There’s a scene in the satirical comedy, “The Devil Wears Prada,” in which office snob and fashionista Emily remarks that she’s “just one stomach flu away” from her goal weight. Cheers for this silver-lining observation that connects getting the flu as a great way to quickly shed pounds, but all jokes aside, the flu is no laughing matter.
The flu affects millions of families across the country each year and its likely to affect millions more again as we officially enter flu season, that cringe-worthy time of year that makes parents run for cover, cancel fun family plans and head to their nearest drug store for an arsenal of supplies to combat family illness.
Medical professionals cite a yearly flu shot as the best way to ward off the nasty flu bug. While it isn’t fool-proof protection, it’s pretty darn close.
“It will not protect you against every strain, just the most common ones,” said Catherine Wagner, a certified pediatric nurse practitioner at Kids in the Sun pediatric practice in Broadview Heights. “You can still get sick, but the shot helps build up your antibodies and better fight the illness and protect you from illness.”
To create a yearly flu vaccine, experts study strains from the previous year and make their best guess as to the strains that will be most popular in the upcoming year. The adage that flu shots were recommended mainly for older adults and children younger than 2 is now antiquated. The CDC now urges everyone six months of age and older to get a yearly flu vaccine. And since it takes about two weeks for the vaccination to take effect in the body, experts recommend heading to your pharmacy or family doctor sooner rather than later as October typically marks the start of flu season.
“Our office started about two or three weeks ago with flu vaccines,” Wagner said in late September. “It’s definitely better to get it early then to wait till later once the flu is really circulating.”
She provided several flu prevention tips to help your family in the fight against flu.
“Frequent hand-washing of course, and using a hand sanitizer, coughing and sneezing into an elbow, and if you do get sick to stay home till you are fever-free for 24 hours,” Wagner noted.
A fever, by the way, is a temperature of 100.7 in both children and adults.
If the flu does infiltrate your home, Wagner advises parents to increase fluid intake, take the needed time to rest, fight off fever with Motrin or Tylenol and head to the doctor if there is concern for dehydration or other infection. Most importantly, stay home to prevent spreading your illness to others at school and work.
The flu is different from a cold in that it’s typically accompanied by a fever, chills, cough, sore throat, body aches, fatigue, headaches, vomiting and diarrhea, the CDC notes. Warning signs of more severe illness (and a call for immediate, emergency medical attention) include difficulty breathing, a fever above 104 degrees, chest pain, failure to urinate for eight hours (dehydration) and signs of extreme lethargy and weakness.
Still need a flu shot? There are numerous immunization clinics in our area. Here’s a couple to note: Southwest Community Pharmacy will conduct a walk-up flu shot clinic from noon to 2 p.m. Oct. 11 at SouthPark Mall in Strongsville. For more information, call (440) 816-8410. The Cuyahoga County Board of Health also offers vaccine shots for infants, children, teens and adults. For more information, call (216) 201-2014.
Learn more about influenza at cdc.org/flu or visit the Cuyahoga County Board of Health at ccbh.net/flu. Both websites present up-to-date weekly flu activity data reports – the CDC on a national scale and the Cuyahoga County Board of Health on a localized level.
Godspeed and go wash your hands!
By SARA MACHO HILL
Contributing Writer