Small Town News

County prepares for upcoming flu season

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While one would be hard-pressed to find many people in Arizona who don't welcome the cooler temperatures after the summer heat peaks, the change in weather also signals the approach of a new season. Flu season.

This year is expected to be a more normal flu season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but health officials can never be 100 percent certain.

While there's no clear way to tell if this is going to be a bad one, Yavapai County officials want people to be prepared.

That's why once again this year, Yavapai County Community Health Services will be offering a series of seasonal flu shot clinics.

The county has ordered 2,500 doses of the flu shot this year, said Yavapai County epidemiologist Stephen Everett. Everett said the county typically has a handful of shots left over each year, but even if the county were to run out, fear not. Everett said the same shots will be available for a similar cost at several other locations throughout the county, including many drug stores or grocery stores if they have a pharmacy.

"It's a tough call to see how we are going to fare this year," Everett said. Health officials have been monitoring three different strains of the virus that people can expect to see

in the United States this year. Much of the data comes from observations of flu season in the Southern hemisphere, Everett said, because it's winter there while it's summer here.

The flu shots being offered will contain protection from the three strains, Everett said, including H1N1, also known as the swine flu that created a sensation last year along with the first influenza pandemic in nearly half a century, H3N2 and Influenza B.

The CDC recommends that everyone get a flu shot as early as possible in the season, which typically peaks around January or February, although some strains linger as late as May.

This year, the shots will be offered in Cottonwood at the Yavapai County Board of Supervisor's office, 10 S. Sixth St.

They will last from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays Oct. 9, 16 and 23.

The shots will cost $30, payable by either cash or personal check with an accompanying photo ID.

The county will only accept Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Medicare or Medicare Advantage.

Shots will also be available on the other side of the mountain in Prescott. Call the county's flu hotline at 639-8139 in Cottonwood or (928) 442-5613 in Prescott.



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© 2011 Cottonwood Journal Extra Cottonwood, Arizona. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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