Flu can be very unpleasant but if you're otherwise fit and healthy it usually
lasts about a week or two but if you are in a risk group it can make you more at
risk of potentially serious complications of flu and nobody wants
that in this week's video I'm going to make you a flu vaccine pro now you may
be wondering who is in the at-risk group well it's quite a big list which
includes over 65s pregnant women people living in residential homes people with
learning disabilities and certain medical conditions like asthma COPD
diabetes and many more I will leave a full list in the description below now
if you a loved one a family member anyone you know is in the at-risk group
it's recommended that you have the flu vaccine every single year to protect
yourself now you may be thinking to yourself with Abraham protect me from
what what do I need protecting from well I'm
going to tell you because if you are in the at-risk group and you get flu you're
certainly a much higher risk of developing serious complications
one of which for example is pneumonia a lung infection and in the UK on average
flu kills about 8,000 people per year now if you're watching this video and
you live in the UK well the good news is that the NHS flu vaccine is available
every year free of charge for anyone who is in the at-risk group and you can get
this vaccine at your local pharmacy is surgery all of this is provided free of
charge by the NHS so you now know the background you know the complications of
flu and you also know the importance of getting the flu vaccine but what about
the flu vaccine itself because I'm sure you've got lots of questions about it
and I know just the person to speak I've decided to get some help from a good
friend of mine which you'll most likely know from a popular TV show called GPs
behind closed doors his name is Dr. Amir Khan and I've come
to his surgery to find out more I've come with questions the viewers want
answers so let's just dive in so if question what how effective is the flu
vaccine the flu vaccine works better in some years than in others the problem is
the virus keeps changing so it's difficult to predict last year in the UK
the vaccine prevented 60% of cases of flu in adults aged over 65 yes so last
year there was actually two types of flu vaccines and for those aged over 65 they
were offered the trivalent flu vaccine with an adjuvant and
under 64 who were in the at-risk group offered a quadrivalent flu vaccine and
the results are pretty good so far that's correct adjuvants helped
lengthen and strengthen your immune response to a vaccine and they shown to
make vaccines more effective in older adults
that's fantastic and this helps lead me on to my next question which is all
about ingredients what's in these vaccines are they harmful at all
well vaccines contain tiny quantities of substances which are found naturally in
the body for example many vaccines contain salts such as sodium and
potassium which help regulate the acidity of a vaccine other ingredients
help preserve and stabilize the vaccine whilst improving your immune response to
it so to summarize are the ingredients
harmful for our body no are the ingredients normal for our body yes
which they've notes my next question how safe is the flu vaccine well just like
everything in life the flu vaccines do carry some risks but most of these risks
are fairly minor such as swelling or redness at the injection site mild fevers
nothing serious severe reactions to the vaccines are
rare I think in general very few people are unable to get flu vaccine however it
is worth mentioning that if you do have an egg allergy it's worth letting your
healthcare professional know just so that they can give you a suitable vaccine I
think it might also be useful to put more information in the description
about this yes that's a great idea vaccines are currently the best defence
that we have against flu which is why public health England the medical
community all agree that if you are eligible to get the free NHS
vaccine then please get vaccinated now you can get vaccinated at your local
pharmacy or your local GP surgery and I guess you are now a flu vaccine pro
so welcome to the club you now know all about
it's complications who's at risk and all about the flu vaccine too - so spread your
knowledge tell your friends tell your family tell your loved ones tell
everyone always remember that you're awesome and I will see you next week
i don't if you can hear it but there's an alarm going off right now and it's not
stopped oh it just stopped (laughing) (whispering) i feel like we are revising for an exam i know it feels like it (laughing)
we don't want to distract each other we are like whispering (laughing) you maybe thinking to yourself but what do we need
protecting from protecting from well I'm going to tell you what you need protecting from you need protecting from the
flu hey guys thanks for watching this week's video make sure to click that
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