Beat the Flu Before It Gets You (and Everyone Else)
from the National Women's Health Resource Center's e-newsletter, HealthyWomen Take 10

Of course, you're too busy to get a flu shot. You barely have time to schedule in your annual mammogram, so how can you stop to get vaccinated when your job, or kids, or aging parents, or loads of other responsibilities (and maybe all of those!) are competing for your attention as well?

It's simple: You should consider getting vaccinated against flu, not in spite of those reasons, but because of them.

Influenza, or flu, is a highly contagious and dangerous illness. Each year, in the United States alone, flu sends more than 200,000 people to the hospital, resulting in about 36,000 deaths (many from flu-related pneumonia). While most people have less severe bouts of the disease, even the average case is debilitating—with high fever, extreme fatigue, headache and more for up to two weeks—causing time lost from work or school.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), you should be immunized against flu if you can answer "yes" to any of these questions:

• Are you 50 years old or more?
• Do you live with children aged six months to 59 months (just under five years), or have contact with kids at your job?
• Will you be pregnant at any point during flu season (roughly October to May)?
• Are you around anyone age 65 or older, or do you visit a nursing home or long-term care facility?
• Are you a health care worker?
• Do you have a chronic condition such as asthma and other lung problems, diabetes, kidney or heart disease, or a weakened immune system?

Even if you don't fall into any of those categories, if you work closely near other people, live in a dormitory or crowded situation, or travel in tight quarters (buses, trains and airplanes), you're at risk of contracting flu.

To best avoid the disease, get immunized. You can choose the flu shot, which is injected, or a nasal spray vaccine, available only to healthy people ages five to 49. The shot is the most widely used form of flu vaccine. If you want the nasal spray for yourself or your child, be sure to talk with your health care professional in advance.

Get immunized as early as possible, beginning in late September or October, because it takes two weeks for the vaccine to reach full strength in your body. Since flu viruses may be active as late as May, it's still worth getting vaccinated after New Year's if you're unable to do so sooner.

Some people should not receive flu vaccine. Before being immunized, check with your health care professional if you are allergic to eggs, have ever had a reaction to flu vaccine, have ever had Guillain-Barré Syndrome or are currently ill.

If you're not able to be immunized against flu, take these steps to protect yourself:

• Stay away from anyone who is sick. Flu viruses spread through coughs and sneezes.
• Wash your hands frequently with warm water and ordinary soap.
• Urge everyone around you, at home and work, to get vaccinated.
• Avoid cigarette smoke. If you smoke, talk with your health care professional about quitting.
• Before trying herbal remedies, talk with your health care professional.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "Prevention and Control of Influenza: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)." Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, July 28, 2006; 55RR10: 1-42.

National Women's Health Resource Center, "Your 2006-2006 Flu Prevention Guide." http://www.healthywomen.org/flu2006

© 2006 National Women's Health Resource Center, Inc. (NWHRC) All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from the NWHRC. 1-877-986-9472 (tollfree). On the Web at: www.healthywomen.org.