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Influenza vaccines readily available this year  It’s a bad year to get the flu. But with plenty of vaccine on hand, there’s really no reason for the flu to get you. Infection control practitioner Betty Harley said that public health officials have tracked the spread of this year’s influenza strain from the Far East, watched it hit New Zealand and Australia, and identified it as an “especially virulent virus.” “But we have an unusual abundance of flu vaccines in the U.S. right now. This year there’s no concern about rationing or reserving vaccines for the most vulnerable,” Harley said. Given the availability of the vaccine, clinicians at Medical University Hospital Authority, MUSC Employee Health and Student Health are gearing up to encourage as many in the university and hospital authority family as possible to be immuized. An estimated 114,000 Americans are hospitalized each year with influenza and about 36,000 people die, most of them seniors, according to a Washington Post report.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention generally recommends that high-risk groups, such as the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, get the flu vaccine. Health Care workers and household contacts of these high risk groups are also urged to get vaccinated to protect patients and contacts.  “We are especially proud of how many of our employees here at MUHA/MUSC get vaccinated.  Vaccination protects our patients and allows workers to be here when the really bad flu season hits us,” said Harley. The Infection Control Department gave 2,200 doses last year to MUHA /UMA employees. Officials in Australia and New Zealand, where the flu season is drawing to a close, report that they had a moderately severe season and note that the one particularly virulent strain of the virus is covered by one of the three strains in this winter’s flu vaccine. Health officials in the U.S. now are urging everyone to get the flu vaccine, particularly those who are at-risk or who routinely come in contact with people who are high-risk.  “People have failed to appreciate how important and serious a disease influenza really is,” said CDC director Julie Gerberding. “We have no reason to wait. We want eveyone to go out and get their vaccine now.” Influenza is caused by a virus that spreads from infected persons to the noses and throats of others causing fever, cough, sore throat, headache, chills and muscle aches. Anyone can get the flu. Flu vaccine is an inactivated (killed) vaccine that has been used in the U.S. for many years. Because flu viruses change often, the vaccine is updated every year. Protection develops about two weeks after getting the shot and may last up to a year. Some who get the shot may still get the flu, but it will be a much milder case than those who did not get the shot. The best time to get a flu shot is in October or November Some people should talk to their doctor before getting a flu shot: People who have ever had a serious allergic reaction to eggs or a previous dose of influenza vaccine; people who have a history of Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Vaccination dates, places MUHA—Hospital Authority employees, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, Oct. 15 through Dec. 10 (except Nov. 19), in the Infection Control Office, 286 Main Hospital.  On weekends, infection control practitioners will travel to units to administer vaccine to employees: 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, and 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7. Times for Rutledge Tower, McClennan-Banks and Charleston Memorial Hospital to be announced. MUSC Students—Date  to be announced.  Student Health has not yet been notified of the date the flu vaccine will be delivered and available for immunizations. The office expects to have the vaccine available in the next two to three weeks and will e-mail students the information. The notice will also appear in The Catalyst. Flu vaccine, PPD testing All MUSC, UMA and MUHA employees can receive the flu vaccine and PPD testing on the following dates: 7 to 11 a.m., Oct. 28, Administration Building, room 100; 7 to 11 a.m., Oct. 30, Administration Building, room 100; and 9 to 11:30 a.m., Nov. 4, Administration Building, room 107. University employees only: Walk-ins will be seen from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. beginning Oct. 15, Monday through Friday, at 57 Bee Street.               Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.