With the flu a worry here at home and around the nation, healthcare providers are trying to make getting vaccinated as easy as possible.
Iredell Health System held a flu shot clinic last weekend, where participants didn't even have to leave their cars to get a shot.
They simply rolled down their window and rolled up their sleeve.
"This is the best shot I've ever had," joked Wayne Dishman, who drove up in his van, signed in and was vaccinated within five minutes.
Cheryl Simmons, an IMH wellness nurse, and fellow RNs Valerie Velte and Donna Waugh said flu shots are vital to staying healthy. (See box for dates and locations of more flu clinics.)
"We do this every year to reach out to the community, and with such an epidemic of the flu going around, it's especially important this year," Simmons said. "As wellness nurses, we want everyone to be as safe and healthy as they can and a flu shot helps with that. It's all about prevention."
Simmons recommended that anyone who has a health condition, such as diabetes or heart and lung disease, the elderly and the very young get vaccinated.
"We don't do pediatric shots, but children are very susceptible, as are people in the health care business and anyone who deals with the public," she said.
"It's best to be proactive when it comes to fighting the flu," Velte added.
Symptoms of the flu include a fever, cough, sore throat, headache, the chills, muscle aches and fatigue, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
According to the CDC, 226,000 people are hospitalized each year due to the flu and annually 36,000 die, mostly the elderly.
Waugh added that many people could avoid giving the flu to others if they would just stay home, especially during January, February and March, the peak time for flu.
Flu shots can have some mild side effects, which should disappear within a day or two. "There can be soreness or redness at the injection site. Once in a while there is joint pain," Simmons said.
"You might feel achey or a little feverish," said Waugh.
The nurses also cleared up a few rumors about flu shots.
"There is a misconception out there that people want to wait until peak time to get their shot so it lasts through the season," Simmons said. "The shot lasts up to a year, so there's no need to wait."
"People also tend to claim that the flu shot gave them the flu," Waugh said. "It takes two weeks for the immunity to build up, and chances are, if you get the flu in that time, you were already exposed to it before you had the shot."
The vaccine offered is only for the seasonal flu, and not the H1N1 virus.
MORE FLU SHOT SPOTS:
- 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 10, Rocky United Methodist Church, 1739 Perth Road, Mooresville;
- 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 16, Iredell Health System at Morrison Plantation, 143 Joe V. Knox Ave., Suite 200, Mooresville; and
- 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 30, South Iredell Senior Center, 202 N. Church St., Mooresville.
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