Flu shots highly recommended for people ages 65 and older

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The flu season got an early start this year, and according to doctor Charles DeDeaux, you should not waste time getting your flu shot.

“Because it’s earlier, we don’t always get our vaccinations as soon as we should. Usually around August and September is usually when it starts coming out and they recommend (getting) it in October usually, but this time, because it’s earlier, it’s important to kind of go out and get it done before the infections really start spreading through a lot of the communities,” DeDeaux said.

For folks ages 65 and older, DeDeaux said, the flu should be taken seriously this year.

“Age is one of the biggest risk factors for infection and diseases. And so, when we start seeing as aging population goes on, the immune system goes down, you don’t always have the same response to it as you were when you’re younger,” he said.

For people in the older age group, it is harder to fight infections like the flu, so a more potent dose of the vaccine is available.

“It has four times the amount of the antigens which stimulate the antibodies to be produced that protect against influenza, so it allows their immune response to be more robust and so higher number of antigens, a higher number of antibodies that are going to be produced in the individual, so more protection,” DeDeaux said.

Pharmacist Leslie Sparks said you can ask your local pharmacy for that particular shot.

“We encourage you to get vaccinated and keep those good hygiene practices in place that we’ve had before, like the hand washing this, the distancing as well, covering your mouth when you sneeze and things like that,” Sparks said.

You can schedule a flu shot online through CVS, or walk into the Baton Rouge immunization clinic.

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