Volunteering at a Vaccine Site
“Can my mother get the vaccine? She has a problem with her heart, is it safe?”
Continue reading“Can my mother get the vaccine? She has a problem with her heart, is it safe?”
Continue readingIt was 9 pm, I was getting ready for bed when the text came through. You can sign up for the COVID vaccine now. There’s limited availability, so sign up ASAP.
Continue readingYes, the old-fashioned flu season is approaching, and even while we are focused on the coronavirus, let’s remember that influenza can also be a dangerous illness. Most of the time flu activity starts in October, and peaks between December and February, but cases can continue into the early spring.
Is it COVID-19 or The Flu?
Many people will be asking that question this winter as we inevitably get an increase in the seasonal flu. Influenza and COVID-19 are caused by different viruses. Because some of the symptoms of flu and COVID-19 are similar, it may be hard to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone, and you may need to get a COVID-19 test to help confirm a diagnosis.
2 Key Differences
Flu and COVID-19 share many symptoms, but these 2 are common in COVID-19 and NOT usually related to seasonal flu
Flu can cause mild to severe illness, and can at times be fatal especially for people who are over 75 or very young and those with underlying respiratory conditions, such as COPD. The flu is not typically dangerous for people with well controlled asthma.
Is it a cold or the flu?
If you’re wondering if it’s a cold or the flu, see my article from last November:
Unlike a cold, flu can have a rapid onset of symptoms which often include:
Do Get a Flu Vaccine Soon
One positive from our terrible battle with COVID-19 may be that people are now more aware of the safety and value of vaccines and interested in how they work. In a bad flu season, 40 million to 50 million Americans may catch the flu, with some 800,000 requiring hospitalization, according to Charles Chiu, MD, PhD, an infectious disease expert at UC San Francisco.
The flu still results in 30,000 to 60,000 Americans dying every year. “Here we have a disease, influenza, a scourge of humankind going back centuries,” said epidemiologist George Rutherford, MD, also at UCSF. “We have a vaccine that’s pretty effective. There’s no reason for us to be filling our ICUs with people with influenza who didn’t get vaccinated.”
Flu vaccines protect against the three or four viruses (depending on the vaccine) that research suggests will be most common in the upcoming season.
From the Center for Disease Control (CDC):
For the 2020-2021 flu season, providers may choose to administer any licensed, age-appropriate flu vaccine (IIV, RIV4, or LAIV4) with no preference for any one vaccine over another.
Vaccine options this season include:
If we all wear our masks and keep 6 to 10 feet from others, and wash our hands frequently we can lessen the spread of both the flu and the coronavirus this fall and winter.
For decades artificially-produced UV-C light has been used to kill germs and bacteria in medical settings, labs, and water treatment plants.
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