Health professionals warn of potentially severe flu season
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has previously warned of a potential bad flu season.
Laura Morris, a family physician and vaccine co-chair at MU Health Care, provided insight as to how health professionals predict the severity of upcoming flu seasons.
"We usually do look to the flu activity in the southern hemisphere as a pretty decent predictor of what's headed our way in our winter season," Morris said. "It looks like we are expecting what would be a stronger than average flu season pre-pandemic."
The CDC stated there were 1,021 positive cases reported in the week ending on Oct. 1. Influenza A made up 969 of those cases, and 52 were Influenza B.
The flu has many different symptoms, including fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the flu is ranked in the top-10 leading causes of deaths among Missourians.
Dr. Morris is an avid supporter of the flu vaccine and stressed the importance of getting one.
"The flu vaccine has a long history of being safe and effective for everyone six months and older," Morris said. "If you're 65 or older, there is a special kind of flu shot to help stimulate the immune system a little bit more strongly."
Not many cases have been reported in the past few years. Part of that reason could be because people were much more cautious due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's not popular anymore to wear masks especially in public, but that fact remains, masks decrease transmission," Morris said. "They block particles from exiting your mouth and nose, and they block particles from entering your mouth and nose. So if a person is high risk, they might consider masking up."
MU Health Care is holding a flu and COVID-19 vaccine drive-through event at South Providence Medical Park. The event will be held every Saturday through the rest of the month from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
