Are you worried about getting the flu this winter?
Many Americans are. Flu season starts as early as October and can last as late as May . . . and there is a flu outbreak every year.
Flu viruses are always changing, and it’s hard to predict which strain this year’s will be—but you can get ready.
To learn how, tune into SMG Radio and hear internal medicine specialist Dr. Sweetie Mehra talk about protecting yourself from the flu.
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This Year’s Flu Virus
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Learn more about Sweeti Mehra, MD
Sweetie Mehra, MD
Sweeti Mehra, MD, specializes in internal medicine. She focuses on educating patients about disease prevention and the importance of screenings. Dr. Mehra has been a faculty member at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine.Learn more about Sweeti Mehra, MD
Transcription:
This Year’s Flu Virus
Melanie Cole (Host): Flu season can start as early as October and can last as late as May. There is a flu outbreak every year. The viruses are always changing and it’s hard to predict which strain this year’s will be but you can get ready. My guest today is Dr. Sweeti Mehra. She specializes in internal medicine at Summit Medical Group. Welcome to the show, Dr. Mehra. Tell us a little bit about what sort of flu season we are expecting this year.
Dr. Sweeti Mehra (Guest): Well, the flu season every year is different. Influenza is a contagious disease. Like you said, it can vary from October to May in the United States. Because there are many strains of the influenza virus, WHO and the CDC try to match the virus strains to the vaccine and they try to predict and try to vaccinate as many people in high risk groups as they can.
Melanie: Do we know what to expect each year as they predict and there’s a new strain and they try to include it in that vaccine? Do we know what’s coming this year?
Dr. Mehra: We will know probably as the season progresses. They try to use information from the season before to kind of predict this season but it isn’t until the middle of the flu season that we kind of start to see our success rates.
Melanie: So, last year people were concerned because the strain wasn’t included in the vaccine or some of it wasn’t. So, tell us about the vaccine itself and the strains that are in there.
Dr. Mehra: Again, because there are so many strains of the flu virus, they try to predict which ones are going to cause disease. Again, it is a prediction so they try to match it up with the vaccine to include those strains. Unfortunately, sometimes they’re successful; sometimes they’re not. But even if the vaccine and the viruses, let’s say, don’t match, they have shown that if you get the vaccine, if you get the flu, it can decrease your duration of symptoms. So, it is a good idea to get the vaccine each year.
Melanie: Who should get the vaccine? And also who shouldn’t?
Dr. Mehra: Basically, it’s recommended for everyone over the age of six months to get the flu vaccine. The highest risk groups, of course, is anyone over the age of 65, anyone who is a pregnant female, anyone who is immunocompromised or suffers from chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, lung disease and kidney disease. Even healthy individuals should get the flu vaccine because sometimes the highest risk groups, the vaccine may not cause an immune response. We don’t want them to be exposed to the flu virus, so it’s very helpful if the people living with them also get the vaccine so that if the vaccine matches up with the virus strains, we can prevent disease.
Melanie: How is the vaccine given? As I understand it, there’s a few different methods to get the vaccine.
Dr. Mehra: There is. One is a nasal version and it’s called the live attenuated vaccine. Usually, we can only give that to healthy individuals from the ages of 2-49. It cannot be given to anyone who’s a pregnant female or anyone immunocompromised. The second type of vaccine that is an option is an injectable version and usually this is considered a killed vaccine and that can be available at your doctor’s offices, too.
Melanie: So then, we get the vaccine. Does it last the whole season?
Dr. Mehra: Yes. So, the earlier you get it the better. You get more benefit. It does usually last the whole season. Unfortunately, though, because the virus keeps changing, you have to keep getting it annually so that you can again get protection against the new strains that come out each year.
Melanie: And, Dr. Mehra, some people will get the flu. Give us your best advice for those people that do get the flu and how do you know that you have the flu versus a cold?
Dr. Mehra: The symptoms of a flu and a cold can definitely be very similar, especially in the beginning. The virus can incubate in your body for 3-5 days before you actually even get symptoms. Some people get very mild symptoms those days. With the flu, usually you’ll have a very high fever, you’ll get a sore throat, you’ll get cough, headache, fatigue and very strong myalgias, which are the muscle aches and pains and that can last about seven days.
Melanie: Should they, if they have the symptoms, run off to their doctor? Are you still using Tamiflu to help speed things along?
Dr. Mehra: Tamiflu studies have shown that it could help to decrease durations of symptoms. If you think you have the flu, go see your doctor. If you go within 48 hours of your symptoms starting, then that’s the beast time to start Tamiflu. Again, sometimes it doesn’t work in some patients but it is an option and, therefore, you should talk to your doctor about it.
Melanie: If flu gets worse and you start to have bronchial symptoms, can flu turn into pneumonia?
Dr. Mehra: Yes, it can. That is one of the complications of the flu virus. Basically, again, the pneumonia could be viral or it could be bacterial. You’ll need to be evaluated by your doctor in order to figure that out and the decision on the antibiotics to cover the bacterial possibility is always an option to treat the pneumonia.
Melanie: So, in just the last few minutes, Dr. Mehra, give us your best advice about this year’s flu outbreak, the vaccine; when you should get that vaccine and why they should come to Summit Medical Group for their care.
Dr. Mehra: Basically, influenza is a problem that we deal with every year. There have been epidemics; there have been pandemics in the past and because of the vaccine we have tried to keep those big issues under control. The vaccine does have a success rate that can vary but even if it doesn’t completely prevent the flu from developing, it can definitely help to decrease your symptoms and duration of symptoms. Summit Medical Group is giving the flu shots. You should see your doctor at Summit Medical Group in order to talk it over with your doctor if you have questions so that he or she can go over the pros and cons with you. I think the earlier you get it, the better it is because as I mentioned it before, the earlier you get it the more benefit you will get.
