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November Health Tip from Dr. Hahn-Cover

Preparing for the Flu Season

Late October is when we begin offering influenza (flu) vaccines at Fairview Internal Medicine. We will have vaccines available. There is a national shortage of flu vaccines this year, however. Because of this, we will initially provide vaccines only for high-risk patients, as instructed by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). You can check this website (http://fairview.muhealth.org/) for updates on vaccine availability. To schedule a flu shot, please call 882-4464 after October 25.

Following is the CDC’s list of high-risk patients:

• all children aged 6–23 months;
• adults aged 65 years and older;
• persons aged 2–64 years with underlying chronic medical conditions;
• all women who will be pregnant during the influenza season;
• residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities;
• children aged 6 months–18 years on chronic aspirin therapy;
• health-care workers involved in direct patient care; and
• out-of-home caregivers and household contacts of children aged <6 months.

The CDC states “The…priority groups for vaccination with inactivated influenza vaccine this season are considered to be of equal importance,” so as long as you meet one of the above criteria, you may receive the flu shot, if available.

Following are people who should not receive the flu shot:

• People with severe allergy to chicken eggs, or a severe reaction to a flu shot in the past
• People who developed Guillain-Barre syndrome within 6 weeks of a prior flu shot
• Children younger than 6 months
• People who are sick with a fever (wait until fever goes away)

The nasal spray flu vaccine is only approved for healthy people between the ages of 5 and 49 years, who are not pregnant. This vaccine may be an option for healthy health-care or child-care workers. We do not yet know if we will have it available. For more information, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/nasalspray.htm.

Flu symptoms are typically high fever, headache, fatigue and muscle aches, runny nose, sore throat and dry cough. If you develop these symptoms during flu season, call us for an appointment. If we catch a flu infection early (within 2 days), there are anti-flu medications that can lessen the severity and the duration of your symptoms.

For all of this information—and more—please visit the CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov/.

Kristin Hahn-Cover, MD

For more information:
MU Health Sciences Library