Massachusetts has seen five flu deaths to date this season and now health officials are urging residents to start taking precautions. Health experts are strongly encouraging people to get vaccinated if they haven’t yet in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – According to state data, Massachusetts has seen five flu deaths to date this season and now health officials are urging residents to start taking precautions. Health experts are strongly encouraging people to get vaccinated if they haven’t yet to prevent the spread of the virus.
As winter approaches, the threat of the flu once again looms over us. In Massachusetts, the current severity of flu cases remains low. But an Internal Medicine Physician for infectious diseases at Baystate Medical Center, Esteban DelPilar says this doesn’t mean we won’t see cases later on as flu season peaks between December and February.
“As we get colder here in the Northeast, you know the doors and windows close, turn on heating, ventilation gets a little more secluded in the house, people are closer together. In the summer you just go outside and have a party and now the party has to be inside,” said DelPilar.
Children under 5, adults 65 and older, or people with weakened immune systems, or chronic medical conditions are most at risk of catching the flu and developing complications of the flu.
“Your more likely to end up hospitalized, you’re more likely to end up in the ICU requiring a machine to help you breath and that kind of thing,” added DelPilar.
The ideal time to get a flu shot is by the end of October. “Their quadrivalent so it covers 4 different strains there are also high dose vaccines for the elderly as their immune system decreases as they age it creates a larger immune response from them,” said Registered Pharmacist at Community Pharmacy in Springfield, Matthew Maurer.
Maurer says it typically takes around two weeks for the flu vaccine to become fully effective.
The most common symptoms of flu are fever, cough, and sore throat. If you think you have the flu, it is recommended to stay home from work and school and avoid contact with others, so you don’t spread the virus.
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