Southeast Georgia Health System medical professionals are advising everyone, regardless of health risk factors, to get an influenza (flu) vaccine. The vaccine offers protection during the height of flu season and beyond in two ways: It can help fend off the flu virus entirely, or it can lessen symptoms if you get the virus.
It also protects people around you who may not be able to get a flu shot, such as babies younger than six months old and people who have certain chronic health conditions that prevent them from being vaccinated.
“The more people who get vaccinated against influenza, the better it is for everyone, because the spread and severity of the disease will be lessened,” says Steven F. Mosher, M.D., a board-certified internal medicine physician specializing in infectious disease and member of the Southeast Georgia Health System medical staff. “Just as importantly, the flu vaccine will help keep physician offices and hospitals from being overwhelmed with severe flu cases.”
The flu vaccine prevents tens of thousands of hospitalizations annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). You can do your part to help support health care heroes in your community by getting vaccinated.
What Does the Science Say?
Studies about flu shots show that being vaccinated against influenza helps:
Pregnant women and their babies. Pregnant women who receive a flu shot are 40% less likely, on average, to require hospitalization due to the flu, according to a study published in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal. Newborns benefit, too, from immunity acquired through their mothers’ vaccine, which protects them for several months during a time when they are too young to be vaccinated.
Children. Kids with underlying medical conditions who are vaccinated against the flu have a 51% reduced risk of dying from influenza, while children in good health who are vaccinated have a 65% reduced risk, according to a study by the CDC.
Everyone else, even people who get the flu despite having a flu shot. In a study of hospitalized flu patients published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, patients who had been vaccinated were less likely than unvaccinated patients to be admitted to the intensive care unit or die from influenza. The study also showed vaccinated people benefited from shorter hospital stays.
Flu shots are widely available in the fall and winter. In addition to local pharmacies, flu vaccines are available at Southeast Georgia Physician Associates primary care and pediatric offices. For more information, call your health care provider or visit sghs.org.
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