IMPORTANT TO GET FLU, PNEUMONIA SHOTS

Like it or not, cold weather soon will be upon us, and with it will come the flu season.

Influenza in an average year kills 20,000 Americans, but preliminary data suggest many more people died last year, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of additional concern, influenza has started causing unusual outbreaks during the summer in Alaska, Louisiana, Florida, Oklahoma and Texas.

But flu is always worse in the winter, and that is why medical experts recommend that every American get a flu shot annually. From now until mid-November is the optimal time for the shot, as well as pneumonia vaccinations, which also are urged because of a growing threat of bacterial pneumonia.

The shots are available from the Cape Girardeau County Health Department, doctors' offices, hospitals and clinics. They are free for Medicare patients, and others don't pay much for them. Yet a recent study showed that one-third of Medicare patients don't get regular flu shots, and 55 percent had never had a pneumonia vaccine.

In the case of influenza, apathy can be dangerous, even deadly. That should be enough to convince everyone to get their shots.