Your Body: Getting a Flu Vaccine While Pregnant

The Health Services Authority says this year’s flu vaccine is now in stock and ready for the public.

“It’s a little bit early to see deaths, especially for those who are middle-aged”, said Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, Iowa Department of Public Health’s medical director.

Public health officials said on Monday that two middle-aged men from central Iowa – aged 41 to 60 years old – died from the illness.

The IDPH says recent surveys show Iowa is one of three states with the highest influenza activity in the country, along with OR and Rhode Island.

Flu symptoms may include fever, headache, tiredness, cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, and body aches, the health department said. Illness typically lasts two to seven days.

Getting a flu shot is particularly important for those at risk of complications from influenza such as elderly or those suffering from chronic health problems such as asthma, heat and liver diseases and immune system deficiencies, according to the Center of Disease Control (CDC).

Last year, there was a mismatch of vaccines, resulting in a busy flu season, Black said.

The stomach flu, which causes diarrhea and vomiting, is not caused by the influenza virus, Quinlisk said, but most often by the norovirus.

Health authorities urge that everyone six months of age and older should get the flu vaccine as soon as it becomes available each year. The trivalent flu vaccine offers protection against the strain that caused 2009’s swine flu pandemic as well as the Phuket strain and the one that was active back in 2011 that is capable of infecting mammals as well as birds.