Getting a flu shot isn’t about you

Here's how Iowans confront an early snowfall in October: By finally relenting and turning up the thermostat; by pulling out the fleece blankets from the hall closet; by making soup; by setting a teapot on the stove and buying a box of cocoa mix and plenty of marshmallows; by pulling open the curtains and pulling up the blinds and turning off the lights to watch the snowflakes melt on the pavement; by breathing on the window panes and drawing smiley faces on the glass; by digging through the winter clothes the next morning to realizing there is only one glove and you lost your hat; by cursing when you find you misplaced the ice scraper; by arriving 10 minutes late to work because of said misplaced ice scraper; and most certainly by racing to the nearest pharmacy on your lunch break for a flu shot as everyone around you is sniffling and coughing away.

The flu shot literally saves lives. 80,000 Americans died of the flu last winter, more than the number killed in traffic accidents, gun violence or opioid overdoses, according to Vox. There were more flu-related deaths last winter than in the past 40 years.

Getting a flu shot isn't just for your own safety. It's for everyone you come into contact with and everyone they come into contact with. The flu spreads easily. It can be caught from someone who coughs, sneezes or even talks from up to six feet away, according to an article in The New York Times. If you have the flu, you can infect others a full 24 hours before showing any symptoms and it can take up to a week to become sick.

Even if you get the flu shot and still come down with the flu, it can reduce the severity of the flu by 40 to 60 percent, the Center for Disease Control estimates.

And to put aside one conspiracy theory: It is not possible to get the flu from the flu vaccine. While 1 to 2 percent of people may get a small fever, it's not the flu, it's the body reacting to the vaccine.

Five million flu cases were prevented by the flu shot in 2015 to 2016 and 3,000 deaths prevented, according to an estimate from the CDC. That's also 2.5 million medical visits and more than 70,000 hospitalizations.

Last week, as I was running errands around town I decided on a whim to pop into the Hy-Vee Pharmacy for my annual flu shot. Even with two patients ahead of me, I was in and out of the store in 10 minutes, my insurance covered my flu shot AND I got 20 cents off gas. I'm protected, everyone I come in contact with is protected, my Type 1 diabetic sister is protected, and my grandparents are protected.

Public Health is also offering flu shots. Their immunization clinic is open every Tuesday from 9 to 11 a.m., Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1 to 4 p.m. and on the first and third Thursday of the month until 6 p.m.

The news media began reporting at the end of September that flu season is here.

The flu shot takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop and provide protection against the flu. That's one more reason why you should stop what you're doing and go and get your flu shot today. Right now. Go! Grab your insurance card, pick up your keys and run out the door.

Getting a flu shot is your civic duty, Allison Aubrey wrote for NRP. Unless you have a medical reason given to you by a doctor as to why you should not get a flu shot or you are under six months old, it is selfish to not get a flu shot.

Get a flu shot.