Alaska’s chief medical officer, Anne Zink, is urging people to get the flu vaccine this month to protect themselves against an early season.
“Early flu is looking rough in Alaska,” Zink said. “What we’ve seen is a real uptick in the last couple of weeks, for influenza.”
She said the department often recommends people get the flu vaccine before Halloween. The slogan is “Flu Before Boo” and this year Zink said she thinks that’s a good goal.
She said it’s hard to predict what the flu season will look like this year, but she’s concerned. She said last year there was an early flu season and later there were high numbers of cases of Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV, flu, and COVID. That surge threatened hospital capacity in the state last winter.
“When we get a lot of viruses all at once, we can really overwhelm our limited healthcare capacity system within the state,” said Zink.
But Zink said there are more immunizations than ever available for respiratory illnesses. This year is the first year an immunization for RSV is available for newborn babies up to eight months old. Last year was the first year older adults could get a vaccine for RSV. This year, there are two RSV vaccines for adults over the age of 60, and a vaccine available for pregnant women so they can pass immunity to their child. And Zink said, in addition to flu shots, people at greater risk for severe symptoms can take treatments like Tamiflu within the first two days of symptoms to reduce severity.
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Rachel Cassandra covers health and wellness for Alaska Public Media. Reach her at rcassandra@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Rachel here.
