Use Your Immune System to Prevent Flu

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Looking for some ways to boost your immune system so you can prevent flu this year? The immune system is a network that helps you avoid illness -- or sometimes it can become the underlying reason you get sick. Here are some ways to strengthen your immune system to help prevent viral and bacterial infections.

What is the immune system?

In simplest terms, the immune system is a balanced network of cells and organs that work together to defend you against disease. Your immune system blocks foreign proteins from getting into your body. If a few intruders happen to sneak by your biological sentry, that's OK. With a powerful "search and destroy" task force, your body deploys a host of additional immune cell forces that are designed to hunt down the unwanted intruders and ultimately work to destroy them.

How does my immune system fend off illnesses like the flu?

The human body has an innate ability to manufacture antibodies (proteins) that work as part of the immune system to destroy abnormal or foreign cells. Not only do these antibodies help fend off common illnesses like the flu or a cold, but they also play a role in protecting you against catastrophic diseases like cancer or heart disease.

Additionally, you also have a second protective response known as the "cell-mediated immune system." This immunity involves immune system cells rather than antibodies. The immune system cells are "helper" or "killer" cells, and they help our body create memory of past defenses against disease.

When the body identifies a pathogen (invader) again, it immediately calls upon the memory of the previous infection and sets out to destroy the invader before the disease develops. This physiological mechanism is what lies behind vaccines or immunizations for illnesses such as measles, chicken pox, or hepatitis. When you get a flu shot or measles vaccine, you're getting a deliberate but harmless amount of the pathogen so that your immune cells can react, learn, and remember how to produce antibodies to fight the pathogen.

What vaccines are recommended to prevent diseases?

According to the CDC, the recommended vaccines for children and adolescents include hepatitis A and B, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, polio, pneumococcus, and Haemophilus influenza type B -- called HiB.

The CDC says seniors need vaccines against pneumococcus and the flu, as do all adults whose immune system may be impaired by diseases such as HIV or cancer. In fact, the flu shot is recommended for almost all children and adults who want to reduce the risk of becoming ill with influenza or of transmitting influenza to others. (Babies under six months do not get a flu shot.)

In addition, everyone needs to update their tetanus vaccine once every 10 years, while those who work in high-risk jobs (like hospital workers) need vaccines for hepatitis A and B. The CDC recommends all children ages 11 to 18 get a vaccine for meningitis. This vaccine is also recommended for people at elevated risk of getting the disease, such as travelers to countries with high rates of meningococcal disease.

What causes the immune system to weaken?

Your immune cells can lose some of their protective effects when your body is constantly battling negative health habits such as a poor diet, little sleep, and too much stress. As such, it's not surprising that doctors frequently recommend certain lifestyle changes as a way to optimize the function of your immune system.