Let’s roll up our sleeves and remain healthy

It’s fall in Spokane. Clear, crisp days. Leaves turning every imaginable brilliant color. Flu shots.

The signs were up all over the hospital telling us that flu shots were available at Employee Health. Employees sported stickers proclaiming, “I got my flu shot!” And I was darned near first in line. I have my reasons for baring my upper arm and gritting my teeth.

As a health-care provider in a hospital setting, I, along with hundreds of my colleagues, am exposed to all sorts of sick people. As the flu season approaches, it’s highly likely that the flu bug will hitch a ride on one of those sick people and then try its best to set up housekeeping in one of our unsuspecting bodies. Every year thousands of health-care workers are sidelined by the flu. And since we can pass along the flu a day or two before the symptoms hit us, we risk infecting some really sick people, like patients with weakened immune systems. So that’s reason No. 1.

The Centers for Disease Control recommends that anyone over 50 get the flu shot. The older we get, the more risk we have for getting serious flu complications, like pneumonia. I can barely see 50 in my rear-view mirror, so that’s reason No. 2.

I have a chronic illness, multiple sclerosis, that gets a lot worse when I have a fever. People with chronic illnesses like heart disease, asthma, emphysema, kidney disease and diabetes also risk serious, even deadly, consequences if they get the flu, so the CDC adds them to the list of people who should get vaccinated. Reason No. 3.

Those are my reasons, but enough about me. Who else should get vaccinated? The list specifies those who might get seriously ill from the flu: pregnant women, children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, and people who live in nursing homes or long-term care facilities.

And finally, anyone who wants to avoid the fever, headache, sore throat, muscle aches and overwhelming fatigue that comes with the flu might want to pay a visit to their health-care provider or local pharmacy.

Up to 20 percent of Americans are felled by the flu each year. That’s a lot of Kleenex, aspirin and days missed from work or school. Most of us think of the flu as a mere annoyance, but every year, 200,000 Americans are hospitalized with complications of the flu, like pneumonia, dehydration and worsening of chronic conditions such as heart and lung disease. Worse yet, 36,000 people die each year in the U.S. from the flu and its complications.

There are some people who should take a pass on the flu vaccine. For them it’s probably riskier than the flu itself. Since the vaccine is grown in eggs, anyone with a severe allergy to eggs should avoid it.

I have a friend whose bad reaction to the flu shot got worse each year. She’s probably allergic to some component of the shot, and it’s not for her.

A very rare, serious neurological condition called Gullain-Barre syndrome (GBS) was linked to a swine flu vaccine used in 1976. Current flu vaccines have not been linked to GBS, but those who has had GBS, which can occur after a viral illness, ought to discuss the pros and cons with their doctor.

If you are moderately or severely ill at flu shot time, wait until you’ve recovered to get your shot. If it’s just a mild cold, go ahead.

For those out there who think needles should be used for sewing only, there is a vaccine available in the form of a nasal spray. It’s approved only for healthy people between the ages of 5 and 49, so those of us old folk with chronic illnesses need not apply.

Unlike in past years when the flu vaccine was in short supply, it looks like we’ll have enough this year. So roll up your sleeve and get your shot.