Join the fight against the flu

For many reasons, October seems to be the defining month to debate two sides of polarizing issues.

Perhaps it’s just that Election Day is always just around the corner, leaving candidates seeking office to park their opinions squarely to the left or right to define themselves clearly for voters.

Or maybe it’s because of that question that also serves as an exclamation point to the month: Trick, or treat?

In this region at least, it’s also the dividing line between hot and cold (or at least lukewarm and chilly) as the last vestiges of summer temperatures slowly drop and extra layers of clothing emerge from summer hibernation.

The true arrival of autumn also divides those who reliably get a flu shot each year, and those who summon a variety of excuses not to.

As a result, turnout for getting the flu vaccine often hovers around the percentage of eligible voters who turn out at the polls for municipal elections. Summon all the reasons you want, but we are compelled to cite “lazy” among them.

Flu vaccines are pretty accessible these days. Chain pharmacies are as omnipresent as lawn signs, and most of them offer affordable — sometimes free — doses.

So a sizable chunk of the general population scrambles for other reasoning, too often by Googling something along the lines of “reasons not to get flu shots.”

That’s how nonsense such as “shots make you sick” spreads faster than the common cold in a mall toddler playground.

A considerably more reliable source, the Centers for Disease Control, suggests adults and children get vaccinated for influenza by the end of this month. It typically takes a couple weeks for the vaccine to kick in, and it lasts about six months.

No, it’s not a magic antidote, and is estimated to halt the flu about 60 percent of the time. Even when it isn’t fully effective, it can still ward off symptoms.

If you’ve forgotten what those symptoms felt like the last time you (hopefully) called in sick while recovering, take a few moments to revive memories of chills, fever, aches, exhaustion, a raw throat and relentless coughing.

More than 10,000 state residents suffered from the flu last year, according to the Connecticut Department of Public Health.

Some companies try to make the vaccine more of a treat than a trick. DJ Haddad, the CEO of Haddad & Partners in Fairfield, is rewarding his staff with a bonus day off and a free lunch if they wear costumes to get their shots at a pharmacy in the town Wednesday. As a small business owner, he recognizes an ailing staff can result in many more absences.

But the most compelling reason to get a flu shot is because some people can’t. For anyone with, for example, severe allergies, the best hope of avoiding the flu is for everyone else to remain healthy.

Get the shot for them.

Oleg Dudko / TNS