Health workers gearing up for flu

You wake feeling suddenly achy and feverish. You have a headache, chills and a dry cough.

You have the flu.

Flu season is beginning, and health professionals are urging people to get the vaccine and pay extra attention to hygiene.

The advice is good, considering the severity of last winter’s flu season.

“It was the most severe influenza season in almost 15 years,” said Dr. Susheer D. Gandotra, an infectious disease specialist at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono in East Stroudsburg.

“The flu season lasted longer than usual, well into April 2018. The Flu A strains were predominant except in the later part of the season when Flu B became predominant,” he said.

Gandotra said 181 children died during 2017-18 season, the highest number is recent history.

Although the illness last year was worse across the board for all age groups, “Approximately 80 percent of those deaths occurred in children who had not received flu vaccination,” he said.

It’s too early to tell how this year’s flu season will be, but local hospitals are gearing up to handle whatever happens.

Both Gandotra and Lisa Evans Johnson, director of marketing and public relations for St. Luke’s University Health Network said their hospitals will have an adequate supply of vaccines on hand.

Johnson said the Palmerton and Gnaden Huetten campuses are gearing up for the flu season.

“We began screening every inpatient as of Sept 28, and if they have not had a vaccine we offer it to them,” she said.

Emergency department staff ask patients if they have had a flu and pneumonia vaccine as part of the regular emergency patient assessment, she said.

Vaccinations are especially important for children, people over age 50, those with chronic illnesses or whose immune systems are suppressed, those who are obese, and pregnant women.

Those in close contact with vulnerable people are also urged to be vaccinated.

“We of course offer education to all patients about prevention. Hand washing is key to prevent the spread of the flu,” Johnson said.

If you do get the flu, stay home to avoid spreading the illness.

Flu season begins to ramp up in October and November, and typically peaks between December and February, continuing as late as May.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracks cases, but it’s too early in the season to have results. While not 100 percent effective — flu viruses tend to mutate over the course of a season — vaccination is the best defense.

“The majority of the viruses collected in 2017-18 season were found to be antigenically and genetically similar to the ones used in the vaccines, suggesting that it was a good match,” Gandotra said.

“Vaccination against Influenza is the best method of prevention,” he said.

This year’s quadrivalent vaccine contains 2 Flu A, and 2 Flu B strains.

“The CDC estimates that in year 2016-17, influenza vaccination prevented 5.3 million illnesses and 85,000 hospitalizations,” he said.

Flu vaccines are offered by doctor’s offices, clinics, health departments, drugstores and college health centers.

That helped last season.

Health professionals advise people to be vaccinated in early fall, before flu begins spreading in their areas.

It takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies that protect against flu to develop in the body, according to the CDC.

CDC recommends annual influenza vaccination for everyone 6 months and older.

Children who need two doses of vaccine to be protected should start the vaccination process sooner, because the two doses must be given at least four weeks apart, according to CDC.

Babies younger than 6 months are too young to be vaccinated, but they need to be protected because they are at high risk of serious flu complications.

That’s why those who are around babies should make sure to be vaccinated.

Pregnant women who get vaccinated can also pass that protection on to their babies for several months, according to studies.