Influenza Information

Influenza, or flu, is a contagious respiratory illness caused by a virus. Common symptoms of the flu include fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose and muscle aches and pains. Flu season commonly starts in late fall and can run into the spring.

Health experts agree that the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from flu is to get an influenza vaccine, more commonly known as a flu shot, before the start of flu season each year. Have you gotten your flu shot yet?

Get a flu shot every year

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone 6 months of age and older should get a flu vaccine every year for two reasons:

1. There are many different flu viruses and the viruses are constantly changing, so flu vaccines may be updated from one season to the next to protect against the most recent and most commonly circulating viruses.
2. A person’s immune protection from vaccination declines over time, so annual vaccination is needed for optimal protection.

It’s especially important that the following groups get vaccinated, either because they are at high risk of having serious flu-related complications or because they live with or care for people at high risk for developing flu-related complications:

• Pregnant women
• Children younger than 5, but especially children younger than 2 years old
• People 50 years of age and older
• People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions
• People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities
• People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu, including:
  • Health care workers
  • Household contacts of persons at high risk for complications from the flu
  • Household contacts and out of home caregivers of children less than 6 months of age (these children are too young to be vaccinated)

For a complete list of all people recommended for flu vaccination, as well as those who are not recommended for flu vaccination, visit the CDC’s page, Who Needs a Flu Vaccine.

Fall is flu shot season

Ideally you should get a flu vaccine before flu viruses begin spreading in your community, since it takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against flu. The CDC recommends getting a flu vaccine by the end of October. But getting a flu shot at any time during the fall and winter months, when flu is most common, will still help protect you and your loved ones.

The flu and COVID-19

COVID-19 is no longer the health emergency it was a few years ago, but it is still active in our communities and we may see an increase in cases as we head into winter and people spend more time together indoors.

The flu and COVID-19 are both contagious respiratory illnesses, although they are caused by different viruses. Many of the symptoms of the flu and COVID-19 are the same, including:

• Fever or feeling feverish/chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue (tiredness)
• Sore throat
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Muscle pain or body aches
• Headache

Read more about the similarities and differences of the flu and COVID-19 from the CDC.

Keeping our MultiCare hospitals influenza free

MultiCare has policies in place to help protect our patients, visitors and staff from flu, COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses. Before coming to any of our hospitals or clinics, be sure to read our current visitation policies.