Fall 2010
Volume 13 Number 3
Influenza Top Ten List
Fall has finally hit Minnesota. We know this because we see the leaves change color, the frost cover the morning landscape and the first influenza patients sniffling in bed. It's the beginning of another influenza season.
We've seen this before. Influenza is an annual visitor. But just as things change every flu season, many things stay the same. So this fall PIP presents the Influenza Top Ten List.
10. Influenza symptoms include:
- Fever/chills cough
- Sore throat
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Muscle or body aches
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Vomiting and diarrhea (this is more common in children than adults)
9. Most people will recover from the flu in several days but some people will develop complications (such as pneumonia) as a result of the flu; some of which can be life threatening and result in death. Flu causes an average of 39,000 deaths a year. And although these deaths usually hit the elderly the hardest, last year with H1N1 flu, 90 percent of the 12,000 people who died were less than 60 years old.
8. Influenza is a genial germ. It spreads easily through droplets made when people with flu cough, sneeze or talk. A person might also get flu by touching an object that has flu virus on it. People can pass the flu to someone else before they know they are sick. You infect others beginning one day before symptoms develop and up to five to seven days after becoming sick.
7. As in past flu seasons, all children six months and older should be vaccinated. This includes those at greatest risk for influenza complications such as children:
- With long-term health problems like heart disease, kidney disease or metabolic diseases like diabetes
- With underlying lung disorders like asthma, reactive airway disease or respiratory problems secondary to prematurity
- On long-term aspirin treatment such as children with arthritis
- Who live in a group home
- Who have a weakened immune system due to drug treatment or an underlying immune disorder
6. Annual flu vaccination is important for family members and caregivers of children and adolescents at high risk. This reduces the exposure of the higher risk children who are at greater risk of complications.
This is especially important for children less than six months who can't be vaccinated and children less than six years who seem to have an increased risk of flu side effects. Young children are at increased risk of influenza infections, hospitalizations and complications compared with adults. And school-aged children are more likely to spread the disease to others.
5. H1N1 is not gone. Last year we saw two waves of H1N1 disease. We expect to see it again this year. H1N1 protection is now included in the seasonal flu vaccine.
4. Millions of unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children may still be susceptible to H1N1 disease. For those children, two vaccinations are recommended this year 28 days apart. They include:
- Children six months to nine years who have never been vaccinated
- Children less than nine years who received no H1N1 vaccine last year
3. Influenza can peak more than once in any one influenza season. The earlier you immunize the more protected you are.
2. We would rather prevent influenza than treat it. Treatment is far from perfect and tends only to take the edge off of the suffering. In the rare instances that we treat with anti-viral medicine, we increase the potential of the flu virus building a defense against that medication.
1. Do yourself and your family a favor: get vaccinated. Call our clinic now.
