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Mayo Clinic Minute: Flu shot selfie to save lives
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Getting a flu shot is serious business. It can protect you from getting sick with the flu and it can protect those around you from getting sick. This season it's also a popular hashtag: #FluShotSelfie. Why are so many people heading to social media to share their flu shot selfie? Hear why Mayo Clinic experts hope this is more than just a trend.
Journalists: Broadcast-quality video pkg (0:59) is in the downloads at the end of the post. Please "Courtesy: Mayo Clinic News Network." Read the script.
It's a selfie that is doctor-approved.
"I'm Dr. Greg Poland. I'm director of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. I get my flu vaccine because I don't want to get sick, I don't want to be off work, and I don't want to be hospitalized."
The flu vaccine is about more than protecting yourself. It's about protecting others.
"We here at Mayo Clinic get our flu vaccine for two reasons. One is we want to protect our patients. We don't want to transmit influenza to them, and we don't want to be sick and not be available to provide health care."
This trending selfie is more than a social media post. It's a call to action.
"You should get your flu vaccine because you're at risk of getting sick. That might mean that you would develop a complication like sinusitis or pneumonia, or a stroke or a heart attack, and end up being hospitalized or dying."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that every American age 6 months and older get a flu vaccine every year.
"Get your flu shot. Save lives," says Dr. Gianrico Farrugia, president and CEO of Mayo Clinic.
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