Health Officials Urge Vaccinations After Flu Hits Maryland
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—Health officials are urging people to get their flu shot after Maryland's first confirmed case of the season is announced this week.
WJZ's Rick Ritter has more on the concerns.
It's a virus that's highly contagious. Year after year, the flu wreaks havoc on the Baltimore area, sometimes it's even deadly.
"Every year patients are hospitalized, the flu kills over 30,000 people a year," said Dr. Leigh Vinocur, MedStar PromptCare.
This week brought Maryland's first confirmed influenza case of the season. Health officials say the flu strain was type A H1N1, exactly what's in this year's vaccination.
Pharmacies say more patients are now rolling in, some like Keena Smith and her little son Karron are getting out in front.
"It concerns me because you can die from it," said Smith.
One crucial reason why health officials don't want people to wait on getting their flu shot is because it takes at least 2 weeks for the vaccination to become 100% effective.
Last year's vaccine was largely ineffective after a different strain started spreading.
The CDC predicts this year's will be much better as it now protects against that strain.
Dr. Lucy Wilson puts the popular myth to rest saying, you can't get the flu from the flu shot.
"Everyone get vaccinated, please get vaccinated, and keep everyone from getting sick," Smith says.
According to CDC, last year just 47 percent of Americans got the shot.
Health officials say Maryland's first confirmed flu case of the season was diagnosed in an adult from the Baltimore area, who was not hospitalized.
