Why this flu season could be worse than we've seen in a while
FILE - A person gets a flu vaccine shot at the Kaiser Permanente Redwood City hospital in Redwood City, Calif., on Dec. 28, 2017. (Photo By Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
SANFORD, Fla. - Flu season is upon us, and medical professionals are saying it’s especially important to get the flu vaccine this year.
Doctors explained, this year could be a worse flu year than we’ve had in a while.
However, Dr. Gary Goodman, a Fellow in both emergency and internal medicine explained, that needs to be put into perspective. The 2022 flu season will likely be worse in comparison to when people were largely still isolating. So, worse than our new normal – not worse than what we used to see.
"The unfortunate news is, influenza didn’t go anywhere, it just was subdued because we’ve been practicing much more stringent practices," Dr. Goodman says.
Goodman says the best way to gear up for flu season is to get the vaccine.
"I had a 104.8 fever in a patient and trust me, he’s 55 years old just like me, it’s unpleasant," said Dr. Goodman. "The sore throats can be pretty brutal, the body aches are horrific, the headaches are uncomfortable. People can sometimes get nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, which has a GI component. These patients come in dehydrated, weak, and sick."
The flu vaccine helps prevent you from getting sick, and helps make symptoms more mild if you do get the virus.
It lasts for about six months, according to Seminole County Medical Director Dr. Todd Husty.
"You’re pretty well covered for the entire winter time, the entire flu season, if you get it now. There’s no reason to wait. In fact, you can get sick and people are getting sick because they waited. Stop waiting!" exclaimed Dr. Husty.
The CDC says if your kid is under the age of 8 and has only ever had the flu vaccine once, or if they’ve never had it, they should get two doses of the vaccine.
People over the age of 65 are being offered double-doses too.
"Just to make sure we respond like younger people do, because as you get older, you don’t respond quite as much. It’s also really important that older people like me actually don’t get the flu, or if we do get it, it’s a milder case," explained Dr. Husty. "The rest of the population, the younger people and people that have good immune systems, we know they respond well enough to the regular strain. Why give you something you don’t need?"