With the effects of the flu being more severe this year, everyone should exercise caution and use prevention. The best way to protect yourself against the flu is to practice good hygiene and get your flu shot. The best way to protect your friends and loved ones is to encourage them to do the same and if you think you may be coming down with the flu stay home and don’t expose others. If you have any health insurance it will almost always cover flu shots. The Affordable Care Act requires that insurers cover recommended vaccines, with no copay and without counting again and without counting against your deductible.
From the “everydayhealth.com”, “website Research shows that people who practice good hygiene get sick less often than those who don't wash their hands. So if there's one tip to take seriously during cold and flu season, it's to soap up at the sink. Washing your hands before preparing or eating food, after going to the bathroom, after coughing or sneezing, and after handling garbage, goes a long way toward preventing the spread of bacteria and viruses. Keep a hygiene product, like an alcohol-based sanitizing gel, handy for when soap and water isn’t available”.
Because flu viruses mutate frequently, a few of this year’s viruses are different from last years. Flu vaccines are always behind the times. This year’s shots address last year’s strains but sometimes cannot address the newer mutations so hygiene is very important even if you have been vaccinated.
One of the issues that the Affordable Care Act tried to address is preventative medicine. It would benefit everyone if everyone had affordable access to preventative care if everyone could afford to get a flu shot. If I don’t come near anyone who has the flu or don’t touch anything that has been touched by someone with the flu then I won’t be exposed and won’t get the flu. I benefit when you are in good health. I don’t mind my tax dollars helping you stay healthy because that helps me to stay healthy. We need to elect politicians that are willing and eager to address health care costs, availability to all and preventative health care. Americans pay more for their health care than any other industrial nation yet we are ranked number 1 in very few health categories. Your vote in 2020 can improve your health. Vote accordingly.
Dick Gale
President of the Democrats of Hemet – San Jacinto
From the Democrats of Hemet - San Jacinto
Flu
Nobody wants to get the flu but many people do. About 10% of Americans get the flu each year. Some years are worse than others. There are many types of flu. Some are just a major nuisance and some can be deadly. Every year more than 100,000 people are hospitalized and over 36,000 people died from the flu.
I saw a news item this morning. It indicated that the flu season started earlier than usual this year and that the virulence of the flu strains this year are unusually strong.