Editor’s Note: Views from Kansas is a regular feature that highlights editorials and other viewpoints from across the state.

As we dig deeper into the fall season, take a few minutes in the coming days to visit your doctor, pharmacy or other health care provider and get a flu shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone over 6 months of age be vaccinated before the end of the month.

Why are flu shots important? Why are we taking up this space today?

Quite simply, the flu is deadly. You shouldn’t confuse influenza — a serious, lengthy respiratory illness — with minor gastrointestinal bugs. Those aren’t the real flu. The actual illness can prove fatal for the young, the elderly or those whose immune systems are compromised in some way.

The numbers aren’t small, either. According to a story from The Associated Press last month, some 80,000 people died last winter from the flu and associated complications. While that was an unusually bad year, thousands upon thousands die even in “light” flu seasons.

And while the flu vaccine is seldom 100 percent effective, it’s important to understand why that is and why the vaccine still benefits the public overall. Influenza viruses mutate every year, and scientists essentially have to guess what strains will dominate in an upcoming season. The lengthy time needed to produce the vaccine in mass quantities means that researchers don’t have time to adjust if new varieties arise at the last possible moment.

Vaccination is also important because of the concept of herd immunity.

Yes, you might be healthy and robust and able to withstand the vicissitudes of infection. But what about the nice senior citizens you say hello to on your morning walk? What about the month-old baby resting in the carrier at the table next to yours in the restaurant?

You can be certain you’ll recover from the flu. But can you be certain that they will?

Vaccines don’t just work because an individual gets a shot. They work because a population gets the shot, making transmission of viruses exponentially more difficult. There will always be certain people who can’t be vaccinated because of age or health. If everyone around them is, these folks are protected.

A flu shot, in other words, isn’t just about keeping you safe. It’s about the responsibility you hold to the community around you. It’s about taking care of those who might not be as robust as you are. It’s about responsibility.

So get the shot. Your arm might sting for a day. But you can literally save lives.

— Originally published in The Topeka Capital-Journal