HJAR Jan/Feb 2020

36 JAN / FEB 2020 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS as nursing homes, people with weakened immune systems, and people with chronic health conditions. In the United States, flu usually peaks between December and February, but may occur as early as September and as late as May. The CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health estimates that the flu’s annual direct medical costs in the U.S., such as hospital and doctor’s office visits and medications, are $4.6 billion. The flu causes U.S. employees to miss about 17 million workdays annually, costing an estimated $7 billion a year in sick days and lost productivity. Consider a local example of flu’s economic impact. According to a publicly available analysis by ACHI, 2,310 members of the Arkansas State and Public School Employees Health Insurance Plan received COLUMN POLICY ‘Tis the (Flu) Season THE FLU: WHAT IS IT? The flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by a variety of influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat, and lungs. The symptoms are similar to those you might experience with a cold, but with the flu, fever, body aches, fatigue, and coughing are more common and intense than with a cold. In some cases, the flu can lead to complications resulting in hospitalization or death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the flu causes between 9.3 million and 49 million illnesses, and between 12,000 and 79,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. People who are at the greatest risk of serious complications from the flu include adults 65 and older, children younger than two years, women who are pregnant or have given birth within two weeks, people who live in long-term care facilities such a flu diagnosis during the 2017‒18 flu season. This resulted in $1.3 million in health care costs, an average of $563 per person. Note that these costs do not take into account missed work. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FLU VACCINES Getting a flu vaccine is the best way to keep from getting the flu. The CDC recommends yearly vaccinations for everyone over six months old. The reason you need a new shot each year is because flu viruses are constantly changing, and flu vaccines change each year to try to keep up with the changes in the viruses. One way flu viruses change is through antigenic shift, which occurs when two or more strains of virus combine to form a new strain. People will have few, if any, pre-existing antibodies to fight the new The holiday season may be over, but flu season is still with us. In this column I will discuss what the flu is, what everyone needs to know about flu vaccines, and other ways to prevent infection.