For whatever reason, many people resist getting an influenza vaccination each year.

Some people say it isn’t effective. Some people would rather risk their chance of getting the disease than getting the shot and others mistakenly believe the shot will make them get the flu.

Regardless of the reason some people resist getting a flu shot each year, the evidence shows that flu-shots work.

Even when flu shots don’t work, they can reduce the severity of the symptoms brought on by the flu.

One local nurse practitioner, Dawn Moss of Dr. David Timm’s pediatric and adolescent clinics in Natchez and Vidalia, even has her own numbers to prove that the shots work.

Of the 177 patients who tested positive for the flu at Timm’s clinics this year, only seven of those patients contracted the flu, Moss’ research shows.

And those seven patients’ symptoms were less severe than the symptoms in flu patients who did not get the flu vaccination.

National studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a less successful 45% success rate of the flu vaccine nationwide this year.

And while this year has not been as bad for flu as recent years, all agencies report the flu has hit children the hardest this year.

The flu season could last into April or early May, medical experts say, and it is not too late to get a flu shot.

If you have not been vaccinated this year, we encourage you to go ahead and get a vaccination and make sure your children are vaccinated, too.

And, consider the research numbers each year when a new flu season rolls around. Flu shots work. Get your flu shot.

The consequences of not having the shot are much greater than any consequences of getting a flu shot.