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Health Care Professionals Urge Patients to get Flu Shots

Posted at 10:06 PM, Nov 11, 2013
and last updated 2013-11-11 22:53:41-05

MUSKEGON, Mich.- As flu season approaches you may be questioning whether or not to get the vaccine.

There have already been eight confirmed cases of influenza in Kent County and three in Ottawa County.

According to the CDC each year, between 5 and 20 percent of us wind up with the flu in a given year.  More than 20,000 people are hospitalized for flu-related complications each year nationwide.

That’s why health care professionals are urging patients to get their flu shots now.

Nurse Practitioner Mollie Hudson at Norton Redi-Med says the best time is typically November through the end of the year.

Hudson says she’s heard all the excuses as to why people don’t get flu shots.

“The flu shot cannot give you the flu.  It’s what we call a dead vaccine,” she said.

She warns getting the flu shot isn’t just about protecting yourself.  She says if you don’t get vaccinated you could get your kids sick or you could make the people you work with sick.

Hudson says it’s about the entire community protected by each of us doing our part by getting flu shots.