MMDHD has a stimulus package for you

by Dr. Robert Graham

Local health departments have an economic stimulus package for you. The cost to the consumer is often free and never costs more than 30 dollars!

This stimulus comes with a point and a band-aid. The point is to keep you healthy and the band-aid is a reminder that you have done your part to stop the spread of a potentially fatal disease – influenza. The savings you will experience is in the form of money not lost. You will be less likely to miss work or school, have to go to the doctor, or lay in bed feeling miserable for three to seven days.

In this time of economic hardship, a flu shot makes great sense (and cents). For every dollar that we, the public, spend on vaccines we save ten dollars on direct medical care. We save even more when you take into consideration the amount of work and school not missed.

This year, besides the regular seasonal flu, Mother Nature threw us a curveball in the form of a new influenza virus, also called the novel A influenza virus (H1N1). To decrease your risk of getting influenza this year you will need two flu shots. One flu shot is for the seasonal flu and the other is for the new bully on the block, the H1N1 virus.

Having suffered through the flu myself two years ago, I jumped at the opportunity to get a flu shot this year. As soon as it is available I will get my H1N1 influenza virus shot too. For the last 31 years I have gotten a flu shot. In those 31 years I got the flu only once when there was a change in the virus that was circulating in the community.

The flu shots are safe. Of course there is the chance of redness and soreness where you get the shot. Millions of people worldwide have received the seasonal flu shot and the safety record is outstanding. The H1N1 virus vaccine is made in the same factories and by the same process as the seasonal flu shots we have gotten for the last 3 decades. The only difference is the virus.

Your local health department is working feverishly so you won’t get a fever. We are setting up clinics and vaccinating your friends and neighbors. We hope you’ll join others in stopping the spread of influenza.

Get your flu shots. They will help save lives, help save the economy and protect our community.