JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – This year's flu vaccine is expected to be more effective than last year.
The Centers for Disease control is much more confident that this year's shot will target any strains that will cause an outbreak. Last year, the flu shot didn't match up as well with strains as health officials thought.
According to UF Health, 36,000 people died from the flu last year. That's why doctors say now is the time to get the flu shot. They say several young people came in to UF Health in severe distress last year.
"Young and healthy people are more prone to getting a bad case of the flu because they don't receive prophylactic treatment for it and vaccination," said Dr. Petra Duran-Gehring with UF Health.
It's recommended that everyone over the age of six months get the flu shot, including pregnant women.
Dr. Duran-Gehring says people with the flu usually feel very ill and want to stay in bed.
According to Dr. Duran-Gehring, flu symptoms include body aches, (high) fevers, chills, sore throat, headache and congestion.
Dr. Duran- Gehring says flu shots do not give people the flu. You may experience body aches, cough and congestion, but your symptoms won't be as bad as the flu. Also, even healthy people need the flu shot.
"The flu usually makes people have; we call it- rigors, where they get shaking chills. They get very high fevers. They'll be drenched in sweat in between those episodes of fever and they'll usually have body aches all over," said Dr. Duran-Gehring.
If you're thinking about getting the flu shot, you may want to get it earlier rather than later. Doctors say it takes about two weeks to develop protective antibodies to protect yourself against the flu.
If you're interested in getting the flu shot check with your doctor, medical clinics and CVS or Walgreens. The prices of the flu shot can run between 15 and 20 dollars, but doctors say that's well worth it.