The best way to protect against influenza is to get a flu vaccine every flu season. Influenza (flu) is a contagious respiratory disease that can lead to serious complications, hospitalization, or even death. Anyone can get the flu, and getting a flu vaccine is the single best way to protect yourself and your family. Even healthy people can get very sick from the flu and spread it to friends and loved ones. Everyone 6 months of age and older is recommended to get vaccinated against the flu every year. The yearly flu vaccine protects against the three viruses that research suggests will be most common that flu season.
Important reminder for parents and caregivers: Many children need 2 doses of flu vaccine this season to be fully protected. If a child has not received his/her first dose, get them vaccinated now. For those who have been vaccinated with one dose, parents should check with the child's doctor to see if a second dose is needed.
Everyone is at risk for influenza. For millions of people each year, the flu can bring a fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle aches, fatigue, and miserable days spent in bed. However, you may not realize that flu also leads to more than 200,000 people being hospitalized from flu complications each year. The flu can also be deadly. Between 1976 and 2007, CDC estimates that annual flu-associated deaths in the United States have ranged from a low of about 3,000 people to a high of about 49,000 people.
Anyone can get the flu, but some people are at greater risk for serious flu-related complications, like pneumonia, that can lead to hospitalization and even death. For those at greater risk for complications, getting the flu vaccine is especially important. People at greater risk include
It's also important to get the vaccine if you care for anyone in one or more of these high risk groups, or if you care for babies younger than 6 months because these babies are too young to get the vaccine.
North Texas Flu Shots
4011 West Plano Parkway, Suite 106B
Plano, TX 75093