Health care providers say flu shot important
Colder weather also signals the start of flu season, and public health officials are stressing the importance of flu shots this year.
The influenza vaccination offers protection, and although it does not combat every strain of the influenza virus, some protection against it is better than none, National Park Medical Center RN Infection Preventionist Barbara Chesshir said.
According to the ADH Weekly Influenza Report ending Oct. 5, there were 11 positive PCR flu tests from private labs during the week of Sept. 29 to Oct. 5. Of these positive tests, two were 4 years old or younger, seven were ages 5-18, and two were ages 45-64. Eight tested B positive, and three tested A positive.
Chesshir said the flu vaccination is important because it provides people with protection from the flu virus.
She said some of the most common myths surrounding the influenza vaccination are that it is not effective, it is painful and it will infect someone with the influenza virus.
“Regarding pain, the flu shot is minimally uncomfortable and people will sometimes have a sore arm, some local soreness and sometimes they will have some
fatigue or feeling of being tired with the flu vaccine,” she said. “But that’s just your body saying ‘Hey, let’s begin to start building our immunity so that we can begin to fight this virus, should we be exposed to it.’”
To debunk one of the most common myths surrounding the flu vaccination, she said it is not possible to contract the virus from a vaccine containing the “dead virus” — like a “large percentage” of facilities use, including NPMC.
“You can get the flu from a vaccine with a live virus in it,” Chesshir said. “For example, if your immune system has been compromised, they’ll tell you that you don’t need to be around someone who has had a live virus (vaccination) because that person, in turn, could get influenza from someone who has received the live virus.”
She added practitioners must notify someone when they are administering a vaccine that contains a live virus.
Chesshir said NPMC is handling influenza cases no differently this year than last year.
“People who present with an influenza-type illness are then tested,” she said. “Those patients who are positive for influenza and are ill enough to where they require to be admitted, they’re placed in isolation for their stay for the protection of our staff and other patients in our facility.”
She said as for staff members who test positive for influenza, they are required to take a leave of absence until they are asymptomatic and have been fever-free for at least 24 hours.
“We (are not sponsoring flu clinics) in the community, that I am aware of at this time, but we do have flu clinics for our staff, and they are available for our staff, volunteers and students around the clock,” Chesshir said. “We are not offering any clinics to the public because the health department does a lot of the public flu vaccinations through their clinics.”
Dr. David Slay of CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs said babies, old people and pregnant women get the sickest from the flu.
“Those are our highest-risk populations and those are the populations that we really try to make sure get vaccinated because they do tend to get sicker than healthy adults,” Slay said.
He said babies cannot receive the flu shot until they are 6 months old, but there are some preventive measures that can be taken to protect a newborn from the virus.
“If mommas get their flu shot during pregnancy, the mom will make antibodies against the flu and those maternal antibodies are passed to the baby and do help protect the baby for the first few months,” Slay said. “That’s very recommended that pregnant women get a flu shot, so that way the baby does get some protection.”
He added that although he is unsure of the science behind breastfeeding being a preventive measure against the flu, he does encourage mothers to breastfeed if possible because it passes their immune system to the baby, helping him to fight infection.
Slay said flu shots are “very safe” for babies and children, with minimal side effects.
“Probably the most common thing that we’ve see here in the office is that they’ll be a little bit sore; we usually give them the shot in their thigh, so their little thigh will be a little sore,” he said. “It’s pretty unusual to run a fever after a flu shot. I don’t hardly ever see a baby over 99 (degrees). But maybe a little bit of fussy and a little bit of lowgrade fever.”
Slay said if someone suspects their child has the flu they need to be brought to their pediatrician or to an Urgent Care facility early in the illness.
“The flu medicines we have work best early in the illness,” he said. “Once you’ve had the flu for more than three days our flu medicines really don’t work.”