The Oswego County Health Department observes National Influenza Vaccination Week, Dec. 5 through 9, by reminding people that it’s not too late for everyone aged 6 months and older to get their annual flu shot.

“Last week 444 new cases of influenza were reported for Oswego County, with 53% occurring in children between the ages of 5 and 17 years,” said Oswego County Medical Director Christina Liepke, M.D. “This week’s numbers have doubled from the week before and are our highest number of positive flu cases for a single week in over a decade. While this increase may be partly due to an increase in testing for influenza compared to previous years, it also likely represents a true increase given the trends we are hearing about across the country.”

Across the country, the number of newly hospitalized patients with influenza for the week ending Nov. 26 was higher than the same week in previous years since the 2010-2011 flu season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/)

“Getting an annual flu vaccine is the best protection against influenza and its potentially serious complications, especially for those who have pre-existing conditions such as asthma, diabetes, obesity and other chronic illnesses,” said Oswego County Interim Public Health Director Vera Dunsmoor.

The influenza virus can be especially dangerous for children under the age of 5 years. Millions of children get sick with the flu every year, and thousands of children are hospitalized with the virus. Nationwide, pediatric cases are on the rise for the 2022-2023 flu season. See the dashboard here: https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/fluview/pedfludeath.html.

According to an article published in the July issue of “Clinical Infectious Diseases” (https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/75/2/230/6506316?login=false), vaccinated children are protected against serious complications even when infected with a different strain of flu virus than the virus strain used in vaccine production. One vaccine dose can protect an individual from four different influenza viruses and significantly reduce risks of hospitalization, long-term complications, and death.

“It takes two weeks for the human body to create the necessary antibodies to fight off the flu,” said Oswego County Supervising Public Health Nurse Jennifer Purtell. “But it only takes a few seconds to get vaccinated to protect you and your family. It’s our highest priority at the Health Department to make sure that families in Oswego County have access to vaccines needed to stay as healthy as possible.”

The Oswego County Health Department continue their walk-in flu clinics at the Nick Stereo Public Health Clinic located at 70 Bunner St., Oswego. The clinics run from 9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m. every Monday and Friday No appointment is required.

Vaccine cost ranges from $38 to $81 depending on the type. Vaccines are covered by most insurances. The health department accepts the following insurances: UMR POMCO Select, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, Fidelis, United HealthCare Community Plan, United Healthcare Medicare advantage plans, Medicaid, and Medicare. People with insurances other than those listed may have to pay out of pocket and submit a receipt to their insurer for reimbursement. No one is turned away due to the inability to pay.

The CDC suggests that people experiencing flu symptoms should also take a COVID-19 test, as symptoms for bother viruses are very similar and can be hard to tell apart.

“Those who haven’t received the COVID-19 booster don’t have to wait to get their flu shot,” said Purtell. “It’s completely safe to get both vaccines within the same week or even on the same day.”

The next monthly COVID-19 vaccination clinic will be Wednesday, Dec. 14. Primary Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations will be available from 9 to 10 a.m., and Pfizer bivalent booster vaccinations will be available from 10 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m. Appointments are required. To register for an appointment, please visit https://health.oswegocounty.com/ or call 315-349-3547 for assistance.

To learn more about the flu or vaccination clinics or to view the flu dashboard, visit the Oswego County Department of Health’s website at https://health.oswegocounty.com/ or call 315-349-3547. 

FLU DATA – Oswego County laboratory-confirmed influenza cases by year. Graphic provided by the Oswego County Health Department Preventive Division.