JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
After a flu season that the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention described as “moderately severe,” health care professionals at Joint
Base San Antonio-Randolph’s 359th Medical Group are urging beneficiaries to
make plans to receive their immunizations as soon as the vaccine for the
2015-16 season is available.
Capt. Avis McCaslin,
359th MDG Pediatric Clinic Flight commander, stressed the importance of flu
shots: People who are immunized are not only protecting themselves, they are
protecting others.
“It’s important to receive a flu shot because there are
individuals who have a higher risk of having dangerous flu-related
complications,” she said. “The high-risk individuals include, but are not
limited to, pregnant women, children 6 months to 5 years old, people over the
age of 50 and those who are immunocompromised.”
According to the CDC, H3N2 viruses were the most common
during the 2014-15 season, followed by a wave of influenza B activity starting
in early March. McCaslin said it’s “impossible to predict” what the next flu
season will bring.
“Each year is different in terms of how the virus is spread,
its severity and how long it will last,” she said. “With such variations, it’s
not predictable.”
McCaslin said it’s also impossible to predict when the flu
season will peak.
“The timing is equally unpredictable as the other
variables,” she said. “We do know that flu season occurs in the winter, most
commonly from December to February, but as early as October and as late as
May.”
The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months old and older
should be vaccinated against the flu, but there are exceptions, McCaslin said.
“The individuals who do not get the vaccine are those with a
severe reaction in the past, who are severely allergic to eggs and who have a
fever the day of the vaccination,” she said. “Those are just examples of those
who are more than likely not eligible. It is important to talk to your health
care provider about whether or not you should receive the flu vaccine.”
Staff Sgt. Kelly Boos, 359th Medical Operations Squadron NCO
in charge of pediatrics, said children 6 months to 7 years old who are getting
vaccinated for the first time require a regimen of two doses, with the second
one given at least 30 days after the first.
According to the CDC, the first dose “primes” the immune
system, while the second provides immune protection.
Boos said a yearly flu vaccine is recommended after the
initial vaccine is administered, and is available in both injectable and
nasal-spray form. The vaccine protects against the main flu viruses that
research suggests will be the most common during that flu season.
McCaslin described the flu, or influenza, as a “contagious
respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses.”
“The best way to prevent it is through vaccination,” she
said. “It is spread through droplets when people with the flu cough, sneeze or
talk. Less often is flu contracted by contact.”
Flu symptoms range from fever, cough and sore throat to
runny nose and muscle aches.
Once the vaccine supplies arrive, the 359th MDG plans to
visit active-duty units, administer doses at the JBSA-Randolph Exchange for two
days and establish flu lines at the clinic during busy times, McCaslin said.
Boos said beneficiaries can expect longer wait times during
flu season.
“At the end of the day, when students get out of school,
we’re pretty swamped,” she said. “We’re also doing routine vaccinations at the
same time, so we do the best we can.”
The immunization clinic hours are 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.
Monday-Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday. Smallpox vaccinations are
administered 3-4:15 p.m. Friday.