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The facts are simple: Getting a flu shot every year decreases your chances of getting the flu — and you’re less likely to be hospitalized or die from it, especially if you have heart disease or have had a stroke.

• Have heart disease or a history of a stroke? During recent flu seasons, about half of all adults hospitalized for the flu also had heart disease, so it’s incredibly important to get a flu vaccine ever year, which decreases your risk of serious illness or hospitalization.
  
  But skip the nasal spray vaccine – it’s only approved for use in healthy nonpregnant people, ages 2 to 49 years old.
  
  
• 65 or older? A high-dose vaccine provides extra protection.
  
  Typically the flu season hits people 65 and older the hardest. Between 70% and 85% of seasonal flu-related deaths occur in people 65 and older, and between 50% and 70% of seasonal flu-related hospitalizations hit this group.
  
  Ask your health care professional about a high-dose vaccine. If one isn’t available, a standard flu vaccine is better than none.
  
  
• Got kids, including babies? The recommended age for flu shots was previously 2, but now it’s 6 months and up. Talk to your health care professional for details.
  
  
• Unclear on timing? September and October are the best times for most people to get vaccinated. Try to get vaccinated by the end of October, but vaccination after October can still provide protection during the height of flu season.

Bottom line: Getting a flu shot will help protect your health and the people you care about. Now let's bust some common myths (also available as a Spanish PDF) about getting the flu vaccine, with some help from our friends at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

After vaccination, can I still get the flu?

Even if you get the flu vaccine, you can still get the flu, but it won’t be as severe. Prescription medications called flu antiviral drugs also may help lessen the effects of the flu — if you take the medicine in time.

Treatment of flu with antiviral drugs works best when started within one to two days after flu symptoms begin. The medicines can lessen symptoms, reduce flu complications and shorten your sick time by about a day. If you start to feel flu symptoms (such as fever/chills, cough and/or body aches), visit your health care professional, urgent care facility or local pharmacy as soon as possible, especially if you’re at higher risk of complications because of cardiovascular disease.

And remember, antiviral drugs aren’t a substitute for the flu vaccine.