Melanie: Thank you so much. It’s great information. You’re listening to SMG Radio. For more information you can go to SummitMedicalGroup.com. That’s SummitMedicalGroup.com. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
This Year’s Flu Virus
Melanie Cole (Host): Flu season can start as early as October and can last as late as May. There is a flu outbreak every year. The viruses are always changing and it’s hard to predict which strain this year’s will be but you can get ready. My guest today is Dr. Sweeti Mehra. She specializes in internal medicine at Summit Medical Group. Welcome to the show, Dr. Mehra. Tell us a little bit about what sort of flu season we are expecting this year.
Dr. Sweeti Mehra (Guest): Well, the flu season every year is different. Influenza is a contagious disease. Like you said, it can vary from October to May in the United States. Because there are many strains of the influenza virus, WHO and the CDC try to match the virus strains to the vaccine and they try to predict and try to vaccinate as many people in high risk groups as they can.
Melanie: Do we know what to expect each year as they predict and there’s a new strain and they try to include it in that vaccine? Do we know what’s coming this year?
Dr. Mehra: We will know probably as the season progresses. They try to use information from the season before to kind of predict this season but it isn’t until the middle of the flu season that we kind of start to see our success rates.
Melanie: So, last year people were concerned because the strain wasn’t included in the vaccine or some of it wasn’t. So, tell us about the vaccine itself and the strains that are in there.
Dr. Mehra: Again, because there are so many strains of the flu virus, they try to predict which ones are going to cause disease. Again, it is a prediction so they try to match it up with the vaccine to include those strains. Unfortunately, sometimes they’re successful; sometimes they’re not. But even if the vaccine and the viruses, let’s say, don’t match, they have shown that if you get the vaccine, if you get the flu, it can decrease your duration of symptoms. So, it is a good idea to get the vaccine each year.
Melanie: Who should get the vaccine? And also who shouldn’t?
Dr. Mehra: Basically, it’s recommended for everyone over the age of six months to get the flu vaccine. The highest risk groups, of course, is anyone over the age of 65, anyone who is a pregnant female, anyone who is immunocompromised or suffers from chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, lung disease and kidney disease. Even healthy individuals should get the flu vaccine because sometimes the highest risk groups, the vaccine may not cause an immune response. We don’t want them to be exposed to the flu virus, so it’s very helpful if the people living with them also get the vaccine so that if the vaccine matches up with the virus strains, we can prevent disease.
Melanie: How is the vaccine given? As I understand it, there’s a few different methods to get the vaccine.
Dr. Mehra: There is. One is a nasal version and it’s called the live attenuated vaccine. Usually, we can only give that to healthy individuals from the ages of 2-49. It cannot be given to anyone who’s a pregnant female or anyone immunocompromised. The second type of vaccine that is an option is an injectable version and usually this is considered a killed vaccine and that can be available at your doctor’s offices, too.
Melanie: So then, we get the vaccine. Does it last the whole season?
Dr. Mehra: Yes. So, the earlier you get it the better. You get more benefit. It does usually last the whole season. Unfortunately, though, because the virus keeps changing, you have to keep getting it annually so that you can again get protection against the new strains that come out each year.
Melanie: And, Dr. Mehra, some people will get the flu. Give us your best advice for those people that do get the flu and how do you know that you have the flu versus a cold?
Dr. Mehra: The symptoms of a flu and a cold can definitely be very similar, especially in the beginning. The virus can incubate in your body for 3-5 days before you actually even get symptoms. Some people get very mild symptoms those days. With the flu, usually you’ll have a very high fever, you’ll get a sore throat, you’ll get cough, headache, fatigue and very strong myalgias, which are the muscle aches and pains and that can last about seven days.
Melanie: Should they, if they have the symptoms, run off to their doctor? Are you still using Tamiflu to help speed things along?
Dr. Mehra: Tamiflu studies have shown that it could help to decrease durations of symptoms. If you think you have the flu, go see your doctor. If you go within 48 hours of your symptoms starting, then that’s the beast time to start Tamiflu. Again, sometimes it doesn’t work in some patients but it is an option and, therefore, you should talk to your doctor about it.
Melanie: If flu gets worse and you start to have bronchial symptoms, can flu turn into pneumonia?
Dr. Mehra: Yes, it can. That is one of the complications of the flu virus. Basically, again, the pneumonia could be viral or it could be bacterial. You’ll need to be evaluated by your doctor in order to figure that out and the decision on the antibiotics to cover the bacterial possibility is always an option to treat the pneumonia.
Melanie: So, in just the last few minutes, Dr. Mehra, give us your best advice about this year’s flu outbreak, the vaccine; when you should get that vaccine and why they should come to Summit Medical Group for their care.
Dr. Mehra: Basically, influenza is a problem that we deal with every year. There have been epidemics; there have been pandemics in the past and because of the vaccine we have tried to keep those big issues under control. The vaccine does have a success rate that can vary but even if it doesn’t completely prevent the flu from developing, it can definitely help to decrease your symptoms and duration of symptoms. Summit Medical Group is giving the flu shots. You should see your doctor at Summit Medical Group in order to talk it over with your doctor if you have questions so that he or she can go over the pros and cons with you. I think the earlier you get it, the better it is because as I mentioned it before, the earlier you get it the more benefit you will get.
Melanie: Thank you so much. It’s great information. You’re listening to SMG Radio. For more information you can go to SummitMedicalGroup.com. That’s SummitMedicalGroup.com. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.