Arizona officials urging people to get flu shots as season approaches
Sep 20, 2017, 4:28 AM | Updated: 11:03 am
(Public Domain Photo)
PHOENIX — As Arizona cools down and the state starts to transition to fall weather, the state department of health services has a message: Get your flu shot. Now.
“The best way to protect yourself from the flu is to get your flu shot,” Jessica Rigler, the branch chief for public health preparedness at the Arizona Department of Health Services, said.
Most doctors’ offices, clinics and pharmacies offer the shot. Rigler said everyone above 6 months old needs one and, to protect those younger than 6 months, it is essential the adults around them get vaccinated.
“They can’t be vaccinated,” she said. “If everyone else in the house is vaccinated, you’re making sure those babies are safe.”
Common complaints about the shot include redness at the injection site, mild symptoms and general soreness. Rigler said those pale in comparison to threat the sickness could pose.
“You absolutely can die from flu and people die from the flu every single year,” she said.
Influenza is one of the world’s most common viral infections. It’s easily spread and usually self-treatable. It attacks mainly the nose, throat and lungs.
Symptoms include muscles aches and fever.
Last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control, 850 Arizonans died after contracting the illness.