Flu Shot Clinics

According to web MD magazine, the average office desk has 400% more germs than the average toilet seat. Viruses such as influenza are easily spread in an environment like an office where people are in close quarters for extended periods. Infected persons can take the virus home to loved ones or out to others without even realizing it, and thus the flu spreads.

The convenience of being able to get your flu vaccination at work rather than having to make a doctor’s appointment makes it more likely that you will be vaccinated, which will protect you, your family, your friends and your co-workers. 

• Regular Flu Shot – The shot that most people are familiar with, administered in the upper arm or shoulder.  This shot can be given to people with long lasting medical conditions such as diabetes.
• High Dose Shot – Given to people 65 years or older. The higher dose provides stronger protection.
• Preservative-Free Shot – Preservative-free is also known as thimerosal-free.  Thimerosal is a mercury-based ingredient that is used as a preservative in the flu vaccine to prevent growth of bacteria, fungus or germs that could contaminate the vaccine. Most pregnant patients utilize this option.

Flu season generally runs from September to May.  The earlier you get vaccinated the better! 

Everyone who is over the age of 6 months, even people who have never had the flu. 

• Infants age 6 months and younger
• People with an allergy to eggs
• People who have experienced Gullian-Barre Syndrome (rapid-onset muscle weakness caused by the immune system damaging the peripheral nervous system)

According to the CDC, mild side effects from the flu shot include soreness, redness or swelling at the injection site, low-grade fever, and aches.

Flu is more likely to cause severe illness in pregnant women than in women who are not pregnant. Changes in the immune system, heart and lungs during pregnancy make pregnant women more prone to developing severe illness from flu, which can lead to hospitalization or even death. There also is some evidence to suggest that a pregnant woman sick with the flu has a greater chance of certain pregnancy complications and that a flu vaccine can lessen that risk. When given during pregnancy, flu shots have been shown to protect the mother and her baby after birth from flu. If you get vaccinated during pregnancy, your baby will be born with some flu antibodies that will help protect them from flu for several months. This is important because babies younger than 6 months can't get vaccinated yet, but they are at high risk of being hospitalized from the flu.

Some pregnant women are worried about trace amounts of thimerosal in flu shots. Thimerosal is a mercury-based preservative that has been used for decades in the United States in multi-dose vials (vials containing more than one dose) of some vaccines to prevent their contamination with germs, bacteria and fungi. Some flu shots produced for the United States each flu season come in multi-dose vials, and contain thimerosal to safeguard against possible contamination of the vial once it is opened. Manufacturers also make single-dose flu shots without thimerosal. The single-dose units are made without thimerosal as a preservative because they are intended to be opened and used only once. While the most recent and rigorous scientific research shows that thimerosal-containing vaccines are not harmful, if you are worried about thimerosal, ask your doctor or other health care professional for a thimerosal-free flu shot. 

Flu vaccines cause antibodies to develop in the body about two weeks after vaccination. These antibodies provide protection against infection with the viruses that are in the vaccine.

A flu vaccine is needed every season for two reasons. First, the body's immune response from vaccination declines over time, so an annual vaccine is needed for optimal protection. Second, because flu viruses are constantly changing, the formulation of the flu vaccine is reviewed each year and sometimes updated to keep up with changing flu viruses. For the best protection, everyone 6 months and older should get vaccinated annually.

No. It takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against influenza virus infection. That's why it's better to get vaccinated early in the fall, before the flu season really gets under way.

• Flu vaccination can help keep you from getting sick with flu.
• Flu vaccination can reduce the risk of flu-associated hospitalization, including among children and older adults.
• Another study published in the summer of 2016 showed that people 50 years and older who got a flu vaccine reduced their risk of getting hospitalized from flu by 57%.
• Flu vaccination is an important preventive tool for people with chronic health conditions.
• Vaccination was associated with lower rates of some cardiac events among people with heart disease, especially among those who had had a cardiac event in the past year.
• Flu vaccination also has been shown to be associated with reduced hospitalizations among people with diabetes (79%) and chronic lung disease (52%).
• Flu vaccination also may make your illness milder if you do get sick.
• Getting vaccinated yourself also protects people around you, including those who are more vulnerable to serious flu illness, like babies and young children, older people, and people with certain chronic health conditions.

You may have the flu if you have some or all of these symptoms:

• fever*
• cough
• sore throat
• runny or stuffy nose
• body aches
• headache
• chills
• fatigue
• sometimes diarrhea and vomiting

*It is important to note that not everyone with flu will have a fever.

Your respiratory illness might be the flu if you have fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea. People may be infected with the flu and have respiratory symptoms without a fever. Flu viruses usually cause the most illness during the colder months of the year. However, influenza can also occur outside of the typical flu season. In addition, other viruses can also cause respiratory illness similar to the flu, so it is impossible to be certain that you have the flu based on symptoms alone.  Laboratory tests can be performed to make definite flu diagnoses.