Flu season fast approaching

With the flu season approaching, Calaveras County Health Officials are trying to make it as easy as possible for people to get their shot.

“I did not feel a thing”, Adams said after being vaccinated.

“That herd immunity is so, so very important”, he said at a news conference.

“One hundred and eighty kids – this really hit me hard as the father of three kids – died a year ago from the flu”.

The New River Health District director says last year was one of the worst flu seasons in 40 years with 80,000 deaths. Thousands of others were hospitalized due to the illness.

This year’s flu appears to be milder, and early signs suggest that the vaccine developed against it will be more protective, according to the CDC.

Vaccine makers determine the composition of the vaccine each year. Most insurances are accepted for flu vaccines, and debit or credit card can be accepted for payment. “There are simple steps that employers can take to help keep their employees safe and healthy so that they come to work, and to keep the people they are caring for safe and healthy”, Adams said. The lighthearted demonstration was accompanied by grim statistics from the 2017-18 flu season: 80,000 deaths overall, including 180 children. Per the CDC, some children 6 months through 8 years of age will require two doses of flu vaccine for adequate protection from flu.

Adults who get the vaccine are less likely to suffer complications that require hospitalization.

“Most parents are taking up the offer of a flu vaccine for their children, but we can do better”.

“The overwhelming majority of those children are not vaccinated”. Children age 6 months through 4 years had a decline in vaccination coverage of 2.2 percentage points.

Seasonal flu outbreaks can happen as early as October, but flu activity peaks between December and February, although activity can last as late as May. The 1918 flu pandemic killed an estimated 675,000 Americans and sickened one third of the world’s population. The cost for a private pay flu shot is $30 for those under age 65 and $50 for those aged 65+. The CDC estimates that somewhere between 9.2 million and 35.6 million people get the flu each year.

“It has influenza A, so it protects against both H1N1 and H3N2 strains, and then an influenza B strain”.

Live-attenuated influenza vaccine that is given via nasal spray. Women that are pregnant can and should get immunized.

It was mostly over by the end of March, although some flu continued to circulate.

Flu vaccination decreases the chances that you will spread the virus to others.

Today’s group also put in a plug for vaccination against pneumococcal disease, which can lead to sepsis, a flu complication.