The Joplin (Mo.) Globe on getting your annual flu shot (Oct. 10):

An annual visitor is returning to town. Who?

No, not Jack Skellington, not Tom Turkey, nor Santa Claus.

The flu. And it isn’t a welcome visitor in any home. How to keep it away?

Get your flu shot.

As the Globe reported recently, officials believe we are headed into a seriously bad flu season after a couple of years of lower infection rates.

Pandemic-related precautions such as masking and social distancing over the past two flu seasons have kept outbreaks “extremely minimal,” local health officials say.

“I would expect that this year we’ll see a lot more flu (cases),” said Dr. Dennis Estep, who serves as the medical director at Freeman Occumed. “This year everybody’s back doing their normal thing — getting back to their regular lives — so I would expect us to see an influx of the flu.”

Officials also say this year could be worse because two years of fewer cases mean fewer people have resistance to the current flu variants. The flu shot is a way to update that immunity.

Vaccination is one of the best public health tools to limit the spread of the virus and a good way to protect yourself and your family. “There are already areas in the United States that are seeing pretty significant flu activity, so we encourage people to consider their vaccinations now,” said Donna Stokes, senior infection prevention lead at Mercy Hospital Joplin.

Flu is one of the perennial killers that Americans face, particularly older Americans and those with compromised immune systems. Annually, between 20,000 to 50,000 people die of influenza each year in the United States, Stokes said.

When should you get your flu shot to be prepared this season? Right away.

“I would definitely recommend folks getting vaccinated before Halloween,” said Jeff Huffman, infectious disease pharmacist with Freeman Health System.

With COVID-19 still around, officials also urge that you get tested if you show flu-like symptoms. Knowing what you have early offers treatment options and can help protect you and those around you.

We have been focused elsewhere for the past couple of years, but flu didn’t go away. Doctors and other health officials expect it to be back and be bad this year. You need to protect yourself and your family. How?

Get your flu shot.