The flu is a contagious respiratory illness that is best avoided by staying away from other sick people (if possible); washing your hands well with soap and water to rinse away germs that could infect your mouth, nose or eyes; and getting vaccinated.
Dr. Alisha Fahley, MD, a family physician with ThedaCare Physicians-Shawano, encourages her patients to get immunized against the flu because, “I really believe in preventing disease in the first place, and immunizations are one of the easiest and most important ways we can keep ourselves and our communities healthy.”
Here are many more good reasons to get immunized for the flu this year:
It boosts your bod. The body’s immunity to influenza declines over time, as a person ages. A person should get vaccinated each year to boost his or her immunity, because age and certain chronic health conditions are the biggest contributors to influenza infections. This is true even if the formula of the immunization has not changed from one year to the next. Dr. Fahley also advises her over-65 patients to get the immunization that’s specially formulated for older adults. “The higher dosing helps better stimulate the immune system in older adults whose immunity is naturally declining,” she said.
Choose mild or hot. (As in fever.) Flu vaccination may make a person’s illness milder if he or she does get sick.
Protect your cubs like a momma bear. Vaccination helps protect women during pregnancy and their babies for up to 6 months after they are born. One study showed that giving flu vaccine to pregnant women was 92 percent effective in preventing hospitalization of infants for flu. “When a pregnant mother gets the flu shot and her body then produces antibodies to influenza, these protective antibodies are passed on to a nursing baby via the mother’s breastmilk,” Dr. Fahley said. Babies are especially in need of protection, because children are first eligible for flu vaccinations at six month of age.
When tough guys get sick, they most likely recover like champs. But if they live with infants, visit older people, or come in contact with people with compromised immunity at work, worship, or in the community, you’re delivering a little package of germs straight into their hands. Get immunized instead and you’ll avoid that awkward gift exchange.
It’s like a bottle of shampoo with 33% more free. Three kinds of flu viruses commonly circulate among people today: influenza A (H1N1) viruses, influenza A (H3N2) viruses, and influenza B viruses. All of the 2015-2016 trivalent (three-way) influenza vaccine is made to protect against the following viruses:
- A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus
- A/Switzerland/9715293/2013 (H3N2)-like virus
- B/Phuket/3073/2013-like virus. (This is a B/Yamagata lineage virus)
But here’s the good news! ThedaCare will offer the quadrivalent (four-way) 2015-2016 flu vaccine to also protect against an additional B virus (B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus).
It doesn’t have to hurt. At all. FluMist is readily absorbed into the bloodstream via the nasal passages, and it’s much more convenient to administer to young children (or grown-up scaredy-cats) instead of a traditional flu shot. Plus, the quadrivalent formulation is made from a very miniscule portion of significantly weakened live flu virus, as opposed to the dead virus in a shot. Together with its quicker and more effective absorption, it’s proven to provide better immunity in children against the flu in a no-more-tears formula.
“Getting immunized against the flu is the right thing to do,” said Dr. Fahley. “When you get immunized, you are protecting yourself, and you are doing your part to limit the spread of influenza among your family members and your co-workers and friends. You are defending them, too.”
#igottheshot
ThedaCare is also encouraging people let others know when they got vaccinated by using #igottheshot on social media, adding who they got the shot for: Coworkers, friends, family, etc.
