Eskenazi Health is encouraging all its patients to receive the flu vaccine this fall. This is especially important as COVID-19 cases have been projected to rise at the same time influenza season begins.

To support accessibility to the flu vaccine for patients, a vaccination task force has been created. Eskenazi Health has worked hard to ensure all patients have access to receive the vaccine, which is now available throughout the Eskenazi Health system. Patients 3 years and older are encouraged to visit any Eskenazi Health Pharmacy location to receive the vaccine, and no appointment is needed.

"This year especially it is important to prepare for the worst," said Amy Beth Kressel M.D., medical director of Infection Prevention and Antimicrobial Stewardship with Eskenazi Health. "We do not know how bad this flu season will be. We do know that you can be infected with both influenza and COVID-19 at the same time. We don't know how those two infections interact with each other. You could be much sicker, and the COVID-19 treatment could interfere with your ability to fight off the flu. Also consider that influenza and COVID-19 look a lot alike, so if you have the flu you will need to be tested for COVID-19, and you and those you live with will need to self-isolate and miss work while you wait for the result."

Patients with regularly scheduled appointments are encouraged to receive the influenza vaccine when they come for their appointment. Efforts have been made so that all areas of Eskenazi Health can provide flu vaccines regardless of the service the patient is receiving. In addition, Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center is partnering with the pharmacy team to provide flu vaccines during patient visits. It is important for patients to get flu shots while they are already at an Eskenazi Health facility. This helps prevent the risk of patients failing to return specifically for a flu shot.

Each year hundreds of thousands of people are hospitalized and tens of thousands of people die from flu-related causes. People with asthma, heart conditions, infants and the elderly are at highest risk. Often, healthy people get the flu and then pass it on to others, including those with high risks of hospitalization and death. This is why it is important that everyone receives a flu vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone over 6 months of age should receive a flu vaccine by the end of October. The flu vaccination results in antibodies developing in the body about two weeks after the injection is applied. Those antibodies provide protection against infection with the viruses that are in the vaccine. The vaccine is designed to protect against the influenza viruses that research indicates will be most common during the upcoming season, so a new one is created every year.

For questions and locations on where to receive the flu vaccine, please call Eskenazi Health Connections at 317.880.7666 or visit https://www.EskenaziHealth.edu/locations.