Get Flu Shots Now, Health Experts Warn Public | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Time is running out to get vaccinated before the expected peak of flu season, health officials say.

    The flu has hit hardest in late December and early January over the past few years, said Anita Valiani, an epidemiologist with the state Department of Health and Human Services. Her advice: "I'd say, 'Go get your flu shot now.'"

    Thousands of people die and hundreds of thousands are hospitalized each year because of flu-related illnesses. Many people tend to pick up the flu during the holidays because they have contact with more people, Valiani said.

    "You don't want to be sick over the holidays," she said.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 3,000 to 49,000 people died annually from flu-associated illness between 1976 and 2007.

    Two children in North Carolina have died from the flu since Oct. 1, state records show.

    Valiani said about half of North Carolina residents have gotten the flu shot each of the past two years. That is better than in most states, she said.

    A recent study showed that flu shots reduced the risk of children being hospitalized in pediatric intensive care units with flu-like illnesses by 74 percent from 2010 to 2012, according to the CDC. Another study during the 2011-12 flu season showed that vaccinations were associated with a 71 percent decline in flu-related hospitalizations among adults of all ages, and a 77 percent drop among adults 50 and older.

    People who get the flu shot also stop the sickness from spreading, [director of infection control at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital Jayne] Lee said.

    "Everybody who gets the vaccine is protecting others," she said. "The more people we can get vaccinated, the better."