It’s the Time of Year for Flu Immunizations

After 50 years of smoking 1 1/2 packs of cigarettes a day and working with asbestos-laden plaster, 75-year-old Ray Stedry gets winded just walking from the kitchen to his phone. But being a firm believer in preventive medicine, Stedry has kept the flu and pneumonia at bay with his annual immunization--a flu shot.

“In my experience, those of us with pulmonary problems to begin with have enough problems without the flu,” said Stedry, adding that the flu can develop into pneumonia severe enough to kill. Don’t hesitate to get immunized, he said.

Beginning Oct. 15, public clinics and senior citizen groups throughout San Diego County will begin their fight against the winter flu that sends thousands to the hospital and can kill more than 100 people a year. Their weapon is a vaccine made from an inactivated influenza virus that reinforces the person’s immune system. The immunization costs $2 at the clinics, although some organizations offer free shots.

County health officials are encouraging seniors and children with lung ailments--those most at risk for the flu--to get their shots in late October so that their immune systems are ready when the flu season hits.

The immunizations are given once a year because the types of virus change and because the protection becomes less effective after six weeks.

Each flu season, nearly 2,000 people call the county Area Agency on Aging for immunization information, said Vickie Velasco, who has worked with the agency for 17 years.

Although local officials have reports indicating the flu season will be early this year, they don’t know if an epidemic is due.

Quoting national figures, Kathy Sullivan of the American Lung Assn. in San Diego said an epidemic has occurred twice in the last decade, with more than 40,000 flu-related deaths each of the years. (The group is offering free flu shots Oct. 22 at its offices, 2750 4th Ave.).

Dr. Greshan Bayne, who runs a house-call medical service, Call Doc Inc. of San Diego, said calls attributed to the flu doubled last year to 240 people in one month. Bayne said he serves many house-bound, elderly people.

Influenza is highly contagious, carried by a cough or sneeze, much like a cold, Sandra Wright, school nurse for Bay Park and Benchley/Weinberger Elementary schools in San Diego, said.

Each year, parents get a cold and flu letter reminding them to be alert for flu symptoms: a fever and cough if it hits the upper respiratory system; diarrhea and vomiting if it hits the lower respiratory system. The flu can last more than four days and parents should take their child to a pediatrician, she said.

“The vaccination is only recommended for children with diabetes, asthma or kidney problems,” Wright said. “If those children get the virus, they may end up in the hospital.”

Public health officials define the following groups as “high risk” of contracting the flu: people with chronic heart, lung, kidney or metabolic conditions; people with weakened immune systems, and care givers to high-risk persons.