🦠 BUG OF THE MONTH: INFLUENZA
Flu Season Is Coming — Are You Ready?
As we head into another flu season, this month’s Bug of the Month is influenza!
Influenza (flu) is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. It can range from mild illness to serious complications, including pneumonia and hospitalization.
How Does the Flu Spread?
Influenza spreads primarily through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks. It can also spread when someone touches a contaminated surface and then touches their mouth, nose, or eyes. A person can spread influenza before they know they are sick, making prevention especially important.
Common symptoms include:
💉 The Flu Vaccine
The best way to reduce your risk of influenza and its potentially serious complications is to get an annual flu vaccination. Flu vaccines are updated each year to help protect against the influenza viruses expected to circulate during the upcoming season. It takes approximately two weeks after vaccination for protective antibodies to develop.
Myths vs. Facts
Myth: The flu shot can give you the flu. Fact: It contains an inactivated virus or no virus, so it cannot cause infection.
Myth: I'm healthy, so I don't need it. Fact: Healthy people can still catch and spread influenza. Vaccination helps protect you as well as those around you who may be more vulnerable to serious illness.
Myth: The flu is just a bad cold. Fact: Flu can cause serious complications like pneumonia and leads to thousands of hospitalizations yearly.
📅 Where can you get a flu vaccination?:
Getting your annual flu vaccine is one of the best ways to help protect yourself, your family, your coworkers, and your community during flu season.
