No.

While the explanation may be more complicated, the easy answer is you won’t get the flu from the vaccine. But, with ever-changing science and the ingredients in the vaccine, some are hesitant to get the flu shot due to some misconceptions.

It’s not possible to get the flu as a result of getting a flu shot. Although, it is possible to feel side effects after getting a flu shot.

Despite the possibility of side effects, it is important and recommended that all people over the age of five months get a flu vaccine every single year. While side effects may be annoying, influenza can cause serious complications.

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Typically, your mind might go to mosquitoes when thinking about diseases in Africa. With the risks of malaria and yellow fever, most travelers will fixate on arming against insect bites.

Non-communicable diseases will often go forgotten, although those illnesses are on the rise in Africa.

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The World Health Organization declared smallpox eradicated in 1979. In the 40 years since that achievement, a smallpox-related debate has remained within the scientific community.

Experts across the globe are still unsure whether live virus samples should be stored or destroyed.

Smallpox, caused by the variola virus, has been stored in frozen test tubes in two laboratories to preserve the surviving strains of the virus. While most were collected during the time of eradication, there are some samples dated to the early 1930s. After the complete eradication the WHO decided that the frozen samples should be destroyed. What the organization did not decide is a date for that destruction.

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In the field of public health, terms like “eradication” and “elimination” are commonplace. Yet to the average reader, the two words may seem identical.

So, what’s the difference in vocabulary? And what do the phrases actually mean?

As you may have guessed, disease elimination and disease eradication both involve getting rid of a disease. But, one term applies at a local level while the other is on a global scale:

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In the 80 years since it was introduced to the public, not much has changed for the yellow fever vaccine. The immunization still serves the same purpose: preventing a dangerous disease.

Many people around the world haven’t been at any risk for the mosquito-borne disease. That’s because yellow fever is still often found in tropical and subtropical climates like Africa and South America, although it’s recently been found in some new areas. The virus spreads through bites from infected mosquitoes, causing symptoms that range from mild to life-threatening.

With no cure or treatment, the vaccine for yellow fever is your only form of medical protection from the virus. The vaccine is a live, weakened form of the virus and is given as a single shot.

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