Contact
• For more information on flu vaccinations available for adults, call the Forsyth County Health Department at (770) 781-6900 or visit http://www.fchd.us/.
• For questions about the school flu shot program, please contact Connie Trent, Forsyth County Schools’ health services coordinator, at (770) 887-2461 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting, Ext. 202336, or at ctrent@forsyth.k12.ga.us. The flu shot consent form is available at http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/cms/lib3/GA01000373/Centricity/Domain/1/2012-2013ConsentFormEnglishInsurance.docx.
District 2 Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are encouraging those who haven’t done so to get a flu shot this season.
As part of National Influenza Vaccination Week, which runs through Saturday, the CDC reported flu activity is higher than normal for this time of year.
District 2 Public Health spokesman Dave Palmer said the earlier cases extend the flu season, which is why reported cases could be higher than recent years.
“With the flu, it’s predictably unpredictable, so we never know,” Palmer said. “Often, we seen an increase in activity sometime after the holidays, and this year it’s occurred right before the holidays, so it’s a few weeks earlier than we normally see.”
Palmer said certain groups run a higher risk of contracting or having complications from the flu. They include pregnant women, children younger than 5, adults 50 and older, people with chronic medical conditions, health care workers and nursing home residents.
For those not in a high-risk category, Palmer said this year’s flu strain “is matching up well with the flu shot this year, so it would be wise to go ahead and get the flu shot and keep from getting the flu.”
He added that flu vaccinations are in supply and highly effective this year, which has not always been the case.
Forsyth County’s health department offers flu vaccinations for $25 and Medicare, Medicaid, PeachCare and State Health Benefits Plan (United Health Care and Cigna) are accepted.