My name is Kristin Nichol
and I am the Deputy Chief of Staff here
at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center.
This is the time of year when we start
thinking about influenza
and especially about how to prevent influenza.
Well why influenza?
I get lots of questions
why it's so much attention to influenza?
Well influenza is a really nasty and miserable illness.
It is an upper respiratory illness
but it's not your common cold.
Typical influenza includes
not only the respiratory symptoms
sore throat and cough
but often the sudden on set of fever, headache
muscle aches and joint aches
It can leave a person feeling just absolutely miserable.
In fact many people will describe influenza
as feeling like you just been hit by a train or by a truck .
Well people who are unfortunate enough to get influenza
and that can be 5 to 10% of the U.S. population
every year will spend
4 to 5 days or more being ill.
They might be in bed for 2 days
About 1/4 of them will even have to see
a health care provider because they're feeling so ill.
So influenza is a miserable illness.
But it's also the complications of influenza
that we particularly are concerned about
as health care workers.
For example the complications of influenza can include
pneumonia, exacerbations of chronic
underlying medical conditions such as
diabetes, lung disease, or heart disease
and these complications can result in
hospitalization and even death.
Well who's at particularly high risk
for developing these serious complications?
Remember everybody is at risk for developing
influenza but who is at especially
high risk for developing those complications?
Well it includes babies and other young children
it includes people of all ages
who have chronic underlying
medical conditions including
as I mentioned before diabetes heart disease
lung disease other serious medical conditions
It includes the elderly people 65 and older.
It includes pregnant women
it includes people who live in nursing homes
and other long-term care facilities.
So there are lots of people who are high risk
for these serious complications of influenza
Well what about preventing influenza?
Well your annual influenza vaccination is the best way
to prevent influenza
and these annual vaccinations
usually a flu shot are very safe
and they are effective they're not perfect
but they are effective in reducing illness
and reducing the complications
So who should get a flu shot?
Well the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention and the VA
recommend that all adults get a flu shot
or an annual influenza vaccination every year
Now health care workers are in a special category
We all have a duty to first do no harm.
And why do I say that when we think about influenza?
It's because health care workers
can develop influenza of course
and if they come to work while they're still contagious
they can transmit influenza
to their patients and patients
who have developed influenza from health care workers
may be very ill already
and there have been reports in the medical literature
of patients becoming ill having prolonged
hospitalizations and even dying
from the influenza that they got
from a healthcare worker
We have a duty to first do no harm
to protect our patients and that's why health care
workers most certainly should get
their influenza vaccinations every year
So influenza is a bad disease.
We should all do everything we can to prevent influenza
and that includes getting vaccinated every year
It will protect you.
It protect your family and those you care about
and it will also protect our Veterans.