Flu shot season starts with a bang in Triangle

Posted: Wednesday, Sep. 19, 2012

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Mark Washburn

Mark Washburn writes television and radio commentary for The Charlotte Observer.

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Dodging the flu

Getting an annual flu shot is the best way to protect yourself and those you have contact with from the virus. The CDC recommends everyone 6 months of age or older get the yearly vaccine before the flu season starts.

Other preventative measures include:

1. If you get sick, keep your distance from others to protect them. That means staying home from work and school.

2. Avoid contact with others who are sick.

3. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing to prevent the spread of illness.

4. Wash your hands often to help protect you from germs. If soap and water aren’t available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.

5. Don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are easily by doing that after touching something that’s contaminated.

6. Practice basic habits for good health: Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage stress, drink plenty of fluids and eat nutritious food.

Source: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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The vaccination blitz

Participants in Wednesday’s flu vaccination blitz for health care workers include: the Duke University Medical Center; Durham Regional; Duke Raleigh; Rex Healthcare; Holly Hill Hospital in Raleigh; Wake and Durham county health departments; N.C. Specialty Hospital; and Lincoln Community Health Center in Durham. Also involved were various clinical sites affiliated with the hospital systems.

RALEIGH A one-day flu vaccination blitz for health care workers that began at Duke University Heath System last year is now an annual event, spreading to more than a dozen clinics and hospitals across the Triangle.

The 24-hour mass vaccination for the coming flu season began Wednesday morning with two goals: to inoculate as many of the more than 15,000 health care workers as possible, and to practice the regional response to a pandemic. Emergency response teams simulated deliveries of vaccine Tuesday from the state’s strategic stockpile.

Having high rates of vaccination among doctors, nurses and other hospital workers is critical, because they can easily transmit flu to patients who are vulnerable to complications from illness. That includes those with asthma, diabetes and chronic lung disease, pregnant women, children younger than 5 years old and adults 65 and older.

The blitz gives hospitals and clinics a chance to practice the logistics involved in obtaining the vaccine, smoothly distributing it and then getting workers injected, Butler said.

It’s crucial in an emergency to be able to quickly inoculate front-line health care workers so they can remain healthy to help the rest of the population.

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