Do ‘flu vaccines really work?

A. They do protect you against the ‘flu virus that’s contained in the vaccine. However they don’t protect against other viruses that aren’t related to influenza, and one of them has caused your cough. The main aim of vaccinating against ‘flu is to prevent the excess deaths from influenza that occur every few years when a serious outbreak occurs — then you wouldn’t have just an irritating cough, but be very ill with fever, muscle pains, breathlessness and even lung failure. Real influenza in an epidemic year is much more severe than a ‘bad cough’, although I do appreciate that this year there have been some fairly troublesome and lasting infections from other viruses.