After
The Hurricanes
Comes The Flu
Get A Flu Shot - Don't Compound This Year's Problems
As surely as hurricane season makes its annual appearance, so does the flu shot season, to be followed just a surely by influenza itself, spreading its misery, costing the economy billions, and killing thousands of Americans. “In Florida, we’ve taken a beating from Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. And now comes the flu season. For many of us, our resistance may be down,” explains Dr. Robert South, epidemiologist for the Lee County Health Department. “Don’t make it a one-two punch – get a flu shot as soon as it becomes available, which is normally the beginning of October.”
Pandemics, or epidemics of worldwide proportion, occurred four times in the twentieth century – 1918, 1957, 1968 and 1977. Of these, the Hong Kong Flu killed 34,000 Americans during the 1968 – 69 flu season. But the deadliest epidemic in recorded history occurred with the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak, which killed at least 550,000 people in the United States and up to 50 million worldwide.
An estimated 10% to 20% of the American population contracts the flu every year; in Lee County this amounts to a potential 100,000 cases, making very clear the need for an annual vaccination. Annual, because the flu virus changes, or mutates, from year to year. Based on surveillance conducted by the National Influenza Centers at over a hundred sites worldwide and reported to the World Health Organization (WHO), different viral strains are chosen to be included in each year’s upcoming vaccine. (For those technically inclined, this year’s trivalent vaccine virus strains are A/Fujian/411/2002 (H3N2)-like, A/New Caledonia/20/99(H1N1)-like, and B/Shanghai/361/2002-like antigens. Between ninety and one hundred million doses are expected to be manufactured.
Influenza, or flu, is a highly contagious viral infection of the nose, throat and lungs. Spread easily from person to person when an infected person coughs or sneezes, flu ranks as one of the most severe illnesses of the winter season, capable of leading to hospitalization and even death, particularly among the elderly. Yet a simple vaccination can prevent from 50% to 60% of all hospitalizations and 80% of influenza-related complications and deaths among the elderly. And Medicare Part B pays for the shot (and also for pneumonia shots, offered wherever the health department gives flu immunizations).
Typically, the flu is characterized by the abrupt onset of high fever, chills, dry cough, headache, runny nose, sore throat, and muscle and joint pain. Unlike other common respiratory infections, however, the flu can cause extreme fatigue that can last from several days to even weeks. Getting a flu shot year after year may seem an inconvenience, but could possibly save your life, particularly if you’re in a category listed in the accompanying table, "Who Should Get A Flu Shot."
This year marks a change in the way the health department distributes influenza vaccine to the public. Through an agreement with The Visiting Nurses Association, that agency will be manning the nearly two hundred temporary clinic locations set up countywide, including many in neighborhood civic centers and manufactured home communities, that were formerly administered by the county health department. The Lee County Health Department will focus instead on our high risk populations – those at increased risk for serious consequences from the flu. Two large immunizations sessions will be offered for these populations. For more specific information about these clinics and locations near you, click the above link or call the Lee County Health Department at 332-9601.
