With fall upon us, the Florida Department of Health is strongly encouraging Floridians to get flu vaccines – especially in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Unlike COVID-19, most of us have general knowledge about flu season and the flu – a respiratory disease that can lead to serious illness, hospitalization or death,” a health department news release states. “But like COVID-19, flu shares many of the same symptoms: fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle pain or body aches and headache.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone six months and older get a flu vaccine every year. This year, the CDC says that vaccine is more important than ever to protect yourself and the people around you and to help reduce the strain on healthcare systems responding to COVID-19 – a point that was stressed recently in a Marion County Commission meeting by Mark Lander, administrator of the Department of Health in Marion County.
Lander said social distancing, hygiene awareness and mask wearing are factors that could contribute to a mild flu season. But he stressed that flu shots can help reduce the burden at area hospitals that might need to have beds open for COVID-19 patients or those suffering from other illnesses.
“Whatever we can do to avoid taking up that space, that’s what needs to be done,” he said. “This is part of that hospital reduction when it comes to bed spacing.”
Lander said it’s really quite simple – if people don’t get sick and don’t catch the flu, they won’t have to visit emergency rooms or get admitted to hospitals.
“That leaves those beds available for where we really, really need them,” he said.
Lander added area residents must understand that it’s possible to be infected with both the influenza virus and COVID-19 at the same time.
“That’s even more important to have your flu shot to make sure you do not have the flu and then get exposed to COVID-19,” he said.
Numbers provided by the CDC back up Landers’ advice. According to the healthcare agency, during the 2016-17 flu season, vaccination prevented an estimated 5.3 million illnesses, 2.6 million medical visits and 85,000 hospitalizations. The vaccine also reduces severe illness for people with chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes, heart or lung disease.
Health officials say the flu vaccine also protects pregnant women and even their newborns and infants for several months after birth. For children, the vaccine can be lifesaving. Flu varies from mild to severe illness, but children often need medical care when sick with the flu. Children younger than 5, and children of any age with certain long-term health problems, are at higher risk for flu complications like pneumonia, bronchitis, and sinus and ear infections.
The same holds true for older adults. Our immune systems become weaker as we age, which clearly puts people 65 and older at a higher risk for serious flu complications. In fact, about 70 to 85 percent of seasonal flu-related deaths in the United States are among people 65 and older. On average, that age group accounts for 50 to 70 percent of flu-related hospitalizations.
The CDC also points out that flu vaccines have a good safety record, with hundreds of millions of Americans receiving them during the past 50 years. But the agency also stresses that protection from flu vaccine declines over time and flu viruses are constantly changing, so yearly vaccination is best.
“Flu vaccine is evaluated every year and often updated to address the viruses that will be common during an upcoming flu season,” the news release says.
To help avoid catching the flu, health officials say it’s important to continue to follow the same healthy habits that have been put into place to stop the spread of COVID-19:
- Keep washing your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds to help stop the spread of germs.
- If soap and water aren’t available, use hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol.
- Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or the inside of your elbow when you cough or sneeze.
- Regularly clean and disinfect “high-touch” surfaces in your home, school or office.
- If you’re sick, contain those germs and stay home.
For more information about the flu, visit cdc.gov/flu. People at high risk for complications can learn more at cdc.gov/flu/highrisk/index.htm. Flu vaccine safety information is available at cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/vaccinesafety.htm.
