Everywhere you look, you’ll find evidence that fall is upon us.
Kids are back in school. Football is on TV. Evenings are getting chilly — it’s time to break out that favorite puffy coat!
In the world of health care, fall also means the onset of what we used to call flu season, and now call respiratory illness season. Flu, COVID-19 and RSV are all common in our region, and each of them can cause serious illness that will wreck that camping weekend or ski vacation or holiday gathering or overseas trip you’ve been planning.
Don’t let that happen. Protect yourself, protect your family and friends and protect your fun times by getting vaccinated.
This year, safe and effective vaccines designed to prevent serious cases of flu, COVID and RSV are available. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is encouraging everyone 6 months old and older to get vaccinated against flu and COVID-19 by the end of October, and to talk to their primary care physician about whether they should get the RSV vaccine. (Generally speaking, RSV vaccines are recommended for people 60 and older, as well as pregnant people.)
At St. Charles, our Family Care and Urgent Care clinics will begin administering flu and COVID vaccines to patients on Oct. 1. You can get more information on our Vaccines page.
Vaccines do not always prevent illness, but they can curtail how sick you get if you are infected. And when you curtail how sick you get, you also likely reduce visits to doctor’s offices, missed work days and missed school days for kids. Flu and COVID are more than just illnesses — they’ll disrupt your whole life for a while!
Getting vaccinated is also especially important for people over the age of 65, pregnant people and people with underlying health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity or a weakened immune system. If this is you, you are at a higher risk of developing serious flu complications, which can lead to hospitalization or even death.
Last but not least, you can do other things to stay healthy this respiratory illness season: Wash your hands. Eat well and get good sleep. Avoid close contact with people who are sick. Wear a mask in crowds, if you so choose. If you do get sick, please stay home.
And remember: Vaccines remain the safest way to build immunity from a virus and our best protection against serious respiratory illness.
Stay healthy out there!
Sincerely,
Steve
