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Stay Healthy this Season and Fight the Flu!
Want to stay healthy this season and fight the flu? This year, more than 1,900 of our in-store pharmacies will again offer convenient access to seasonal flu vaccines at an affordable price. Beginning in September, flu vaccines will be administered by our own Certified Immunizing Pharmacists. Please read the tips below to find out more about preventing the illness and be sure to search for an immunizing pharmacy near you.
What is Influenza (Also Called Flu)?
The flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza ("flu") viruses. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. The best way to prevent the flu is by getting a flu vaccination each year.
Every year in the United States, on average:
- 5% to 20% of the population gets the flu;
- more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu-related complications; and
- about 36,000 people die from flu-related causes.
Some people, such as older people, young children, and people with certain health conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease), are at high risk for serious flu complications.
Preventing Seasonal Flu: Get Vaccinated
The single best way to prevent the flu is to get a flu vaccination each year. There are two types of vaccines:
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The "flu shot" - a vaccine that is given with a needle. The flu shot is approved for use in people 6 months of age and older, including healthy people and people with chronic medical conditions.
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The nasal spray flu vaccine - a vaccine approved for use in healthy* people 2-49 years of age who are not pregnant.
Preventing Seasonal Flu: Good Health Habits
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Cover your mouth and nose. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. If you don't have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve, not your hands. Make sure to put your used tissue in the waste basket.
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Clean your hands.
Washing your hands often will help protect you from germs. Soap and warm water is best or alcohol-based hand cleaner works just as good.
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Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated, like a doorknob, and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.
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Practice other good health habits
Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food.
Symptoms of Flu
Symptoms of flu include:
- fever (usually high)
- headache
- extreme tiredness
- dry cough
- sore throat
- runny or stuffy nose
- muscle aches
- Stomach symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, also can occur but are more common in children than adults
Complications of Flu
More serious complications of the flu and more common in certain groups of people. These serious complications include:
How Flu Spreads
Flu viruses are thought to spread mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing of people with the flu. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose. Most healthy adults may be able to infect others beginning 1 day before symptoms develop and up to 5 days after becoming sick. That means that you may be able to pass on the flu to someone else before you know you are sick, as well as while you are sick.
When to Get Vaccinated
Yearly flu vaccination should begin in September or as soon as vaccine is available and continue throughout the influenza season, into December, January, and beyond. This is because the timing and duration of influenza seasons vary. While influenza outbreaks can happen as early as October, most of the time influenza activity peaks in January or later.
Who Should Get Vaccinated?
In general, anyone who wants to reduce their chances of getting the flu can get vaccinated. Other groups include, certain people at a high risk of having serious flu-related complications or those that live with or care for high risk persons.
People who should get vaccinated each year are:
- Children aged 6 months up to their 19th birthday
- Pregnant women
- People 50 years of age and older
- People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions
- People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities
- People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu, including:
a. Health care workers
b. Household contacts of persons at high risk for complications from the flu
c. Household contacts and out of home caregivers of children less than 6 months of age (these children are too young to be vaccinated)
Who Should Not Be Vaccinated
Some people should not be vaccinated without first consulting a physician. They include:
- People who have a severe allergy to chicken eggs.
- People who have had a severe reaction to an influenza vaccination in the past.
- People who developed Guillian-Barré syndrome (GBS) within 6 weeks of getting an influenza vaccine previously.
- Children less than 6 months of age (influenza vaccine is not approved for use in this age group).
- People who have a moderate or severe illness with a fever should wait to get vaccinated until their symptoms lessen.
If you have questions about whether you should get a flu vaccine, please locate a pharmacy near you to help answer any concerns.
* "Healthy" indicates persons who do not have an underlying medical condition that makes them more likely to experience influenza complications.