The first cases of influenza in Minnesota were confirmed in December.

Tuesday, January 30, 2001

The first cases of influenza in Minnesota were confirmed in December. Once the first cases of influenza are confirmed, it typically takes about six to 10 weeks for more widespread cases of influenza to appear around the state.

However, there still is time in the next few weeks to get protected before the flu season hits the region.

St. Olaf Pharmacy at Austin Medical Center will hold flu-shot clinics from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday and Thursday. Influenza vaccination will be given to anyone who has not received one yet for a cost of $15 each; or present a Medicare card for payment. Anyone wishing to receive the flu shot is asked to just show up at the St. Olaf Pharmacy at Austin Medical Center during the flu shot clinics.

Dr. Fred Bogott, medical director at Austin Medical Center, said that symptoms of influenza can come on suddenly.

"Symptoms of the flu can include a sore throat, coughing, fever, headache, muscle aches and fatigue," Bogott said. "Influenza is always a respiratory illness, which means there really is no such thing as the ‘stomach flu.’"

Getting a cold is not the same thing as getting the flu. A cold results in a runny nose and a stuffed-up head. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea rarely accompany influenza. The flu can give you more severe symptoms that last for weeks before you feel normal again.

Bogott added that in order to be protected against influenza, people need to be reimmunized every year.

"Because the influenza virus changes from one year to the next, the vaccine has to be reformulated to target those strains that are most likely to be in circulation during the upcoming flu season," Bogott said.

This year’s vaccine was formulated to include the A/Panama, A/New Caledonia and B/Yamanashi strains and it should be known that it is impossible to get influenza from the flu shot because the vaccine contains only inactivated or killed viruses.