{"id":883020,"date":"2026-10-15T09:46:21","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T09:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/883020\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T09:46:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T09:46:21","slug":"your-flu-shot-cant-wait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/883020\/","title":{"rendered":"Your flu shot can\u2019t wait"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story appeared in Today, Explained, a daily newsletter that helps you understand the most compelling news and stories of the day. Subscribe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Flu season is starting earlier than usual this year, which I know from reviewing federal data. But I also know it because I woke up with body aches and chills last night, mere days before I\u2019d planned to get my flu vaccination (!).<\/p>\n

Already, some parts of the country are seeing levels of flu activity typically associated with late fall or early winter. In Washington state, for instance, doctors are reporting seeing<\/a> as much flu now as they usually would around Christmas.<\/p>\n

Flu activity overall is still low<\/a>, to be clear. But as of October 7, infections were rising<\/a> in all 50 states. And flu is spreading before many people \u2014 like, say, me \u2014 have received their annual vaccine.<\/p>\n

Epidemiologists don\u2019t yet know why the flu arrived early this year, or why cases first started rising in Western states like Washington, California, and Nevada. It\u2019s possible that a mutation is helping this year\u2019s flu variants evade existing immunity, one virologist told NPR<\/a>. International travel could play a role<\/a>, too: Flu cases also spiked early in Japan<\/a> and other parts of Asia.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t need to know why the flu arrived early to take some basic precautions, though. So today, we\u2019re talking through some practical tips for coping with an early flu season.<\/p>\n

An early flu season doesn\u2019t necessarily mean<\/a> a worse season \u2014 but even a moderate season can do serious damage. Last year, influenza sent<\/a> hundreds of thousands of people to the hospital and caused tens of thousands of deaths, including almost 200 among children<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The first and best way to avoid those kinds of harms is by getting the flu shot, which reduces the risk<\/a> of serious illness by an average of 40 to 60 percent. In the US, people aged 6 months and older are typically told to get the vaccine by October\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

In light of the early onset, however (it takes two weeks to build up full immunity), you might instead want to get your shot ASAP.<\/p>\n

There are some everyday precautions you can take, too \u2014 many of them familiar from the Covid-19 era. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water, for slightly longer than feels appropriate. Mask when you\u2019re sick or might encounter someone else who is.<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t neglect the good habits<\/a> that support your overall health: getting enough sleep, drinking a lot of water, and eating a balanced diet. (There\u2019s very little evidence for trendier interventions, like supplements, saunas, cold plunges, or the infused herbal baths that my kooky former yoga teacher used to recommend.)<\/p>\n

If you do get flu symptoms, reach out to your doctor early \u2014 especially if<\/a> you\u2019re older, pregnant, immunocompromised, or otherwise at higher risk for complications. Prescription antiviral medications, like Tamiflu, prevent the flu virus from spreading inside your body so that your immune system can clear it. But they work best within 48 hours of symptom onset.<\/p>\n

To be clear, you needn\u2019t take my word on any of this; I\u2019m just another voice in the public health cacophony! Besides, recent polling suggests that my particular voice \u2014 that is, the voice of someone who works in media \u2014 is not quite as persuasive<\/a> as it used to be. (Ditto medical websites and government health agencies.)<\/p>\n

But if you have doubts or questions about vaccines, there is someone much closer to home you can consult<\/a>: Ask your doctor (or nurse or pharmacist) about the flu shot\u2019s risks and benefits. They\u2019re best positioned to break the science down and apply it to your health. In hindsight, mine surely would have told me to stop delaying my shot for a more convenient weekend.<\/p>\n

\u27a8 Get creative in the fight against inflation. The latest inflation numbers are out today, and they are pretty bad<\/a>. The cost of many goods and services is rising more quickly than both consumers\u2019 incomes and economists\u2019 expectations. For me, this news brought to mind a question that Vox\u2019s former personal finance columnist tackled a few years ago: Namely, am I cursed to keep spending more money on more things forever?!<\/a> Her answer was essentially \u201cyes,\u201d but she offered a few ways to help offset those costs: things like moving to a cheaper area or pooling resources via initiatives like tool libraries and community gardens.<\/p>\n

Did you know\u2026that Colombia is home to almost 20 percent of all the avian species<\/a> on Earth? That\u2019s the most of any country, at nearly 2,000 birds.Today\u2019s trivia: Which percussion instrument is famously played by Mississippi State University fans at home football games? (You can find this and other brain puzzles in Vox\u2019s daily crossword<\/a>. Look for the answer in tomorrow\u2019s edition.)Yesterday\u2019s trivia: We asked you for the name of the 2025 Pixar film set in the \u201cCommuniverse.\u201d That would be Elio, a movie you may well never have heard of: It had the worst opening weekend<\/a> of any Pixar film, ever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story appeared in Today, Explained, a daily newsletter that helps you understand the most compelling news and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":883021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[96895,97,7349],"class_list":["post-883020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-explained-newsletter","tag-health","tag-today"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/883021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}