Many suggested that the best way to avoid getting the flu is to get the flu vaccine every year, before influenza season begins. This despite the fact that mounting research suggests this approach to flu prevention may be ill advised for long-term health, and doesn't actually work in the first place. In January 2015, U.S. government officials admitted that, in most years, flu shots are, at best, 50 to 60 percent effective. Then, in December 2015, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analysis of flu vaccine effectiveness revealed that, between 2005 and 2015, the influenza vaccine was less than 50 percent effective more than half of the time. These recent rates are way better than the previous years. In the 2004/2005 season, the flu vaccine was 10 percent effective. The 2014/2015 flu vaccine flopped with a mere 18 percent effectiveness rate; 15 percent among children aged 2 to 8.
