In the Illinois Medical District, they come by the dozens. They come in with soaring temperatures, aching stomachs, uncontrollable shivering, blocked nasal passages, extreme fatigue. At best, they feel miserable.

Welcome to Winter 2012-13’s flu season, one of the worst we’ve seen in years. It’s been particularly difficult for Illinoisans, especially those in the Chicagoland area. According to a report released last week by the Chicago Department of Public Health, there have been a reported 121 influenza-associated admissions into the intensive-care unit — about double the total number of cases reported last year — and 27 adults have died so far. It’s been so severe that eight hospitals had to turn away ambulances earlier this week because of a surge of patients with flu-like symptoms.

Numbers like these are sending the media and general public into a hectic frenzy over the “epidemic” — and rightly so. It’s hard to stay quiet when it seems that everyone’s coming down with something. And there’s reason to worry when the cities of Boston and New York City declare a “health emergency.” Even with the immensity of the hullabaloo, however, people should not be so bold as to rule out the effectiveness of the flu vaccine.

It has become a social phenomenon that seems to resurface in the routine conversations with friends and family annually around this time of the year. How often have you heard: “The vaccine will only make you get sick,” “Nah, the vaccine is only 50 percent effective, so it’s not even worth it” or “I’ve never had a flu shot in my life, and I have never been sick. Definitely don’t get the shot”?

For starters, the vaccination is a null version of the current strain of influenza circulating the public, generating antibodies specific to it and building your body’s immune system against the functional virus, should you come in contact with it. In the modern day and age of technology and medicine, the flu vaccine, first introduced annually in 1945, is still our best defense against contracting the virus. 

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been surprised time and time again by how people try to disqualify the benefits of receiving the flu shot. Some of these folks are the ones that observe (sometimes somewhat misguidedly) the founding notions of homeopathic and alternative medicine. Others had their belief in the flu shot derailed because they fell ill  shortly after receiving it. And then there is a handful that simply won’t because, you know, the jury’s still out on science.

Choosing not to know about the way in which the flu vaccine works leads people to these kinds of conclusions. It can be easy to assume the flu shot was responsible for the flu you succumbed to three days after if you don’t know that it takes two weeks for your immune system to build the proper response to the vaccine. It’s also easy to say, “I’ve never been sick with the flu; I don’t need the flu shot,” just like it’s easy to say, “I’ve never been pregnant before; I don’t need to use a condom.” The logic doesn’t add up.

Now, to address a particular factoid released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week: This year’s vaccine is indeed 62 percent effective. That means you are 62 percent less likely to contract the flu if vaccinated, not that only 62 percent of people will be protected by the flu. Much criticism is surrounding this year’s vaccine because of its percent effectiveness, but the matter of the fact is that it does not significantly differ from years past. Actually, the vaccine for the 2011-12 season had an even lower percent effectiveness at 52 percent.

Perhaps the traumatic encounters between our childhood selves and needles have stunted our ability to acknowledge the benefits of defending our immune systems, but we should put aside such logical fallacies and embrace maturity. 

Nora is a senior in LAS. She can be reached at [email protected].