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HealthConnections: Preventing the Flu

The flu feels familiar, doesn't it? It comes around every year, mainly in the winter. Most of us have had it at least once in our lives. And every year, we get the same admonition to get a flu shot. It all seems pretty routine.

But it isn't, really. More than 30,000 Americans were hospitalized for the illness during the 2017-18 flu season. And because flu strains mutate and evolve, there's no guarantee that healthy people won't catch it.

In this edition of HealthConnections, we answer this and other questions related to the flu. We check out what's new for the 2018 vaccines, we find out why "herd immunity" is important, and we setlle some old myths, like: Can the flu vaccine actually give you the flu?

Join host Brandon Hollingsworth and UT's Dr. Carole Myers for a deep dive into the flu and how it affects your community.