Flu vaccinations available for active duty Airmen

  • Published
  • By Tyler Hemstreet
  • 62nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash --  The arrival of fall brings with it not only the changing of the colors of the leaves on the trees, but flu season as well.

The single best way to prevent the flu is to get a flu vaccination each fall, said Maj. James Ault, a health care integrator with the 62nd Medical Group.

It's also required by Air Force policy.

"Every year you have to get vaccinated, regardless if you had it last year," he said. "Each year the flu season is a little different."

The 62nd Medical Group is now offering "Flu Mist" for active duty Airmen. The mist is a vaccine made with weakened live flu viruses that do not cause the flu. It is approved for use in healthy people 5 to 49 years of age.
It enters the body by being squirted once into each nostril, said Staff Sgt. Candace Stacy, 62nd MDG.

While the mist can have some of the same side effects as the flu shot, Sergeant Stacy said using the mist won't leave you with a sore arm.
"A lot of people like it because they don't like needles," she said.

Major Ault said there is no timetable right now for the arrival of the flu shot, but when the medical group receives its full shipment of the flu vaccine, additional beneficiaries will be offered the vaccine.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 5 to 20 percent of the population gets the flu each year and more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications. Flu symptoms include fever, headache, extreme tiredness, dry cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle aches and stomach symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, also can occur but are more common in children than adults.

Flu viruses spread mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing of people with influenza. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.

Airmen can get vaccinated at the immunization clinic from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday on a walk-in basis. For more information about immunizations, call 982-5189.