It’s Flu Season
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It seems like just yesterday we were spending lazy summer days at the beach or park. But a quick step outside reveals that fall has arrived in many parts of the United States, and with it comes flu season. Flu season, that coughing – aching – sick time of year, can begin as early as October and can extend through March; it often peaks during the coldest winter months, usually January or February.
Influenza is a highly contagious virus that is easily spread by coughing and sneezing. Symptoms of the flu include fever, body aches and pains, chills, a sore throat and/or dry cough, loss of appetite, and a feeling of weakness.
People at high risk of complications, such as the elderly, very young children and people with chronic illnesses or compromised immune systems, should make sure to get a flu shot. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends that women who will be pregnant during the influenza season get annual influenza vaccinations. In fact, a recently published clinical trial has shown that women who receive the influenza vaccine while pregnant provide immunity to their newborns as well as themselves. The study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, divided 340 pregnant women into two groups, one that received the flu vaccine and another that received a pneumococcal disease vaccine.
The infants of the mothers who were given the flu vaccine had a 63 percent reduction in influenza, compared with the control group. In addition, the babies whose mothers received the flu vaccine had a 29 percent reduction in rates of respiratory illness with fever.
To locate a flu shot clinic near you, check out the American Lung Association’s Flu Clinic Locator.
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