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It's Not Too Late For That Flu Shot

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 12, 2008

Perhaps you think the flu season is winding down. It's not. Tampa Bay-area doctors say a viral syndrome is making its way around the region that can leave people sick and achy for up to three weeks.

There's still time to get a flu shot.

"Absolutely, definitely, positively" people need the vaccine, says Dr. Stephen M. Kreitzer of Tampa, a pulmonary disease specialist.

The shot's not perfect, since the influenza virus is constantly changing and making copies of itself. The Washington Post reports that nearly half the cases of seasonal influenza are caused by viral strains not covered by last year's flu vaccine.

Still, the vaccine prepared each year includes an overlap with antibodies built up in the population during the previous flu season. It generally is concocted from viral strains detected in East Asia and spread across the Pacific. The East Coast of Florida is often the last part of the United States to see patients with the virus, and by the time it arrives, other strains will have developed.

The vaccine offers some protection. People with flu frequently develop secondary bacterial infections, a complication that must be treated with antibiotics. And some bacteria have become resistant to the drugs.

So it's best, as Dr. Kreitzer says, not to play Russian Roulette. Get a flu shot.

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