It is not too late to get a flu shot. With flu vaccine available in hospitals, health clinics, and doctor's offices, New Yorkers over 50 should get vaccinated against the flu. DOH keeps a close watch on congregate settings, such as nursing homes and other long term care facilities, where residents may be particularly at risk for complications due to influenza. DOH does not release the names of facilities at which outbreaks have been identified. While most people who get the flu recover fully, any strain of the flu can be serious and even life-threatening, especially if complications such as pneumonia develop.
Flu can be especially dangerous to the elderly.
I want to remind New Yorkers, especially senior citizens and others at risk due to heart or lung disease, diabetes, HIV, or other conditions which compromise the immune system that it is still worthwhile to get your flu and pneumonia shots. For each year's flu season, a new flu vaccine is needed because flu viruses rapidly change in form as they circulate worldwide, making the previous year's vaccine obsolete. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies the most likely forms of the flu virus to be seen commonly in the United States each year. This year's influenza vaccine targets New Caledonia A, Panama A, and Yamanashi B viruses. Influenza commonly causes several days of high fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat, and muscle aches.