Expect A More ‘Typical’ Flu Season

By Gordon HopkinsPublic health Solutions is anticipating a more typical influenza (flu) season. The last two prior flu seasons were uncharacteristically mild due to precautions taken against the COVID-19 virus.Kim Showalter, RN, BSN, Health Director of Public Health Solutions (PHS), met with Jefferson County Commissioners at a meeting on Tuesday, September 13, 2022. She told Commissioners, “Last year, we had hardly any flu season, because a lot of people were still wearing masks. A lot of people were still taking those precautions.”Fewer people are now taking precautions against the virus.Showalter said, “Interestingly, the flu season here is pretty much determined by the Southern Hemisphere, because that’s where the season starts first. So, we look at Australia. Australia is back to kind of normal flu season numbers now. So, I don’t think we’re going to have as mild of a flu season as we have for the last couple years.”“In October, our staff goes out and gives anywhere between 3,000 and 4,000 shots in the school system to teachers and students,” Showalter said. “So, we’re really trying to get people to remember the flu shots are still available.”COVID-19The COVID-19 pandemic has killed over one million Americans. In an interview on an episode of the CBS television program, “60 Minutes,” on Sunday, September 18, President Joe Biden declared, “The pandemic is over.”However, he also acknowledged COVID-19 is still a threat. Both the U.S. government and the World Health Organization (WHO) still designates COVID-19 a “Public Health Emergency.”Vaccines to protect against the virus are still recommended. On September 1 of this year, PHS announced that their COVID-19 clinics would only be offering the first and second vaccine doses. Booster shots will not be available from PHS until further notice.Some people have speculated that COVID-19 vaccine shots could become annual in order to keep the virus at bay. Showalter acknowledges it was a possibility but as of now that was strictly hypothetical.The PHS District includes Jefferson, Saline, Gage, Fillmore and Thayer Counties.

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