Last year, there were 320 lab-confirmed cases of the flu on Martha’s Vineyard. Did you or someone you know get sick?
If you did, chances are you had a rough few days of coughing, aches, and fever before you started to recover. But the flu can be extremely serious—particularly for elderly and very young patients—and it’s impossible to predict how bad any given flu season will be.
As National Influenza Vaccination Week comes to a close, we wanted to offer some information on the 2020 flu season on Martha’s Vineyard, and how you can help keep yourself, your loved ones, and the island community healthy.
(Some of the information provided below is excerpted from the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)
Why Should People Get Vaccinated Against the Flu?
Influenza is a potentially serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and sometimes even death. Every flu season is different, and influenza infection can affect people differently, but millions of people get flu every year, hundreds of thousands of people are hospitalized and thousands to tens of thousands of people die from flu-related causes every year. An annual seasonal flu vaccine is the best way to help protect against flu. Vaccination has been shown to have many benefits including reducing the risk of flu illnesses, hospitalizations and even the risk of flu-related death in children.
Who Should Get Vaccinated This Season?
Can I Get the 2019-2020 Flu Vaccine at Island Health Care?
Yes, Island Health Care patients can get the flu vaccine here at IHC! It’s not too late to get yours. Call (508) 939-9358 to make an appointment.
If you are not a patient of Island Health Care, contact your local pharmacy for information about flu vaccine availability.
For more information about this year’s vaccine, visit the CDC’s Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine.