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News-Sentinel.com Your Town. Your Voice.
Opening Arguments

Get shot, OK?

Just a reminder:

Fevers. Chills. Aches and pains. They're all out there.

That's why health officials say now is the time get your flu shot.

The flu isn't just an inconvenience. Some years, as many as 49,000 people nationwide die from the flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For a comparison, about 33,800 people died in traffic accidents in 2009. Indiana records about 1,300 flu deaths each year, the State Department of Health said.

When scary new flus like avian flu and swine flu come along, they get a lot of press, but people tend to forget how many die each year from plain old ordinary flu.

And it's not like you have to make a big deal about getting the shot. It's no longer necessary to make a doctor's appointment or make room in your busy day. I was doing my regular grocery shopping at Scott's on Bluffton Road on Saturday when I saw the sign in the store pharmacy announcing flu shots on the premises, no appointment necessary. So I filled out the form and got my shot. It felt more than a liitle strange standing there in the supermarket with my shirt sleeve pulled down as if I were in the doctor's office, but, hey, these days we take our conveniences where we find them.

Comments

littlejohn
Mon, 10/03/2011 - 11:46am

But Michele Bachmann said vaccinations cause retardation.

Harl Delos
Tue, 10/04/2011 - 2:27am

They give the shots in the arm? Shoot!

I was going to head down to the drugstore and hang around. I figured pretty young things would come up for a flu shot, and be told to bend over the counter, and drop their drawers.

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