Public health leaders have noted that if you have seen one flu season, you have seen one flu season. Every year is different, and this year is no exception.
For one thing, the strains are different this year. Each year the flu vaccine contains three strains and this year H1N1, the same H1N1 that triggered the 2009 pandemic, is one of those strains.
Secondly, the recommendations have changed to help protect more people. Health experts at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) now recommend that everyone who is six months and older get vaccinated against the flu each year.
Thirdly, the timing and severity of the flu season vary from year to year. October and November are prime vaccination months, but immunizations should be given all flu season long because no one knows exactly when the season may end or peak. Over a period of 30 years, between 1976 and 2006, estimates of annual flu-associated deaths range from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000 people.
To put those numbers into perspective, 3,000 people would nearly fill the Kodak Theater in LA, home of the Oscars. And 49,000 people would sell out Oriole Park at Camden Yards, in Baltimore. That is why we need to refuse the flu -- it's hard to imagine an empty Oscar's auditorium or Oriole Park.
Visit www.RefuseTheFLu.com to learn more about how to protect yourself and those around you.
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