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NASHVILLE (WSMV) – At least 10 people died of influenza – related illnesses last season in Tennessee, and most of them were children.
Whole school districts were closed for several days to allow the disease to pass.
Health experts are concerned that this year's flu season is worse. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the flu season starts in October and continues until the beginning of May. The peak season of the virus strikes between December and February.
Pediatricians at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center have already treated some cases of influenza, but claim to have seen less than last year at that time, probably because the hot weather is forcing more and more people. people to go out.
Nevertheless, Dr. Joseph Gigante said that we must all do something to prevent another epidemic.
"If your child is sick or your child has the flu, keep it at home, because the flu is such a contagious virus, you will work with the flu, it will be passed on to your colleagues, your colleagues will report it at home and infect their children and see how outbreaks begin to happen, "Gigante said.
The number one suggestion of doctors to prevent the flu is to get the vaccine, which is available now.
The CDC says the best time to get vaccinated is before the end of October.
Anyone 6 months old or older should be vaccinated. There are two options, the spray mist or the shot, and it takes two weeks to be effective.
Experts say the influenza virus mutates constantly, which is why we have to get vaccinated every year.
Copyright 2018 WSMV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
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