Time for the flu shots. For people who don’t like needles, the vaccine can be inhaled.

The state health department’s Susan Kneeskeer (neesker) says inoculations should begin in the early Fall, as soon as vaccine is available and continue through February. The flu season peaks in January and February.

A few years ago, vaccine was in short supply. Not this year. She expects the vaccine will cover the strains of flu likely to make the rounds.

She says scientists try to anticipate which of those strains will hit. But, she says, even if the vaccine is not 100% effective against the circulating strains, she says it will reduce the symptoms.

Kneesker calls flu vaccine one of the most cost effective interventions in the history of public health. She says it’s responsible for a dramatic reduction in the number of influenza deaths.

 

Inject or Inhale Bob Priddy’s story (:61 mp3)