It’s Flu Season!

By Mary Corkins, TRG 

Did you forget? With all the very serious focus on Ebola, terrorism, and other crisis’ you may have been distracted from the fact that it’s Flu Season! According to the CDC there are things you should know about the 2014-2015 season:

1. In the US, Flu Season typically peaks between December and February. October is the recommended time to get your Flu vaccine!
2. The Influenza virus is constantly changing. Small genetic changes (“antigenic drift”) produce virus’ that are closely related on the phylogenetic tree. The current Flu vaccine composition is formulated to address this year’s drift.
3. CDC recommends a yearly vaccine for everyone 6 months and older.
4. Starting this year, the CDC recommends use of the nasal spray vaccine for healthy children 2 through 8 years of age.

Where can you get your vaccine? That’s the easy part! Go to http://vaccinefinder.org/ to locate clinics, pharmacies, and offices where the vaccines are currently available. For those with a bit of extra time on their hands, this site invites you to sign up to help “Track the Flu” in your area by completing short, weekly surveys. Lastly, this site also provides information about other vaccines (Hepatitis A & B, Pneumonia, Shingles, etc.), who needs them, and how often.

As a final reminder, please keep track of your services (specific vaccines, anatomical site, business location & dates of service) and provide this information to your Primary Care Physician (PCP) as part of your own complete health record.

This post was first published on Linkedin HERE

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