Flu Shots are Available – 10.15.2014
Columbus Public Health – Press Release
For Wednesday, October 15, 2014Contact: Jose Rodríguez (614) 604-5025
[email protected] Flu Shots are Available – Get One as Soon as Possible!
Annual Flu Vaccine is the Best Way to Protect Health during Flu Season Flu season is here – and Columbus Public Health (CPH) recommends getting a flu shot as soon as possible!
The flu vaccine is the best protection against the flu. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, if you get a flu vaccine, you are 60 percent less likely to need treatment for the flu by a healthcare provider. The vaccine also has been shown to reduce illness, antibiotic use, lost work time, hospitalizations and even death.
“It’s easy to forget that influenza is a serious illness that kills 25,000-40,000 people in the U.S. every single year,” says Columbus Public Health Commissioner Dr. Teresa Long. “Enterovirus D68 also is still circulating in our community and could make flu season more complicated, so getting a flu shot is the best way to protect health and prevent serious illness.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone 6 months and older get an annual flu vaccine every year. It is especially important for people who are at high risk of serious complications such as pneumonia, including pregnant women, children younger than 5, people older than 65, and anyone with asthma, diabetes, lung disease and other chronic conditions, as well as their household contacts and caregivers.
In addition to offering the flu vaccine, CPH also has begun its yearly influenza surveillance. From October through May, CPH tracks pneumonia and influenza deaths in Columbus, the number of students absent from Columbus City Schools, influenza-like illnesses at emergency departments; pediatric urgent care visits, over-the-counter medication sales and hospitalizations. The information is used to track patterns of illness and to determine outbreaks in order to protect the public’s health. Reports illustrate a higher than usual number of hospitalizations in our region.
Weekly surveillance reports are available at: http://columbus.gov/publichealth/programs/Office-of-Epidemiology/Influenza-Surveillance/#sthash.VgRS6UAY.dpuf
In addition to a flu vaccine, Dr. Long reminds residents to help protect against the flu and other infectious diseases by washing their hands, covering their coughs and staying home if they are sick.
For more information about flu vaccines or influenza, visit Columbus Public Health at publichealth.columbus.gov or flu.gov.
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