These formulations are recommended for older adults, since they may be more effective.
Which are the preferred flu shots for older adults?
Arecombinantflu shot, which also happens to be egg-free.
But you don’t need an in-depth understanding of the differences to make an appointment at your local pharmacy.
What does “high dose” mean, and why is that a good thing?
The way a vaccine works is to expose your immune system to a little bit of antigen.
(Thats whythe flu shot cannot give you the flu.)
One way around this is to just give more antigen.
Thats the idea behind the high-dose shot: it just contains more of those virus pieces.
Specifically, four times more.
What does “adjuvanted” mean?
(The adjuvant in this case is squalene oil, also called MF59.)
What is a “recombinant” flu shot?
The term “recombinant” refers to the way the virus particles were manufactured for the vaccine.
Traditionally, flu vaccines were made with a process that involved chicken eggs.
There is also a newer, cell-culture-based vaccine that does not use eggs.
And then there is a third punch in: the recombinant vaccine.
As the CDC explains, a recombinant vaccine doesn’t use flu viruses at all in its manufacturing.
The recombinant vaccine is available for all age groups, not just older adults.
If Im over 65, do Ineeda special flu shot?
TheCDC says that any flu shot is fineif its been approved for people in your age group.
But there are three flu vaccines that are specifically for adults who are 65 and older.
Therefore, flu shots are especially important in this age range.
