Get the flu shot, state urges

Flu season has arrived and the Wyoming Department of Health is urging citizens to get their flu shot to help avoid the double impact of a serious flu season combined with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Influenza A, which is the type of flu associated with more serious illness and death, was beginning to take over as the dominant strain when Wyoming imposed restrictions for the pandemic in March. Said state health officer Dr. Alexia Harrist on Thursday, the measures taken for COVID-19 likely helped to stop that spread.

However, she warned, Wyoming is under fewer restrictions as the new flu season begins and the combined threat “could be significant”. Like COVID-19, she said, flu can cause employees and students to stay home and damage our businesses and schools.

Any steps we can take to avoid this are good, Harrist said. While most healthy people will recover from both respiratory illnesses, they can also pass them on to more vulnerable persons.

“As we approach a new flu season, we know flu viruses will circulate while COVID-19 remains a threat,” Harrist said in a press release. “Because there are fewer restrictions in Wyoming now than in the spring, we are concerned about the potential harm to our residents and strain on our healthcare system from the combined threat of both influenza and COVID-19.”

Just as the state has been asking Wyomingites to consider other people when it comes to COVID-19 and follow social distancing measures to protect each other, she said, the state is now asking citizens to think of others by getting flu shots.

“Unfortunately, flu season is not going to stay away for much longer,” she said.

According to WDH, flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat and sometimes lungs. Symptoms come on suddenly and include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, headache, extreme tiredness and muscle or body aches.

“Everyone six months of age and older should receive a flu shot. Flu viruses change frequently, so the vaccine is updated every season,” Harrist said on Thursday.

Testing is important to prevent the spread of both diseases. To this end, Harrist said on Thursday that the state public health laboratory has received the necessary supplies to now once again be offering tests that can detect both COVID-19 and flu.

WDH guidance states that vulnerable populations for whom the vaccine is particularly important include children, pregnant women, those with chronic health conditions and people over the age of 65. If you are in contact with high risk individuals, you are also urged to get the vaccine.

According to Harrist, it takes about two weeks after receiving the vaccine for it to offer protection.

“If someone waits to get their flu shot until after a family member, friend or coworker has caught the illness, they may not be protected,” she said.