Flu virus activity remains low in the Pacific Northwest; rates of illness typically peak here in January or February.
Influenza is a virus that spreads in airborne droplets spewed by coughing and sneezing. The illness usually hits harder than the common cold with symptoms including sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, aches, chills, fatigue, fever, and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea. The number of deaths varies widely from year to year, from as low as 3,300 to as high as 48,600, according to the CDC. Some strains of flu virus are able to infect more people, cause more complications, or both.
Vaccination offers the best protection. Everyone 6 months and older should get a flu vaccine each year, according to the panel of doctors and public health experts that advise the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices began recommending universal flu vaccination last year. Oregon Public Health posts an online list of flu shot clinics and other important updates.
Flu shots can reduce the chances of getting the flu by more than 70 percent in healthy adults. Effectiveness tends to be lower in older adults with less responsive immune systems, but even so the vaccine reduces severity of illness and studies show it can cut the risk of dying by about 80 percent.
If avoiding the flu isn't enough reason to get the vaccine, remember that getting a flu shot can help prevent others from getting sick. The more healthy adults and children immunized, the more difficult it is for the virus to reach vulnerable people, and the more outbreaks are minimized. That's something to consider if you care for an infant, patients in a hospital or nursing home, or anyone with compromised immunity.
Pregnant women who get a flu shot gain protection for their newborns. Infants were less likely to be infected with flu or hospitalized for respiratory illnesses in their first six months of life if their mothers got a flu shot during pregnancy, in one recent study.