Get your flu shot

By Andrea Daniel
The Daily News
Published September 27, 2011

Sniffles, coughs, aches and pains — it’s unavoidable for many and barely missed by others. Flu season is upon us again.

’Tis the season for antibacterial wipes, hot broths and stock piles of tissue. A couple days off work, and you’re good as new.

This yearly annoyance is almost like a rite of passage, and it’s hard to believe that a long time ago, the flu was barely survivable.

Through the generations, many advancements have been developed to minimize the spread of the flu.

One such precaution is the yearly flu shot, and the Galveston County Health District will be conducting flu shot clinics in October.

Dr. Diana Beckham, the district’s director of community health services, is encouraging everyone to get a flu shot, even if you got one during the last season.

“The protection provided by the vaccine decreases over time, so everyone needs to be immunized each year,” Beckham said.

Getting a yearly flu shot is important to your health, and it is important to the health of those around you.

So, plan ahead and take precautions.

+++

Flu Shot Clinics

• 10 a.m. to noon Oct. 4, Johnnie Arolfo Civic Center, 400 W. Walker St., in League City;

• 10 a.m. to noon Oct. 6, Bacliff Senior Center, 4503 11th St., in Bacliff;

• 10 a.m. to noon Oct. 13, Dickinson Senior Center, 2714 Highway 3, in Dickinson;

• Noon to 2 p.m. Oct. 20, Friendswood Activity Building, 416 Morningside, in Friendswood; and

• 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 27, Wayne Johnson Community Center (Carbide Park), 4102 FM 519, in La Marque.

For those unable to attend one of the community flu shot clinics, the health district also is offering shots throughout the flu season at immunization clinics:

• 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays; and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays, 4700 Broadway, in Galveston

• 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays, 2000 Texas Ave., in Texas City

• 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 3411 Gulf Freeway, in Dickinson

Flu shots are $20 each, and staff will accept Medicare cards for reimbursement. For information on the Galveston County Health District’s immunization services, visit www.gchd.org/chn/IMM.htm or call 409-938-2244.

+++

Tips

The Galveston County Health District offers these additional tips for preventing the flu: Wash your hands with soap and hot water and keep hand sanitizers nearby as a backup; stay home when sick; maintain personal space away from other people; cough or sneeze into an elbow or use a tissue and properly dispose of it immediately; keep your hands away from your face — especially eyes, nose and mouth — and teach children to wash their hands properly.

(News Media: For more information contact Kurt Koopmann, GCHD Public Information Officer, 409-938-2211 or kkoopman@gchd.org)