There's No Shortage Of Vaccine This Flu Season

You may have noticed the rattle in the chest of someone you work next to or that incessant hacking of the guy in the next cubicle.

Maybe you are starting to feel that scratching tickle in your own throat.

Sniffles, sore throats and sinus congestion are beginning to make their annual move into the Sunshine State. February typically is the height of flu season, and while there isn't an epidemic out there, getting a preventive shot now can ward off ailments, health officials say.

"It's a good time to get your flu shot," Hillsborough County Health Department spokesman Steve Huard said this morning. "Especially if you are seeing people sick all around you."

The department gets reports from hospitals, he said, and so far there aren't enough cases of flu to warrant much concern. Still, it's never a bad idea to practice prevention.

"We are seeing what we'd expect to see for this time of year in this area," Huard said. "Being that Florida does come into the flu season later than the rest of the nation, now is a really good time to get a flu shot if you haven't done so already."

Local health officials recommend flu shots for everyone, especially these folks:

•Individuals 50 or older;

•Residents and staff members of long-term care facilities;

•People with chronic medical conditions and members of their immediate families;

•Children 5 to18;

•Children 6 months to 5 years old along with their family members and caregivers;

•Pregnant women or women who will be pregnant during flu season;

•Health care workers;

•Immediate family members and caregivers of children younger than 6 months.

The health department has been inoculating people since October and still has plenty of vaccine, Huard said.

Ruth Wyatte, a supervisor at the department's main immunization clinic, said that an average of three to four patients -- mostly children -- get flu shots each day.

She expects more this week because people are being inoculated before going on holiday trips.

"Still," she said, "there are not as many as we'd like."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760.

INFOBOX

Getting a flu shot shouldn't be a problem. They typically are available at medical offices, walk-in clinics or at flu shot events at local supermarkets or drugstores.

Here are other health department clinics where flu shots are available:

•Sulphur Springs Health Center, 8605 N. Mitchell Ave., Tampa, (813) 307-8054;

•North Hillsborough Health Center, 9827 N. Sheldon Road, Tampa, (813) 307-8053;

•University Area Health Center, 13601 N. 22nd St., Tampa, (813) 307-8058;

•Floyd Kelton Health Center, 4704 B. W. Montgomery Ave., Tampa, (813) 307-8055;

•Joyce Ely Health Center, 205 14th Ave S.E., Tampa, (813) 307-8056;

•Plant City Health Center, 302 N. Michigan Ave., Plant City, (813) 307-8057.

The cost of a flu shot at the health department is $25.