Immunization For Healthy Adults

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Healthy Adults

Stay Healthy and Working

Getting a flu shot can help keep you healthy and productive. It also can help keep influenza out of your home. By protecting yourself against influenza, you'll be less likely to pass it on to your children, spouse, parents, grandparents, or other loved ones.

In an average year, adults in the US miss 70 million days of work due to influenza. Experts estimate that the flu costs US workers as much as $10 billion in lost wages during the 2006-2007 flu season.⁴

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with the support of leading health experts, recommends that everyone 6 months of age and older be immunized, including healthy adults.¹ This includes you and all of your coworkers.

You should get your flu shot as soon as it becomes available, which can be as early as late summer or early fall. Even if you didn't get vaccinated early in the flu season, immunization into the spring or as long as the influenza virus is in circulation can be beneficial. This is because in many seasons, influenza activity doesn't peak until winter or early spring. In fact, as long as influenza viruses are in circulation, it's a good idea to get vaccinated. For most adults, the flu vaccine can help protect against influenza within 2 weeks.¹

Annual influenza vaccination is especially important for health care workers, not only to protect themselves, but also to help protect their patients. Many patients are at an increased risk for influenza and its related complications, so preventing the spread of influenza in a health care setting is especially important. Unfortunately, no more than 49% of health care workers have gotten their flu shot historically.¹

No matter where you work, a flu shot is a safe and effective way to avoid influenza. Influenza vaccine options are available for children, adults, and seniors. Get your influenza immunization this and every year and talk to your health care provider about the vaccine option that‘s right for you and your family.

Did you know?

Portrait Gallery

Daina Maxwell and Dez’Arae Harrison

Mother and Her Daughter With Asthma, Who Was Hospitalized for Influenza-related Complications

“I never knew how serious influenza was until Dez’Arae got it,” Daina said. “I am so lucky to still have her here, and I am not willing to take any more chances.”
Richard and Alissa Kanowitz

Parents of Amanda Kanowitz, Who Died From Influenza-related Complications at 4

When Richard and Alissa Kanowitz lost their daughter, Amanda, to influenza-related complications in 2004, they decided to do everything they could to save other families from enduring similar heartbreak.
Jessica Polakow

Mother-to-Be

When Jessica Polakow posed for this portrait, she was about to become a mother for the very first time. She made sure she was vaccinated against influenza because she knew pregnant women are more likely to be hospitalized from influenza-related complications than non-pregnant women of the same age.⁹
Megan and Brandon Pienta

Sister With Severe Asthma and Her Brother, Household Contact

With a family of 6 children, the Pienta household sometimes can feel like a whirlwind of activities. But parents John and Jody always ensure annual vaccination against influenza stays on top of their family’s to-do list.
Anne Schuchat, MD

Rear Admiral, US Public Health Service Assistant Surgeon General Director, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases

Dr. Schuchat has an important job of preventing disease through immunization, which puts her on the front lines in the fight against influenza infection.
Megan and Brandon Pienta

Sister With Severe Asthma and Her Brother, Household Contact

With a family of 6 children, the Pienta household sometimes can feel like a whirlwind of activities. But parents John and Jody always ensure annual vaccination against influenza stays on top of their family’s to-do list.
Bob Khan

Fire Chief, City of Phoenix Fire Department

Fire Chief Bob Khan knows that, healthy or not, the flu and its complications can stop him and his crew of 2,000 firefighters in their tracks.
Tyra Bryant-Stephens, MD

Director, Community Asthma Prevention Program, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

As founder of the Community Asthma Prevention Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Dr. Tyra Bryant-Stephens knows how dangerous the flu can be to children with asthma and other respiratory problems.
LaShell Griffin

Singer and Mother of 5

“Singing is a big part of my life, but so is my family,” said LaShell. “With 5 children in the house, we stay busy. That’s why it’s absolutely necessary we stay as healthy as possible and our annual influenza vaccination helps us do just that.”
Zack Yaksich

Father Who Lost His 5-year-old Daughter to Influenza-related Complications

In February 2003, tragedy struck Zack and his family when his 5-year-old daughter, Alana, passed away in the hospital because of complications of influenza. Alana had not been vaccinated against the disease, and children typically experience the highest rates of influenza infection each year.¹