State Medical Officer urges Alabamians to not delay on flu vaccine

MONTGOMERY, Ala. ( WIAT ) — Medical professionals say flu season has already started, and some doctors have already seen patients with the virus.

“I think the biggest thing is, starting with just like, our bread and butter right?” said Dr. Joseph Coppiano, primary care doctor and assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “Try to not put your hands on your face as best you can. And if you have young kids, they’ll do it for you. So that’s the part you can’t always control.”

Dr. Coppiano said he’s already seen patients with flu symptoms. He explained it takes normally take four or five days before patients experience symptoms like a sore throat or runny nose.

“This year’s particular kind of variance that I’m seeing- to be more of that kind of lingering cough that isn’t going away,” said Dr. Coppiano.

Dr. Wes Stubblefield, medical officer with the Alabama Department of Public Health, said you should get your flu shot now.

“If you wait until the flu season is at its peak, and you get a vaccine, then you may get the flu right after the vaccine. Because your body hasn’t had a chance to make those antibodies against the virus,” explained Dr. Stubblefield. “Which is the whole point of the vaccine.”

Dr. Stubblefield said that peak is in January. And while it’s too early to tell, he said the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) coordinates with other countries to predict how severe the flu season will be.

“They called it a ‘relatively normal flu season.’ And they’re using that compared to the last few flu seasons in South America” said Dr. Stubblefield. “So we can expect- probably expect- a flu season similar to what we saw last year in Alabama.”

Dr. Stubblefield said Alabama is at low activity levels right now, similar to the rest of the country. He said being sleep deprived, stressed and not eating well are all contributing factors to getting the flu, but anyone can get it.

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