vuk8691 for Getty Images
vuk8691 for Getty Images

This week is National Influenza Vaccine Week. Get your flu shot ASAP, since this is your busiest time of year. The more clients, the greater the chance that someone is spreading the flu virus!

 

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) now recommends that everyone get a flu shot with the exception of infants under 6 months old and people who have a life-threatening allergy to the vaccine. If you’ve ever had Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), the CDC recommends speaking with your doctor to decide whether you should get the flu shot. Healthy people between the ages of 2 and 49 have the option of getting the vaccine in a nasal spray instead of an injection.

 

In addition to being an annoyance with fever, cold symptoms and body aches, the flu can have complications that include bacterial pneumonia, ear infections, sinus infections, dehydration and worsening of chronic medical conditions such as congestive heart failure, asthma and diabetes. Each year in the U.S., the flu typically leads to thousands of deaths, with the number from year to year varying widely depending on how severe a flu season we’re having.

 

It takes about two weeks for the antibodies from the shot to fully protect you, and even afterward you can get the flu if it’s a strain outside the shot’s protection. But for most people in most years, a shot keeps the flu from stealing a week of winter or worse. January tends to be the height of flu season, so a dose of protection this week will serve you well.

 

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