Will the 2018-2019 Flu Shot Protect My Business?

Can this year's flu shot keep your office from getting the virus?

Every year the flu shot’s composition is adjusted to help fight the new season’s predicted strains of viruses. While the flu activity in the United States is currently low, it’s expected to pick up very soon.

Currently, the CDC recommends being vaccinated with the current flu shot by the end of October to ensure you’re protected.

The best way to prevent getting the flu is to receive an annual flu shot. Flu vaccines are available for anyone over the age of sex months. A high-dose flu shot is also recommended for those over the age of 65, who can experience worse complications if they catch the virus.

Any business owner or office employee can attest to an effect from the flu during this season.

If you’re looking to help keep attendance up during the flu season, then making sure your employees have access to the flu vaccine is a perfect solution. If one of your employees gets sick, then the rest of your team is at risk of getting sick. The problem gets even worse when infected employees continue coming in to work despite the illness. Working while sick can also lower the productivity of your infected employees and those working around them.

A flu shot helps your body protect itself against spreading the virus. Plus, the vaccine can help a person’s immune system fight off illness if they do in fact catch the flu.

Every year the FDA changes the flu vaccine’s composition to accommodate the updated strains of the influenza virus. After a busy flu season like we saw in 2017-2018, those changes are even more important.

That 2017-2018 flu season was dominated by the H3N2 strain, but this year the strains are expected to be slightly different. The FDA’s goal is to make this year’s flu shot more successful than the previous year. That means changing the vaccine to directly stop mutated H3N2 strains like we saw last year.

According to the CDC, changes to the flu vaccine target three or four strains that pose the most risk based off research.

The WHO recommends the quadrivalent vaccines for protection this flu season. These are the flu strains the 2018-2019 quadrivalent flu vaccine can help prevent:

A/Michigan/45/2015 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus
A/Singapore/INFIMH-16-0019/2016 (H3N2)-like virus
B/Colorado/06/2017-like virus (B/Victoria/2/87 lineage)
B/Phuket/3073/2013-like virus (B/Yamagata/16/88 lineage)

For those interested in the trivalent vaccine, the 2018-2019 version protects from these strains:

A/Michigan/45/2015 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus
A/Singapore/INFIMH-16-0019/2016 (H3N2)-like virus
B/Colorado/06/2017-like virus (B/Victoria/2/87 lineage)

But, how can you be sure that these vaccines will protect your office from the flu?

The components of a flu shot need to change every year based off the estimates of how well a vaccine will work. Estimates come from an in-depth study of the population and outcomes from the virus, according to the CDC. Predicting and changing the vaccine may be difficult, but the CDC states the recent studies that have proven its success.

The best possible way to prevent coming down with the flu is to get vaccinated. Making sure your employees have easy access to getting a flu shot can be beneficial to them and to you.

Along with the vaccine, stressing good health habits can also reduce risk of the flu in the office. Encourage employees to cover their mouths when coughing. They should also consistently wash hands with soap during the season to kill the highly-contagious germs.

Keep your employees healthy and productive by stressing the importance of healthy habits and routine annual flu shots.

Do you have any questions about this year’s flu shot? Unsure how to keep you and your business free of the flu this season? Passport Health can help make sure you’re ready for flu season.

Give us a call at or schedule an appointment online now and speak to a travel health nurse. You can then make plans to receive the 2018-2019 flu shot or schedule an onsite flu clinic for the office.

Written for Passport Health by Brianna Malotke. Brianna is a freelance writer and costume designer located in Illinois. She’s an avid coffee drinker and enjoys researching new topics for writing.