Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – We’ve said goodbye to summer, and now it’s time to say hello to a far less fun time of year: flu season.
Flu season begins in early October and ends in late May, with the peak being between December and February according to Christy Gray with the Virginia Department of Health.
So far there have been three confirmed cases of flu in Virginia, according to Gray, and none in Maryland according to Dr. Jinlene Chan with the Maryland Department of Health.
Even though it may seem early to think about getting a flu shot, the VDH recommends getting vaccinated by the end of October. Gray said it takes two weeks for the vaccine to become effective, so it’s best to get it before everyone starts coming down with the flu.
Some people believe they have gotten the flu from the vaccine, but Gray and Chan both stress that’s not possible.
“It’s more likely that you got exposed to it around the same time, and you just developed the symptoms of the flu before you were able to develop the immunity from the vaccine,” Gray said.
The flu shot doesn’t contain any components that would cause the flu according to Chan.
“People may have some mild reaction to the actual vaccine, but it doesn’t cause the actual flu disease,” Chan said adding only the active live virus would do that.
Last year’s vaccine wasn’t very effective, and, unfortunately, Gray said they won’t know how effective this year’s will be until the flu season’s in full swing. Gray said every year experts guess which strains will be circulating based on what’s going on around the globe and other factors.
It’s worth getting the vaccine, even during years when it isn’t a good match for the strains going around according to Chan. She said it still provides protection and may lessen the severity of the virus.
Other measures you can take to stay healthy include regularly washing your hands, using alcohol-based hand sanitizer and coughing into your elbow or a tissue instead of your hands according to Chan.
If you do get the flu, Gray recommends taking antiviral drugs if your doctor prescribes them and staying home to avoid giving it to other people, especially those who are at high risk for serious illness.
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