Reprinted from the Health District's quarterly publication mailed to district residents (Fall 2004)

Last year, flu season hit early and hard in Larimer County.

By November, one month before the first influenza case typically shows up, an 8-year-old Wellington boy had died from it and Webber Junior High School was reeling from an outbreak that kept 20 percent of its students out sick for a few days.

Before the flu season was over in April, 950 people in Larimer County (and countless more whose illnesses were never confirmed as flu) were knocked down by it.

What’s in store for this season is anyone’s guess. But the old adage that prevention is the best medicine still holds: Protect yourself and those around you by getting a flu shot.

“We want everyone to be immune,” says Ann Watson, health educator at the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment.

People age 50 and older and those with long-term health problems or weakened immune systems continue to be considered at high risk for complications and are urged to get a flu shot.

New this year is a recommendation that children ages 6 months to 23 months get immunized. Ditto for pregnant women, and parents, healthcare workers, care providers and others who have close contact with either children ages 0 to 23 months or adults at high risk.

“Certainly if people are in the high risk group, either by age or underlying health issues, it’s important for them to get flu shots,” says Dr. Adrienne LeBailly, director of the health department. “Historically, only two-thirds of the people in that group get them, so that still leaves a lot of room for improvement.”

Symptoms that distinguish the flu from a cold include fever, chills and muscle aches. The virus is spread primarily by coughing and sneezing.

“Influenza can be a serious illness,” says Lil McBrien, a registered nurse at the Health District. “It’s not like having mild cold symptoms, but feeling totally wiped out.”

The flu vaccine works by causing the body to develop antibodies, which in turn protect against infection. A new vaccine is created every year based on what three strains of the virus experts think are most prevalent. While last year’s vaccine wasn’t an exact match, it did offer a degree of protection that was better than none at all. A Colorado study released in August found the vaccine worked 52 percent of the time in healthy adults, despite the mismatch. In years in which the vaccine matches the dominant flu strains, the shot’s effectiveness can reach 90 percent.

The best time to get a flu shot is in October or November because the vaccine takes two weeks to take full effect. The Health District offers flu shots (see dates below) as do doctors’ offices, the county health department and others.

“There are still a lot of myths out there like you’ll get sick from the flu shot,” Watson says. “People don’t get the flu from the flu shot because it uses a killed form of the virus. What can happen is, they might concurrently get a different respiratory infection and make an incorrect assumption that it’s the flu.”

While serious problems from a flu shot are very rare, talk with your doctor if you’ve had serious allergic reactions to eggs or a previous flu vaccine or have a history of Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

The flu vaccine comes in two forms: a shot and a nasal spray. It’s important to note that unlike the shot, the nasal spray contains a live, weakened flu virus and is approved only for healthy people ages 5 through 49. It is available by prescription and administered at a pharmacy.

Too often, Watson hears people say, “It can’t happen to me.”

Too often, it does.