--- title: Man Flu Might Be Real description: A study hints at why women may be less likely to get infected with the flu virus than men. But here’s what men — and women — need to know canonical: https://time.com/4182557/man-flu-study/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-15T16:47:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:30.931Z article:section: Health og:title: It Turns Out 'Man Flu' Might Actually Be Real og:description: A study hints at why women may be less likely to get infected with the flu virus than men. But here’s what men — and women — need to know og:url: https://time.com/4182557/man-flu-study/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: It Turns Out 'Man Flu' Might Actually Be Real twitter:description: A study hints at why women may be less likely to get infected with the flu virus than men. But here’s what men — and women — need to know twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # It Turns Out 'Man Flu' Might Actually Be Real > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Why Do I Need a Flu Shot? TIME Explains [Watch (HLS stream): Why Do I Need a Flu Shot? TIME Explains](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jxdi6F8H.m3u8) (2:20)  _Published 2013-11-04. If you think it's one and done like a measles vaccine, think again. The flu virus is ever-changing and mutating. So this year health experts created new vaccines that can protect you from upto 4 of the latest strains._  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jan 15, 2016 4:47 PM UTC  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jan 15, 2016 4:47 PM UTC A recent [study in the _American Journal of Physiology_](http://ajplung.physiology.org/content/early/2015/12/17/ajplung.00398.2015.full.pdf+html?) suggests that certain estrogen-based compounds can make it harder for flu viruses to infect cells. Estrogen, of course, is a female reproductive hormone so it was no surprise that the estrogen compounds, including drugs that are used to treat breast cancer, worked better against the flu in cells that came from women than those that came from men. The study didn’t prove that women exposed to the flu were less likely to get sick than men. The researchers, from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and School of Medicine, only studied cells, in a lab dish, taken from the nasal passages of men and women. But what it did suggest was that there might be something about the female hormonal physiology that might be worth looking into for new flu fighting strategies. There’s some precedent for investigating the connection between estrogen and the immune system —studies show that inflammation, one of the immune system’s responses against infection, changes in the presence of estrogen. Women’s inflammatory responses also change during their life course as their levels of estrogen fluctuate before, during and after menopause, and also during pregnancy. So the fact that introducing estrogen-related agents can lower the flu virus’ ability to replicate isn’t entirely out of the question. But that doesn’t mean that we’re ready to declare a female immunity of some sort. More research needs to be done to move the work from the lab dish into human volunteers, and scientists need to understand exactly how the hormone interacts with the immune system in more detail before that can happen. ## Transcript It's time for your annual flu shot. But will the vaccine protect you? Here's what you need to know. It's flu season which means it's time for your annual flu shot. So, the question always is: Why do we need to get a shot every year? Why isn't the influenza vaccine more like measles or rubella or polio, where it's one undone and you're protected for years if not for life? Well, you can blame the influenza virus for that. It has gotten so good at mutating to bypass the effects of the vaccine that we have to get rearmed against whatever circulating that season each year. So, every spring, officials at the World Health Organization convene influenza experts and they decide which strains of the virus should be included in the upcoming season's vaccine. They do their best to look at which strains are emerging in people who are starting to get sick with flu but it's a guess. It's and educating yes, but it's still a guess. So, why did they make this decision so early? Nearly nine months before the first sneezes and cough start? Influenza viruses are grown on chicken eggs and in order to grow enough virus to fill those vaccines, it takes several months. This year, when you go to the doctor, you'll have far more choices than you've had before. You could still get the traditional flu shot which contains three different influenza strains and kids who are afraid of needles can get the nasal spray. And for adults who are needle- phobic, there's also a micro needle version, which contains a smaller needle that gives a little less painful job. And for the first time this year, there's also an influenza vaccine that protects against four different flu strains. So, it gives you a little more protection once the season starts. And the elderly can also get a little extra dose from a high dose vaccine that protects their weaker immune systems and gives them a little bit of a boost. For those who are allergic to eggs, there's also a cell- based flu vaccine that allows them to get vaccinated against influenza for the first time. So, given all this choice, there should be something for everyone. But as for universal flu vaccine, they're still working on that one. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4182557/man-flu-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4182557/man-flu-study/"},"headline":"It Turns Out 'Man Flu' Might Actually Be Real","datePublished":"2016-01-15T16:47:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:56:30.931Z","description":"A study hints at why women may be less likely to get infected with the flu virus than men. 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