How do flu shots prevent influenza?

A flu shot helps your body fight off the flu before it can make you sick.

Imagine your body is like a castle, and the flu is like a sneaky thief trying to get inside. A flu shot is like teaching your castle guards how to recognize and stop the thief before he gets in.

When you get a flu shot, it has tiny pieces of the flu virus in it, kind of like a picture of the thief. Your body sees these tiny pieces and goes, “Oh! I need to be ready for this thief!”

So your body starts making special soldiers called antibodies. These soldiers are trained to find and fight the flu virus.

A few weeks later, if the real flu comes knocking on your castle door, your special soldiers are all ready. They jump into action and stop the flu from making you feel sick, just like a guard stopping a thief before he can steal anything!

That’s how a flu shot helps keep you healthy during flu season!