With flu season approaching, Santa Barbara County Public Health, along with the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC), recommends that everyone 6 months and older get vaccinated against the virus, which millions contract every year. Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, sore muscles, and tiredness. “An annual flu vaccination is the best way to prevent the flu,” said Public Health spokesperson Susan Klein-Rothschild. “While how well the vaccine works can vary, the benefits from vaccination are well-documented.”
More than 200,000 Americans annually require hospitalization due to complications, and between 1976 and 2006, the virus claimed anywhere from 3,000 to 49,000 lives per year. Those most at-risk are senior citizens, children, pregnant women, and people with medical conditions like asthma, diabetes, and heart disease; those demographics are especially advised to get protected, as are those who tend to them, Klein-Rothschild said.
To find the nearest clinic, visit healthmap.org.