It’s not too late to get a flu shot
Many experts recommend getting a flu shot in October for best protection during the height of flu season, but William Agel, MD, MPH, chief medical officer for Cape Cod Hospital and Cape Cod Healthcare, had the briefest of answers when asked whether mid-January was too late to get this season’s shot: “No.”
Through January 3, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported high or very high levels of illness in most U.S. states. The CDC estimated that so far this season there have been at least 15 million illnesses, 180,000 hospitalizations and 7,400 deaths from flu (including four children in Massachusetts).
“Flu levels across the Commonwealth are quite high, significantly higher than last year,” Dr. Agel said.
Reasons for the Surge
He said two factors likely explain the surge. One is specific to this year’s dominant strain, a subvariant known as subclade K.
“It’s important to understand that the flu virus mutates throughout the year and circulates continuously throughout the year, although flu cases are more prevalent during the winter months when everybody’s inside and gathering, which adds fuel to the fire,” he said.
The FDA and CDC choose a flu shot formulation each year based on what’s circulating in the Southern hemisphere during their winter months. “They get it right most of the time,” said Dr. Agel. “This year, the virus mutated into subclade K after they made that determination, and that caused the vaccine to be a little bit less effective at preventing the spread of flu.”
The other factor behind the surge, he said, is that fewer people are getting vaccinated against the flu.
“Only about one in three Massachusetts residents has gotten a flu vaccine, and we’d like to see it more than 50 percent. As a public health person, I’d love to see virtually everyone who's eligible for a flu vaccine get it, but that’s never going to be the case. But about 50 percent will give you a lot more protection, both individually and as a group. We all learned about herd immunity during the pandemic – the more people who are immune, the fewer avenues for viruses to spread.”
He’s heard some people say they hesitate to get the flu vaccine because they think it gave them the flu in the past. “Chances are, what happened is they felt a little bit of the feeling of the flu afterwards because it primes your immune system. What happens when we prime our immune system? We might feel a little under the weather for a day or two. That’s a lot better than the seven to 10 days of really feeling terrible with the actual flu.”
Severity is About the Same
Some media reports have called the subclade K a “super flu,” but Dr. Agel said that’s not accurate.
“It is about the same severity as every other flu virus we’ve seen over the course of the last dozen years. It’s no worse than the flu that we had last year. It’s just spreading a little bit more because of the reasons that I mentioned.
“But the good news is that while the flu shot doesn’t seem to be very good at preventing the transmission of flu this year, it still retains a robust ability to prevent severe disease. If you were to get the flu, it would protect you from ending up in the hospital or ending up getting a severe case of the flu, which can be pretty bad, especially for people at risk. That would include pregnant patients, people who have underlying medical disorders like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and certainly people over the age of 65, as well as children under 5.”
Travel Plans? Don’t Wait
As for timing, don’t wait, he said, especially if you plan to travel during the February school vacation. The flu shot takes about two weeks before it gives you full protection. Flu season usually peaks from December through February and lasts until May.
“Getting your flu shot now would give you excellent protection from severe disease during that time,” Dr. Agel said. “Also, there are other flu strains circulating as well, and it’ll protect you from getting those other flu strains. So, there’s little to no risk of getting a flu vaccine shot and only upside.”
Flu shots are available at most pharmacies, in many cases on a walk-in basis. Flu shots are also offered by appointment at Cape Cod Hospital and Falmouth Hospital pharmacies.
If you come down with the flu, stay home, so you don’t infect others, he said. “If you have to go out when you have the flu or an upper respiratory infection, that’s the time when you should consider wearing a mask, because you’ll be protecting people around you.
“As far as protecting yourself, wash your hands diligently or use a hand sanitizer if you can’t get to a bathroom. Those are very, very potent ways of protecting yourself and protecting your family and the people around you.”
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