Don’t delay getting flu shot this year

Q: Everyone is telling me to get a flu shot. I am in pretty good health (I do take blood pressure meds), am 48 years old and have never gotten one before. Why should I?

A: For many folks, the flu is not simply a case of a stuffed-up nose and fever. Flu — and pneumonia, which it can lead to — are often in the top 10 causes of death in America. Anyone with an underlying condition, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, cancer (either active or in remission) or diabetes, is at increased risk from serious complications. That applies to a lot of you!

During the 2018-2019 flu season, 93% of adults hospitalized with influenza had at least one underlying medical condition.

And if it was cardiovascular disease, for example, they were six times more likely to experience a heart attack the week after they got the flu than at any point the year before or the year after the infection. But that doesn’t seem enough to convince folks of how important it is to get vaccinated: An American Heart Association survey shows that as many as 60% of U.S. adults say they’ll delay or skip the flu shot this year.

That’s risky business. Especially for those not vaccinated against COVID19. The potential one-two punch can be life-threatening.

But just as you can get the two viruses at the same time, you can get the two vaccines at the same time! And it’s never too late to give it a shot.

Hundreds of millions of Americans have safely received flu vaccines over the past 50 years.

The risk for serious complications such as GuillainBarre syndrome is fewer than one to two cases per one million people vaccinated. In fact, GBS is more common following the flu than following flu vaccination.

If you do get the flu — especially if you have an underlying condition — you should ask your doctor about getting an antiviral medication. The worst recent flu season was 20172018, when 61,000 people died from influenza. Let’s make sure this year doesn’t rival — or surpass — that one!