Flu shots are made up of what they think the next major strains will be, however they are wrong a majority of the time. Why do we still get them? Full disclosure, I still get them.
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Flu shots are our best statistical guess at what the circulating strains will be this year. They typically contain antigens (recognisable virus shapes) for four different types of flu, so that our immune systems can learn them ahead of time and be protected.
Best case, the statistical guess works out and we have a quiet year, with lots of people gaining solid protection from those types of flu.
Worst case there is a circulating strain which *doesn’t* match the ones in the shot, in which case more people get the flu. Even in that case, however, if the circulating strain is anywhere close to the one in the vaccine the immune system can still partially recognise and target it, reducing severity.
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