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How to beat the flu this season? 'Shake it off' with fun new video

The staff of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston has made the catchiest anti-flu video ever.
/ Source: TODAY

Flu season is upon us and the staff of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston wants everyone to know the best way for folks to shake off this year's virus is to get a flu shot and practice proper hand hygiene.

TODAY
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So, calling themselves the Flu Fighters, they rewrote Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off,” turning it into the catchiest —pardon the pun — anti-flu anthem of all time.

A snipped of the song's lyrics:

I’ve got body aches

I got a fever and the shakes

So what was my mistake?

Did I forget to vaccinate?

Was it that guy who shook my hand?

Is that where it began?

I just don’t understand

Just don’t understand

Best of all, they've filmed themselves boogying down to it in a fun new video! Take a look.

The Flu Fighters may have a ball in the upbeat video, but their message is an important one. "Clean hands are the number one way we protect our patients, so hand hygiene and vaccination are serious business at the medical center," says Kelly Lawman, BIDMC's senior multimedia communications manager.

"We wanted a fun way to engage the BIDMC community around these important messages," says Lawman.

The video's message is meant for for folks of all ages. While grown-ups tend to focus on children as the culprits in spreading flu germs, it makes a big difference when adults are vaccinated too. In fact, a recent study found that people over 65 were 21 percent less likely to come down with flu-like illness when a third of the adults in their community got a flu vaccine.

Older people are less protected by flu shots, so it makes sense that if kids and younger adults are vaccinated, the virus circulates less and and it's less likely to infect Grandma and Grandpa.

The Center for Disease Control recommend annual vaccines for just about everyone. Why get a shot every year? Immunity wears off for one thing, and each year the flu virus mutates.

So, follow the Flu Fighters' advice this season. Wash your hands "like you're cray, cray, cray" and be sure to get a flu shot.