'flu' posts

As you hear more about flu impacting our community, you may wonder what you can do. Here are answers to some of the frequently asked questions about the flu from King County Public Health.

Also, during the month of January, Public Health – Seattle & King County is offering free flu vaccinations for people without insurance or who cannot afford to pay. For dates, times, locations and more information, click here.

Flu prevention

• Flu vaccination is the single best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from flu. Health experts recommend flu vaccine for all people 6 months and older, especially for pregnant women and other high-risk persons.  Make sure everyone who lives with or cares for an infant younger than 6 months and with pregnant women gets vaccinated to protect the infant from getting flu.
• You can also take these everyday steps to protect yourself against the flu:
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water, or use alcohol-based hand cleaners.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. Touching these areas spreads germs.
  • Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• Help stop the spread of flu:
  • Cover your nose and mouth with your sleeve or a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
  • Stay home from work and school if you are sick until at least 24 hours after your fever is gone, and avoid close contact with others.

How to get flu vaccine

• Flu vaccine (shots and nasal spray) is available at many healthcare provider offices and pharmacies. You can use http://flushot.healthmap.org to help locate it near you.
   

• To find free or low-cost flu vaccine in King County call the Family Health Hotline at 1-800-322-2588 or visit www.parenthelp123.org.

Flu illness and symptoms

• For the majority ...

A lot of parents have questions about the flu vaccine and many parents refuse the vaccine as they feel it does not very effective. Some parents are concerned about vaccines in general and refuse vaccinating their child as they don’t want to administer “another vaccine” to their child. The best way to prevent getting flu is by vaccination.

What is flu (Influenza)?

Flu (influenza) is not just a common cold or a stomach virus as most people think. Influenza usually occurs during the winter in our region although it can occur all year around in other parts of the world. It can be a serious respiratory illness that can lead to complications especially in children and older adults. Symptoms are generally similar to any other common cold infections and can vary from fever, runny nose, nose congestion, cough, body aches and headaches. The body aches and headaches are mostly reported by older children and adults. Children may not be able to explain their symptoms and may just be fussy.

Most children get over the flu without any complications. In some children and adults, however, it can lead to serious complications including pneumonia.

How to prevent the flu:

Influenza is ...

No, that’s not a typo. Flu season is upon us. As summer vacations end, kids go back to school and work picks up again, things can get a little cuckoo. The added stress tied with more contact with people as we head indoors to escape the cooling weather mean that we are more likely to get sick.

Germs like the flu love two things: weaker immune systems (thanks, stress!) and people in close contact with each other.  Schools and offices (two of the most cuckoo places this time of year) are ideal breeding grounds for the flu, which still kills tens of thousands of people every year. The bright side of this is that the flu is preventable!

Here are the top four ways to keep from getting sick this season:

When you don’t feel good or you get hurt, it often feels like an emergency. You want the pain and discomfort gone…now! But the emergency room may not be the right place for you. So where do you go?

Think of urgent care as the middle ground between the ER and your primary care doctor's office. In other words, urgent care clinics like the one that just opened at Swedish/Redmond are the perfect spot for those “feels like an emergency but isn’t” moments.

Consider urgent care for:

1. Illness: If you have ...