EDITORIAL: Get a Vaccination; Avoid the Serious Disease of Influenza

Oct 08, 02:30 PM

Current Headlines: By Victoria Advocate, Texas

Oct. 8--It's a common kind of conversation in workplaces all over, especially at the time of year we're approaching.

"Hey, where's Harvey today?"

"Oh, he's out with the flu."

Well, not really. Most times he isn't out with the flu.

He may have a 24-hour intestinal virus, or a common cold, but if he's back to work in a day, it wasn't the flu.

Influenza is a very serious disease. Consider the fact that in the early 1900s, the so-called "Spanish flu" killed some 50 million people worldwide, perhaps even more. No one was safe. Even the people on remote Pacific islands died.

Yes, those were the "old days," when medicine was not as advanced.

But since then, some Type A influenza "cousins" of the Spanish flu have reared up to kill more people.

For instance, the Asian flu epidemic of 1957 was blamed for 70,000 deaths in the United States. But medical experts say that vaccines developed in the 1930s may have kept that killer from being much worse.

Most people today have heard of the "Avian flu" from the Far East, a strain which some health-care experts say will eventually become pandemic, too. And when it transfers from chickens to humans, it can be deadly.

In fact, health-care experts never know when they may encounter a deadly new strain of influenza.

Flu season runs from Oct. 1 through the month of April, and the good news this year is that for the first time in several flu seasons, plenty of vaccine is available.

Health-care professionals are unanimous in their support of inoculations against influenza.

One such expert, quoted in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, said, "Flu vaccine doesn't prevent everyone from getting the flu, but it protects from complications. It does work, but its purpose is to make you a lot less sick than you would have been, and to protect people at the highest risk."

While October and November are the best times for people to receive influenza vaccine, more than 130 million doses (the most ever available) will be in the hands of doctors and other health professionals this season, so getting vaccinated later is still beneficial.

Dr. Bain Cate, director of the Victoria City-County Health Department, said his staff will begin inoculations later this month at the health department at 2805 N. Navarro, and some other health-care providers are already giving the shots.

"The hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, etc., provide vaccine for their employees and patients," Cate said by e-mail to the Advocate. "Doctor's offices will provide it for their patients sometimes," he added.

Echoing other health-care professionals, Cate said, "In summary, this influenza season should prove to be the best season for getting the vaccine out that we have had for many years, and it is the hope of all the healthcare providers in the area that this trend will continue."

We agree, and we think that getting vaccinated is the smart move.

Because if "Harvey" really gets the flu, it's nothing to sneeze at.

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