HHS HealthBeat (February 06, 2009)

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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

If you haven’t gotten the flu yet, that doesn’t mean you won’t. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Tony Fiore tracks the trends:

[Dr. Tony Fiore speaks] ``Influenza activity in the United States has been low so far, but is increasing. Influenza most often peaks in February, but influenza viruses can continue to circulate into April or May.’’

So Dr. Fiore suggests that, if you haven’t gotten a flu shot yet, now is still a good time.

Some antiviral drugs can treat the flu if they’re taken early. But you need a prescription to get them, and flu viruses have been growing resistant to one of the drugs.

In any case, vaccination doesn’t have a resistance problem. And getting vaccinated to avoid the flu beats getting the flu and then having to suffer through it and treat it.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: February, 09 2009