eHealth Connection | Cooper University Hospital

By Constantine Tsigrelis, MD
Infectious Diseases Division, Cooper University Hospital

Flu season is here and the best way to protect against flu is to get a flu vaccine. Annual flu vaccination is recommended for everyone 6 months of age or older.

What is flu?

Flu, also known as influenza, is a contagious illness caused by the influenza virus which infects the nose, throat, and lungs. Symptoms include fever, chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, headache, muscle aches, and fatigue. Flu also can cause pneumonia.  Other illnesses can have similar symptoms and be mistaken for flu. If flu is suspected, your doctor may be able to order a test that can detect the flu virus in the nose or throat.

Can flu cause serious illness?

Yes!  Flu can lead to very serious complications, including pneumonia, and even death. For example, from 2009 to 2010 in the United States, 275,000 hospitalizations and 12,500 deaths were estimated to have occurred due to flu. While serious complications from flu are more common among certain people–children younger than 5 years of age, adults age 50 or older, pregnant women, and people with certain chronic medical conditions, complications also can occur in otherwise healthy individuals of any age.

How do I protect myself and my family from flu?

The most important step in protecting against flu is to get a flu vaccine every year. Getting a flu vaccine may also protect your family and others around you. How? If you don’t get vaccinated and become infected with flu, you can spread the virus to others who may be at high risk for serious illness or death from flu, such as a baby, a child, a pregnant woman, grandparents, or a friend. Also helpful in preventing the spread of flu is washing your hands frequently, or using an alcohol-based hand rub, as well as covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.

Is the flu vaccine safe?

Yes! The most commonly administered flu vaccine is the “flu shot.” It is made of killed virus, so you cannot get the flu from it. The most common side effect from the flu shot is soreness where the shot was given, which typically lasts only one or two days. The risk of serious problems from the flu shot, such as a severe allergic reaction, is extremely small. Of course, even if you get the flu shot, you still can catch a non-flu virus or bacteria that may cause symptoms that mimic flu.

Where can I get the flu vaccine and how long does it take to develop immunity?

See your doctor or go to other locations where the flu vaccine is being offered. It typically takes about two weeks for your body to develop an immune response after getting the flu vaccine, so get vaccinated now to protect yourself and your family. Remember, flu activity in the United States usually peaks in January or February and can continue to occur as late as May.

In response to lessons learned from the 2009-2010 H1N1 flu pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all Americans age six months and older get a flu shot this season.

Exceptions include people with egg allergies, people who have had a severe reaction to a flu vaccine in the past, and infants younger than six months.

“Though it’s never too late to get the flu shot, the earlier people get the vaccine, the better,” said Anat R. Feingold, MD, Head of Cooper’s Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease. “Immunity will last well through the entire season,” she said.

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The H1N1 influenza (also known as Swine Flu) is still affecting many people, especially children, in our region. The Children’s Regional Hospital at Cooper urges parents to get your child the H1N1 vaccine.  Our physicians hope that this information prepared by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will help you manage if your child becomes ill with the flu.

Most people with 2009 H1N1 have had mild illness and have not needed medical care and the same is true of seasonal flu. However, the flu can be serious, especially for young children (risk is highest in children younger than 2 years) and children of any age who have certain chronic medical conditions. These conditions include asthma or other lung problems, diabetes, weakened immune systems, kidney disease, heart problems and neurological and neuromuscular disorders. Children with these conditions can have more severe illness from any flu, including from the 2009 H1N1 flu virus.

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U.S. health officials stress the importance of pregnant women getting the 2009 H1N1 flu shot when the vaccine becomes available.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the H1N1 flu has hit pregnant women especially hard. About 700 cases have been confirmed in pregnant women since late April, about 100 pregnant women have required admission to intensive care units, and 28 pregnant women have died from the H1N1 flu, the CDC reported earlier this month.

“Because pregnant women who get influenza have a greater chance for serious complications, it is important they receive both the 2009 H1N1 flu shot and the seasonal flu shot.  Receiving these vaccines is the best way pregnant women can protect themselves – and their newborns – against the flu,” said Rosalie Pepe, M.D., infectious disease specialist at Cooper University Hospital.

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With all the news about seasonal flu and the H1N1 pandemic flu, the Children’s Regional Hospital at Cooper understands that parents have many questions about vaccines for their child. We encourage parents and children alike to get the seasonal flu vaccine and watch for recommendations regarding the H1N1 pandemic flu vaccine when they become available.

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this year is recommending that families get their seasonal flu vaccines as soon as they can.

With the nation’s focus on the development of a vaccine for the H1N1 pandemic flu expected to be available later in October, health officials are concerned that families might choose to wait to get vaccinated against the seasonal flu.

Each year, as many as 60 million Americans get the flu, and the resulting complications cause more than 200,000 hospitalizations annually, according to the CDC.

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