National Influenza Vaccination Week can be noticed Dec. 4–8, which makes this a great time to be taught extra concerning the flu and why it is particularly vital that you just get a flu shot in case you have cancer.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Mayo Clinic suggest a yearly flu vaccination for everybody 6 months and older, with uncommon exceptions. Vaccination is your greatest protection towards flu. If you have not gotten your flu shot but, now’s the time.
For most individuals, influenza, or the flu, resolves by itself. But generally the flu and its issues could be lethal. People at greater danger of creating flu issues embrace younger youngsters, pregnant women and these two weeks postpartum, individuals over 65, individuals with weakened immune programs and some power diseases, and people who find themselves overweight.
Having cancer, being handled for cancer or being a cancer survivor improve your danger for flu issues. For individuals at high danger, flu issues can embrace pneumonia, coronary heart issues and acute respiratory misery syndrome. Pneumonia is among the most severe issues as it may be lethal for older adults and individuals with a power sickness.
What is the flu?
What many individuals name the flu is definitely viral gastroenteritis, or abdomen flu, which is characterised by diarrhea, nausea, and stomach cramps and ache. Influenza is the true flu. It’s a viral an infection that assaults your respiratory system, together with your nostril, throat and lungs.
At first, flu could look like a common cold, with a runny nostril, sneezing and sore throat. But whereas colds normally develop slowly, flu tends to come back on all of a sudden. And though a chilly could be a hassle, you normally really feel a lot worse with flu.
How to maintain your self healthy
Unlike the frequent chilly and abdomen flu, there’s a vaccine for flu. While it isn’t 100% efficient, getting vaccinated for flu can scale back your danger of changing into contaminated with flu, and reduce its severity and decrease your danger of hospitalization in case you are contaminated.
In addition to vaccination, it is also vital to take a number of measures to cut back the unfold of an infection, together with:
- Wash your arms.
Washing your arms usually with cleaning soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds is an efficient technique to stop many frequent infections. Or use alcohol-based hand sanitizers if cleaning soap and water aren’t accessible. - Avoid touching your face.
Specifically, keep away from touching your eyes, nostril and mouth to forestall spreading viruses. - Cover your coughs and sneezes.
Cough or sneeze right into a tissue or your elbow. Then wash your arms. - Clean surfaces.
Regularly clear often-touched surfaces to forestall unfold of an infection from touching a floor with the virus on it and then your face. - Avoid crowds.
The flu spreads simply wherever individuals collect — in little one care facilities, colleges, workplace buildings, auditoriums and public transportation. By avoiding crowds throughout peak flu season, you scale back your probabilities of an infection.
Connect with others speaking about residing with cancer within the Cancer Support Group on Mayo Clinic Connect, a web based affected person group moderated by Mayo Clinic.
