Stickin' it to Ya

It’s that time of year again!

No, not fall, at least not in Tennessee where it’s still 90 degrees outside.

No, not football season, at least not in our house.

Its Flu shot time! Or as I like to call, time to argue to strongly encourage patients to get their flu shot. My passion in medicine is prevention. By helping my patient make healthy choices and prevent illness, I feel I am accomplishing so much more than by just passing out a pill to treat their disease. It's challenging though, to get people to make lifestyle changes at times, but the flu shot is one of the easy things that women (especially pregnant women) can do to improve their health, and prevent illness. The flu shot in young healthy adults reduces the risk of getting the flu by 75%, yet there are still many misconceptions that surround it.

I had a recent conversation with a young mother of an infant (she was not currently pregnant) that went something like this:

Me: It’s recommended that you get a flu shot, because your baby is too young to get one.

Patient: I don’t know…. I’m really worried.

Me : About ????

Patient: autism.

Me : Ummm????? In yourself? But you are 22 years old?

Patient : Yeah

Me: You think you can suddenly ‘catch autism’ from the flu shot at the age of 22?

Patient: yes, I saw it on Oprah.

Me: (working as hard as I can to suppress laughter) Girl, you’ve got your conspiracy theories all mixed up!

This conversation illustrates how fear and misconceptions can interfere with your health.

The risk of being hospitalized from the flu in pregnancy is about 1 in 1000. Those are often life threatening cases. Also, babies born during flu season cannot be immunized and are also at increased risk of flu complications, so having household contacts immunized is helpful. Each year 100 children die of the flu, not a huge number but so preventable! Also, when the flu is contracted, the person is infectious for 24-48 hours before they have any symptoms. This is another reason it’s so important for health care workers to be immunized, especially those that work with babies.

Flu season in the northern hemisphere is October through May. Getting the flu shot as early as possible, will help your body form immunity before the virus becomes widespread in the community. The live nasal mist is not recommended in pregnancy. Also, if you have an egg allergy you should not get the vaccine. Preservative free (thimerosal free) vaccines are also available.

The vaccine is not perfect. Scientists estimate the flu strains that they predict will be the most prevalent and that is not always easy. Also, with age one’s ability to become immune decreases so in the elderly, who are the most vulnerable, it is not as efficacious. Side effects may include pain at the injection site and redness. It’s important to note that the flu shot does not cause the flu!

So the flu shot is not perfect, but it’s the best offense we have. It's preventative medicine at its best, and I think that’s why I get so worked up about it. So use common sense, lots of hand washing and hand sanitizer, as well as eating a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables. In addition, for pregnant women and those with young children, the flu shot is a must.