National Influenza Vaccination Week: Have You Gotten Your Flu Shot?

Influenza. Sounds kind of exotic, at least until you know better: It’s the flu. Not exotic at all, but something quite common, and a potentially deadly illness we’ve all dealt with either ourselves, or as we’ve cared for someone who’s come down with it.

Even though the flu remains common, it really shouldn’t, because of the widespread availability of a little thing called the flu shot. Most every pharmacy has them on offer, as well as major store chains and even grocery outlets — pretty much anywhere that has pharmacy services. And yet far too many people still refuse to take advantage of the inoculation, come down with the dreaded flu (or influenza), and simultaneously expose those who are vulnerable to a higher likelihood of contracting it as well.

Flu season kicks off during October and is approaching its peak during the holidays, which is the absolute worst time to be flat on your back for a week or two. So this is a fitting time of year to get the word out: Dec. 6-12^th brings us National Influenza Vaccination Week. As healthcare professionals, we have a duty to educate the people around us, so here are some talking points for those cases who don’t think they need a shot, or are afraid of the vaccine because of all the misinformation that’s out there.

The Centers for Disease Control recommendation is that everyone older than six months get a yearly flu vaccination. There are deaths from the flu every year in America; children are especially vulnerable. It’s more than just a bad couple or three days of fever and a sore throat — it can be, and often is, fatal.

Speaking of children, and to repeat: infants under the age of six months, fragile and susceptible to just about anything that comes along, are not eligible for the flu vaccination. They depend upon the rest of to ward it off, thus limiting their exposure.

Now there are criticisms of the flu vaccination, the main one being that it doesn’t always prevent the flu. There is some truth to this. The 2014 flu vaccination was considered not as effective as it could have been. The reason is that there are several strands of influenza, and different strands spring up all the time. The vaccination takes several months to prepare, and the compound is based around strands the CDC early in the year predicts will be most prevalent once flu season rolls around. No batch of the flu vaccination can take care of them all, and there is some educated guessing involved.

But it remains the medical consensus that the flu vaccination makes a huge dent in the population of flu sufferers every year. And a healthier person means a healthier chance for the people around him or her. So if you haven’t gotten vaccinated yet, by all means do so. And if you’re still shopping for that hard-to-buy-for person, a flu shot may not be a conventional stocking stuffer, but a healthy and happy winter season vs. a stretch in bed, or even a few days in the hospital, is a very nice present to receive.