News : Vaccines available at Virginia Gay Family Clinics

Vaccine for influenza is now available at Virginia Gay's Family Medical Clinics in Vinton, Atkins, Urbana, and Van Horne. Perhaps you've heard people say they don't want to get vaccinated because they "always get the flu" afterward. Simply put, a "flu shot" doesn't cause a cold, but some confusion is understandable because influenza and the common cold share many symptoms in common. Before sharing their differences, please read more about how important being vaccinated is for the health of your friends and loved ones who are more vulnerable to serious complications of influenza than you may be.

Pregnant women you may infect with influenza are more vulnerable to severe illness, hospitalization and death. Their bodies change during pregnancy and for the first few weeks after giving birth, and those changes include changes to their immune system, heart, and lungs. Becoming infected with influenza during pregnancy can lead to health problems for unborn children including early labor and delivery. Pregnant women and their unborn child can safely benefit from receiving the influenza vaccine.

Children younger than 6 months of age are at very high risk of serious flu complications but are too young to get a flu vaccine. Children in this group have the highest risk for being hospitalized because of flu among children of all ages. Because children younger than 6 months cannot get a vaccine, it’s up to all of us to safeguard them from influenza.

Some 20,000 children under age 5 are hospitalized with influenza each year. Many more visit their doctors or are admitted to emergency rooms. Complications from the flu among children can include pneumonia, dehydration and worsening of long-term medical problems like heart disease or asthma, encephalopathy, sinus problems and ear infections.

If you’re still aren’t convinced that you should get vaccinated to protect those around you, remember that immune defenses become weaker with age and that’s also true of susceptibility to influenza. Some 80 to 90 percent of influenza-related deaths occur in the population of individuals over age 65. This group also accounts for 50 to 70% of influenza hospitalizations.

So what are the main differences between a cold and influenza? Influenza symptoms come on very abruptly and have a fever that lasts 3 to 4 days. The cold comes on more gradually and rarely includes fever. Aches from influenza are typical and often severe. A cold may include achiness, but not severe aches.

Here are the numbers for the clinics. Call now, protect yourself, and perhaps more importantly, those around you.

Atkins 319-446-7800 Urbana 319-443-5000 Van Horne 319-228-8000 Vinton 319-472-6300

To learn more about influenza, click the CDC site here. Significant portions of this content was developed from information provided by the Centers for Disease Control.