Not too late for a flu shot

Flu season is starting to hit now, filling doctors' offices with people who wished they had gotten their vaccine shot last fall.

But for others it's not too late.

For those who remain well, there is still time to vaccinate, and shots are available. A North Carolina teenager's death from flu last week points up the importance of protection. The state also reported the death of an older adult.

"Most people with flu, if you ask them if they feel like they've been hit with a truck, they answer yes," said Dr. Michele Casey director of primary care for WakeMed Health in Raleigh.

This year's flu season is following a typical trajectory, unlike last year's early salvo from the pandemic H1N1 strain. The novel virus hit in the spring, tailed off in the summer and roared back to a peak in October.

All indications suggest North Carolina, which is now experiencing widespread outbreaks, will top out with infections in late February or early March after a steady escalation of cases that has just begun.

"We'll see a dramatic increase in the next six to eight weeks," she said. "So it's not too late to get a vaccine and avoid the illness."

Pharmacy officials said vaccine is available; it costs up to $30, and most insurers pay.

"There's plenty of vaccine in the marketplace - in physician offices, in pharmacies. There should not be an excuse as far as availability," said Mark Gregory, a vice president of Kerr Drug in Raleigh.

But many have resisted or postponed shots. Joe Ciccarello, pharmacy supervisor for CVS in Charlotte, said more than half of respondents in a survey of customers indicated they had not gotten a flu shot.

He said a big reason customers cited was the perpetual myth that flu shots cause flu.

"That's very false," Ciccarello said. The shots are made with deactivated virus, so they cannot make people sick. The nasal flu vaccine does include live virus, and may cause some to feel mildly sniffly afterward.

Kimberly Tschirret, 42, of Raleigh, said she got her flu shot Monday.

"I had forgotten to get it, and was just at the doctor's office and decided to go ahead. It's been a long time since I've gotten the flu."

And she wanted to keep it that way.