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Make sure you get your flu shot

Northeast Michigan public health officials are warning that this year’s flu season could be more severe than typical, News staff writer Crystal Nelson informed us last week.

Health officials watching the flu spread in the Southern Hemisphere said a more severe strain of the flu — H3N2 — was predominant there, providing a warning that our flu season up north could be “worse-than-average,” Joshua Meyerson, medical director with District Health Department No. 4, said.

“Regardless, whether we think it’s going to be a bad year or a good year, if you get the flu, it’s a bad year, and if you don’t get it, you feel better,” Meyerson told Nelson. “But anyone who gets it is feeling pretty miserable for at least a week, so everyone should get a flu vaccine every year.”

We — and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — agree.

The CDC suggests the following people get the flu vaccine every year:

∫ Those with certain medical conditions, such as asthma, diabetes or chronic heart or lung disease

∫ Pregnant women

∫ Those 65 and older

∫ Those who care for others who are a high risk of flu-related complications.

Talk to your doctor, the Health Department, or your pharmacist about where you can get a flu shot.

Stay well, Alpena.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)

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