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Act now! Encourage adults to get flu vaccinations

October 10, 2019

Fight the flu!

Anyone, including active, healthy kids and young adults, can get the flu and experience serious complications. Some people might be healthy and recover easily, but others around them might not be so lucky. People ages 65 and older, and people with chronic health conditions are at greater risk of serious complications from the flu.

An infected person, even if they are asymptomatic, could spread the illness to someone who is more vulnerable to the flu.

The flu vaccine is safe. Although the flu vaccine cannot cause the flu, it can cause mild side effects like:

  • redness from the shot
  • a low-grade fever
  • headaches
  • muscle aches

These side effects are not the flu. Most people do not experience these side effects, and if they do, they are mild and last only one or two days.

Influenza (flu) is a contagious disease which can lead to serious illness, including pneumonia. Combined with pneumonia, the flu is among the top-ten leading causes of death in older adults in the U.S.1 Encourage your adult Independence patients to get the flu vaccine every year to protect themselves, coworkers, and their families from getting sick with the flu.

Spread the word, not the flu

Encourage your patients and their families to get vaccinated. Your patients can visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website to learn more about the flu and the flu vaccine.

Remind patients that they can get the flu shot starting mid-October, and as long as it is still flu season, it is never too late to get vaccinated.

Learn more

For more information on preventing the flu and the flu vaccine, providers can visit the CDC website and the Internet Resources section on our website.

1Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Health Statistics. "Leading Causes of Death." 2017. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm.

This content was prepared for the Provider News Center and may not be reproduced in any way without the express written permission of Independence Blue Cross. Independence Blue Cross is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
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