get sick,
and as of yet, I have not experienced
any physical side effects.
None, at all.
I would definitely see
that coming a mile away,
so stay tuned.
I'll post on here if
anything weird starts to and
