Calls for flu vaccination intensify after 2017’s deadly season

Cooler mornings in the Las Vegas Valley aren’t the only signs autumn is upon us. ■ October typically marks the start of flu season in Nevada, though four cases already have been reported in Southern Nevada since Sept. 1, Dr. Fermin Leguen, chief medical officer and director of clinical services at the Southern Nevada Health District, said Wednesday.

“There is no official day for the flu season, but … it’s considered (to run) somewhere between October and April,” he said.

No matter, health district officials are reminding residents to get vaccinated against the disease after one of the worst flu seasons on record locally and nationwide.

In Southern Nevada, the health district reported 62 flu-related deaths and 980 hospitalizations during the previous season. While the elderly and very young are most at risk, a 12-year-old boy, a 24-year-old woman and a 37-year-old man were among the victims in the Las Vegas Valley.

And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told The Associated Press on Wednesday that 80,000 people died nationwide last winter, more than in any other year in the last four decades.

Still, last season doesn’t compare to the 1918 flu pandemic, which killed 675,000 Americans, according to the CDC.

‘Value in getting the vaccine’

It’s impossible to know how Americans will fare in the upcoming flu season. The CDC predicts which flu strains will be prevalent and bases its vaccine off that prediction. But sometimes the experts get it wrong.

Last year’s flu shot was rated 40 percent effective overall, though only 25 percent effective against the deadly H3N2 strain. Still, the vaccine can help lessen the symptoms of the virus-caused disease if you catch it.

And getting vaccinated helps protect those who can’t be, those who are particularly vulnerable and those with certain chronic conditions.

The vaccine — which is not a live virus and cannot, contrary to a persistent belief in some quarters, cause the flu — takes about two weeks to become effective, so Leguen recommended vaccinating as soon as possible.

Anyone 6 months and older should be vaccinated, according to updated CDC guidelines, which previously recommended waiting until age 3.

“It’s about prevention. It’s about making sure most of the population understands how important the vaccine is,” said Leguen. “There is always value in getting the vaccine.”

Those who can’t get vaccinated before the start of October shouldn’t forgo the shot altogether.

The CDC recommends getting the flu shot by the end of October, though it can still be effective later.

If you get sick, stay home, Leguen said — especially in the first 24 hours of developing symptoms. You could spread the virus by going to work or school, and you never know how another person might react to the same strain.

Other effective methods for staying healthy include proper hand washing and cleaning contaminated surfaces, he said. If you feel a cough coming on, cover it.

“The message is about really having as many people as possible vaccinated,” Leguen said.

Contact Jessie Bekker at jbekker@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563. Follow @jessiebekks on Twitter.