Area pharmacies, health department say they're ready for flu season

Local pharmacies say they have enough vaccines to battle the annual flu season as the days grow shorter and the weather turns colder.

Employees at Broadway Prescription Shop, 710 Broadway; Walgreens Pharmacy, 1 S. Kingshighway; and the Cape Girardeau County Health Clinic, 1121 Linden St., said they are not experiencing a shortage in flu vaccines, such as MediCenter Pharmacy, 200 W. Washington St. in Jackson. An employee at the pharmacy said its flu vaccines will be restocked Friday.

Jodi Waltman, administrator at Phelps-Maries County Health Department in Rolla, Mo., said flu season peaks in January and February. Flu vaccinations are administered in September and October, which gives the body ample time to build up an antibody to the virus, which takes at least two weeks, she said.

The flu is easy to spread during colder months because people more often stay in closed, indoor environments for long periods of time, and the virus lives better in cold weather, Waltman said. The virus also can live on surfaces for up to 12 hours, making it important for people to wash their hands immediately after sneezing or coughing into them, especially because humans put their hands near their face between 10 to 20 times per hour, she said.

The flu vaccination can be administered either by shot or nasal spray. The nasal spray has a better immune response in children versus the shot, Waltman said. If 30 percent to 40 percent of the school-aged community received a vaccination, it could lower the percentage of flu cases in a community by 60 percent, she said.

Symptoms of this year's flu are nothing unique, and include the usual fever, respiratory congestion, cough and runny nose, she said. What makes the flu different from a cold is flu symptoms also include body aches and fatigue, to the point at which lifting one's head off a pillow in the morning takes a lot of effort, Waltman gave as an example.

Treating the sickness within 48 hours with a doctor's prescription results in a decrease in symptoms and the length of the sickness, she said.

The flu shot is recommended for almost everyone, unless a person is allergic to eggs, which are used in the vaccine, Waltman said. This is the first year a flu vaccine also is being made using a subculture instead of eggs, but it is not available everywhere, she said.

Saint Francis Medical Center Emergency Services has treated patients with flu-like symptoms and upper-respiratory problems, but as of Wednesday, no one has tested positive for the flu virus since August, according to data provided by the hospital.

Waltman said it is not expected to see many flu numbers at this time of year.

"It seems like it's going to be a normal year," she said.

A drive-thru flu shot clinic will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at the Jackson fire station, 525 S. Hope St. Flu shots also are available at local pharmacies and at the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center. Check with pharmacies to see if flu shots are administered.

ashedd@semissourian.com

388-3632

Pertinent address:

710 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

1 S. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

200 W. Washington St., Jackson, Mo.

211 Saint Francis Drive, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

525 S. Hope St., Jackson, Mo.

1121 Linden St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

200 N. Main, Suite G51, Rolla, Mo.