“We can’t predict what this year’s flu season will be like,” said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Tom Frieden at a National Foundation for Infectious Diseases press conference Thursday. “But we can predict that the best way to protect yourself against the flu is to get a flu vaccination.”
More than 90 percent of doctors and nurses receive a flu vaccination, experts said. They stressed that pregnant women and children are particularly vulnerable and should prioritize taking the vaccine. Flu-related complications can lead to early labor in pregnant women, said Laura Riley, director of labor and delivery at Massachusetts General Hospital.
A lack of understanding of the risks of the and a belief in “scientifically unfounded views” were the most common reasons people decided against taking the vaccine, according to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia infectious disease expert Paul A. Offit.
“The riskiest thing about vaccines is driving to the office to get them,” he said.
Last year 10 million people in the United States caught the flu, causing thousands of deaths. More than 100 children died, 90 percent of whom didn’t take a flu shot.
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Write to Justin Worland at justin.worland@time.com