With influenza already causing hospitalizations in Yankton, the message from health care providers is clear: October is a beautiful month to get a flu shot, so get it now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis week alone, we have had three influenza-related hospitalizations, and it is the fourth week in October,\u201d Elizabeth Healy, infection prevention coordinator for Avera Sacred Heart Hospital, told the Press & Dakotan. \u201cI can\u2019t remember a flu season where we would have already had three hospitalizations (this) early in the flu season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flu season typically runs from November to March, peaking in February.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year in South Dakota, we had almost 1,600 influenza hospitalizations and (that) was a pretty severe year,\u201d Healy said. \u201cLast year was one of the most virulent that we\u2019ve had in about 13-14 years. We had over 21,000 positive flu cases \u2014 and that\u2019s the ones we know about because not everyone gets tested.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2024-2025 flu season was probably one of the most severe in years, said Vickie Larson, influenza surveillance coordinator for the South Dakota Department of Health.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Epidemiologists generally look to the southern hemisphere for indications on what the upcoming flu season will look like.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe never know if we\u2019re following the southern hemisphere or the southern hemisphere follows us,\u201d Larson said. \u201cBut we were monitoring influenza over the summer and Australia reported that they had the worst influenza season on record. So, that is what CDC is predicting: severity similar to the \u201824-\u201925 season, and they base that on hospitalization rates and the fact that COVID, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and influenza will all circulate at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though a recent flu-shot clinic in Yankton County saw more people get vaccinated than over the last two years, the trend nationally has seen flu vaccinations dwindle since the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m talking with people who may be a little vaccine hesitant, one of the things I talk to them about are the benefits versus the risks,\u201d Healy said. \u201cIf you look at (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] influenza activity report) for 2024 2025, among hospitalized patients only 32.4% had received an influenza vaccine. To me, that shows that the majority of people being hospitalized and missing work were not vaccinated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Healy encourages people to consult a trusted medical provider about the benefits versus the risk of a flu shot.<\/p>\n
Common symptoms of influenza include fever, chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, fatigue and headaches. Also, some people, children in particular, might experience vomiting and diarrhea.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those most likely to develop serious complications from influenza include adults aged 65 years and older, young children, especially those under the age of five, and pregnant women, as well as individuals with chronic health conditions, including asthma, diabetes or heart disease, and anyone with a weakened immune system. Anyone experiencing any sort of trouble breathing should seek medical attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With widespread influenza testing available, doctors see influenza infections year round rather than just in the winter time, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see influenza start to pick up usually about mid-November, and then when the colder weather starts,\u201d Larson said. \u201cIt\u2019s not really that influenza is more severe, it\u2019s just that people\u2019s activities change because of the weather. They\u2019re driven to do more indoor activities where you\u2019re in closer proximity with people. So rather than going to football games, you\u2019re going to basketball games, and you\u2019re sitting right next to each other inside a confined space.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, with the weather beginning to get cold and activities moving indoors, now is the optimal time to get your flu shot, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe flu shot varies a little bit each season and improves your immunity to circulating strains,\u201d Larson said. \u201cA big change for the vaccine this year is there are more formulations available that are thimerosal-free.\u201d<\/p>\n
The federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met in June and recommended that children ages 18 and younger, pregnant women and all adults receive flu vaccines in single dose formulations only, without the preservative thimerosal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are also a lot of different types of influenza vaccines, so there are options,\u201d Healy said. \u201cWe have your normal trivalent, there\u2019s an egg-free dose, there is a flu mist for people that really don\u2019t like shots and there\u2019s a high-dose available. The high-dose vaccine is for anyone aged 65 years and older, and it gives them a little bit more protection.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, waiting until there is widespread flu activity in your area to get your flu shot increases the likelihood of being exposed to the virus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal of influenza vaccination is not to prevent you from getting influenza,\u201d Larson said. \u201cIt\u2019s to boost your immunity so that your chances of being hospitalized and dying of influenza are improved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vaccination aims to reduce the number of people sick enough to be hospitalized and possibly succumb to their illness, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people say, \u2018Oh, I had the flu,\u2019\u201d Larson said. \u201cUnless you have a fever and you\u2019re laying on your couch and feel like you\u2019ve been run over by a train, you probably don\u2019t have influenza. You probably have the common cold or something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are several other respiratory illnesses with similar symptoms, but influenza causes a fever greater than 100\u00b0 F. and has a rapid onset, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Other vaccines available to help prevent serious illness during respiratory virus season include three options for RSV and the COVID-19 vaccine, Healy said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s an RSV vaccine for older adults and an RSV vaccine for pregnant women that actually helps prevent RSV when the baby is born,\u201d Healy said. \u201cThere\u2019s also an RSV treatment that is not a vaccine, but monoclonal antibodies that can be given to infants that help reduce the risk of hospitalization due to RSV for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also, there is now an updated COVID-19 vaccine recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC) that does not require a prescription.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those who do get sick can resume normal activities when symptoms improve and temperatures stay below 100.4\u00b0 F for 24 hours without fever-reducing medications. Added precautions, including hand washing and social distancing are still recommended.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut stay home if you\u2019re sick,\u201d Larson said. \u201cIf you have to go out to seek medical care or pick up your prescriptions from the pharmacy or if you\u2019re a single mom and you have to get groceries, maybe it\u2019s appropriate to wear a mask. We are not recommending wearing masks (because) during COVID, a lot of people thought that masks made them Superman and that\u2019s not the message we intended.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, when considering a flu shot, it\u2019s important to keep in mind that people travel extensively these days and so do diseases, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYankton is in an interesting area,\u201d Larson said. \u201cYou\u2019re in that corner where you\u2019ve got surrounding states, you\u2019ve got lots of travelers and lots of people come to Yankton from out of state. Now, with hunting season and then Thanksgiving travel, that speeds up getting influenza in South Dakota.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With influenza already causing hospitalizations in Yankton, the message from health care providers is clear: October is a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[1075,97,252,253],"class_list":["post-250370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-community","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}