The flu is a respiratory (lung) disease that can cause a person to have fever, headache, dry cough, sore throat, tiredness and muscle aches. The flu can become very serious and spread through coughing and sneezing. 36,000 Americans die from the flu each year. Hand washing is the best thing to do to protect against the flu, but the first and most important step in protecting against the flu is to receive the flu vaccine. The flu vaccine cannot give you the flu because the viruses in the vaccine are killed which means that they cannot cause infection. You can get the flu vaccine at anytime as soon as it is available at your doctor’s office, local clinics, or even at your local pharmacy such as CVS and Walgreen’s. Remember that when you receive the flu shot, you are protecting yourself and others from the flu virus