Had a flu shot? You'll be OK -- maybe Vaccine isn't 100%
guarantee you'll be flu-free but it can help if you get sick So
you got a flu vaccine this season, and you've been reading about
the flu epidemic. You might be wondering: Will the vaccine keep
me healthy? The answer: The vaccine isn't a guarantee that
you'll be flu-free. In fact, it's about 62% effective, said the
director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr.
Thomas Frieden, on Friday. It can prevent the flu, and it can be
beneficial even if you do get sick, said Dr. Bill Schaffner,
chairman of the preventive medicine department at Vanderbilt
University's School of Medicine. "It's the best vaccine we have,
but there are cases of influenza that occur despite
immunization," Schaffner said on "CNN Newsroom" Thursday
morning. The effectiveness of the vaccine depends, in part, on
how well it matches the strains of viruses that actually end up
prevailing during the flu season. So far, according to the CDC,
this year's North American vaccine