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Influenza activity remains low, but after a particularly severe flu season last year and the 100th anniversary of the Spanish flu pandemic this year, many health professionals and organizations are pushing patients to get vaccinated.
Diane McGowan relives the story of her son Martin "every year".
Whenever she hears another child dying of the flu, it breaks her heart again.
"(I wonder) why, what happened, why were not they vaccinated, who did not we have access to?
McGowan and his family launched the MARTIN Influenza Foundation, which means everyone can get their flu shot now – in memory of his son, who died of a flu complication in 2005. Through this foundation, they are working to provide information on misconceptions about the virus and the virus. importance of getting vaccinated.
And after a particularly severe flu season last year, as well as the 100th anniversary of the Spanish flu pandemic this year, many health professionals and organizations are also stressing its importance.
Martin was not vaccinated and it was the first time he had caught the flu.
He was a healthy, active 15-year-old man. He was not feeling well on the morning of February 8, 2005, but he was not going to miss the tryouts for the high school baseball team that night. He was exhausted when he returned home and complained of having a sore leg. During the night, his condition deteriorated.
McGowan took him to the emergency department of a hospital near their home in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. The doctors evaluated him, gave him intravenous solutions and had him tested for the flu. The results were positive.
The virus quickly spread through this rigorous activity and began to attack his muscles, McGowan explained to a room filled with health professionals at a training session held Wednesday by the Bucks County Immunization Coalition. Martin has developed a dangerous leg condition, such as in patients who experience trauma such as car accidents.
The doctors operated on an emergency but he died less than 24 hours after the onset of his first symptoms.
"I thought, if only I had known that I was taking the ultimate risk of not protecting my children from this unobtrusive killer," McGowan said. "Why did not one of you slap me and tell me:" Hey, do you know your children are at risk of dying of the flu? " # 39; I did not know.
Last year, the flu season recorded record hospitalization rates and deaths reaching epidemic proportions, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The season was long, the vaccination rates lower and the vaccine less effective because the virus mutated after the start of manufacturing.
More than 80,000 people died, including nearly 180 children. Since the beginning of the national reports in 2004, only the swine flu pandemic in 2009 has been worsened, with nearly double the number of dead children.
This year, the CDC recommends that all persons 6 months of age and older be vaccinated against influenza, while health professionals and organizations strive to do so.
Dr. Jeffrey Jahre, Senior Vice President of Medical and Academic Affairs and Head Emeritus of Infectious Diseases within the St. Luke University Health Network, said that efforts were partly at the foundation of the 39 last year and the fact that vaccine stocks were available early and in larger quantities. this year.
Until now, St. Luke's has found that only one case of influenza in an outpatient center in New Jersey, Jahre said, but the overall activity of influenza in the state is still weak, according to data from the New Jersey Department of Health.
Dr. Jason Moraleda, a family physician with Lourdes Medical Associates, said that this season he has witnessed many coughs, colds and sinus infections in his office and in an emergency care center where he works. but no flu.
"In general, the number of cases has been low, but the number of cases will increase," he said.
Now, before the start of flu activity and / or before the end of October, it's time to get vaccinated, according to the CDC. It takes about two weeks for the body to develop immunity.
"It's definitely the moment to get it," agreed Moraleda.
Influenza season officially begins Oct. 1, but Jahre said it usually peaks between December and February. There is no way to say how severe the flu season is – many factors can affect it – but it's best to prepare for the worst, Moraleda said.
He hopes more people will get the vaccine after last year. It may be difficult to convince patients, but he explains that they are not only protecting themselves.
"For example, a healthy 30-year-old patient who has a 6-month-old child at home or at the same time cares for an elderly parent – that is, vulnerable populations, seniors and young children, who we want to protect, "said Moraleda. "Or your friend who is receiving treatment for cancer or who has kidney disease."
Still, there are a lot of misconceptions about the flu and the vaccine, Moraleda said.
"I think a lot of people confuse the flu for other reasons – for the common cold for seasonal allergies, for sinusitis," he said. "But the flu is as if you've been hit by a Mack truck: sudden onset, fever, headache, body aches, discomfort – it's a higher severity of symptoms."
Dr. John Russel, Program Director for Family Medicine Residency at Abington Hospital – Jefferson Health in Pennsylvania, Clinical Professor at Jefferson University and self-proclaimed "Vaccine nerd", stated another great misconception that people can contract the flu with the help of the vaccine. It can cause pain, he said, but the vaccine against tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough, or Tdap, does the same.
"Does anyone think they have tetanus?" He asked when forming the coalition for immunization on Wednesday. "No. But everyone thinks that if they feel a little sick, they have the flu.
Jahre added that people should also know that the flu shot changes every year. Researchers have been working on a universal vaccine, he said, but it is still far away.
"So, get the vaccine every year."
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