Health Department Recommends Getting Flu Vaccine

It’s getting to that time of year where the flu and other
illnesses begin to creep into our bodies once again. Influenza can often knock
people out of work for several days – but County Health Officer Kim Mueller
says there are ways to protect yourself from certain strains. 

Mueller says “it affects
everyone. Everybody can get influenza. So because of that, we really want to
make sure we protect everybody the best that we can, and the flu vaccine is the
best way that we can protect people. 

Mueller also points out that the myths surrounding most of those
reasons are simply not accurate. She says “this is an
injectable, which is an inactivated virus. So you cannot get sick from this
vaccine. Now, you could have an immune response – so by giving this to you, you
could have a low-grade fever. You’re not going to feel sick, but you could have
a very low temp, you could have a little bit of aches that would last maybe one
to two days.”

While it is still possible to get a strain of the flu after being vaccinated, it’s not a very common occurrence. Mueller tells us “there’s a lot of different strains circulating all season long. There are four strains in here, and that is somebody’s best guess as to what will be circulating this season. And to me – I have three kiddos – and of course I got them vaccinated, because I’d rather take that chance to have somewhat protection against whatever is circulating than none at all.”

You can get a flu shot through your regular healthcare provider, the Fond du Lac County Health Department, or most other places that have a pharmacy.