About the flu
The flu is a contagious disease spread by coughing, sneezing and close contact, and its peak season is between October and May each year. Symptoms include many of the same symptoms as the common cold, as well as fever, chills and muscle aches. People often experience the onset of the flu as sudden and intense with symptoms typically lasting a week. The flu leads to complications including pneumonia, and causes thousands of deaths and more than 200,000 hospital visits annually.1 Approximately 5-20% of the U.S. population gets the flu each year.2
Annual vaccination is important. The causative agent of the flu is the influenza virus, which is capable of rapidly changing. There are two main influenza virus types: type A and type B, each of which has several subtypes, and different subtypes circulate each year.
About the vaccine
There are several available flu vaccines, and for 2015, all are either trivalent or quadrivalent. We will have both for the upcoming season, including quadrivalent intranasal vaccine.
The trivalent flu vaccine covers two influenza A subtypes (H1N1 and another) and a single influenza B subtype, while the quadrivalent protects against two of each subtype. For the 2015-2016 flu season, the WHO has already issued recommendations for the vaccine components, which include:
- Trivalent vaccine:
- type A: H1N1 and H3N2,
- type B: Phuket/3073/2013
- Quadrivalent vaccine:
- type A: H1N1 and H3N2,
- type B: Phuket/3073/2013 and Brisbane/60/2008 3
Why get vaccinated?
A flu shot is the single best way to prevent yourself from getting the flu, and your flu shot helps protect the people you come in contact with as well. Setting up a Passport Health flu clinic for your employees before flu season is a great way to help them protect themselves and their families.
In addition to taking care of your employees, your clinic will have a very real benefit for your bottom line. The CDC estimates the annual direct costs of influenza illness at $10.4B in hospital stays and outpatient care, with lost productivity amounting to another $6.2B.4 A flu shot is the best way to cut those costs.
Why choose Passport Health?
Passport Health is the largest provider of immunizations in the US. We can cover your company’s flu clinic for as few as 20 individuals at a single location or for thousands of employees nationwide. Backed by 20 years of experience in preventative care nationwide and 12 years here in Los Angeles, Passport Health is your go-to flu clinic provider. Vaccine comes to us direct from the manufacturers and we use our own in-house nurses, ensuring the safe and correct handling of our vaccines at all stages of the supply chain. Because of this, we are also aware of supply issues before other providers and are able to adapt on the fly. We have always been able to provide vaccine for our scheduled clinics.
With our well-trained, professional nurses, you know your staff are in great hands.
When you choose Passport Health for your flu clinics you will receive local, personal service through our Los Angeles staff. From start to finish, we specialize in making your flu clinic seamless and simple for your staff. Our service model means that we handle the details of clinic coordination so you don’t have to, saving you time and money, and we are experienced in setting up clinics to minimize time taken out of your employees’ work day.
Call or e-mail us today to find out how we can help you keep your employees healthy, happy and on the job.
The best way to minimize or avoid the flu is to get a yearly flu shot.
Passport Health Los Angeles makes it easy, we come to you!
Contact a Clinic Coordinator to book your on-site clinic today by calling:
1. US Dept. of Health and Human Services: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccine Information Statement: Inactivated Influenza Vaccine. Updated 8/19/2014. Accessed 3/30/2015.
2. US Dept. of Health and Human Services: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Seasonal Influenza Q&A. Updated 10/22/2014. Accessed 3/30/2015.
3. World Health Organization. Recommended composition of influenza virus vaccines for use in the 2015-2016 northern hemisphere influenza season. Updated 2/26/2015. Accessed 3/30/2015.
4. Molinari NA, Ortega-Sanchez IR, Messonnier ML, et al. The annual impact of seasonal influenza in the US: measuring disease burden and costs. Vaccine. 2207; 25(27):5086-96.
Image credits:
1. Photo by Dan Higgins at CDC site: https://phil.cdc.gov/ – image ID: 11880
2. Photo uncredited at CDC site: https://phil.cdc.gov/ – image ID: 8171
3. Photo by James Gathany at CDC site: https://phil.cdc.gov/ – image ID: 9423
4. Image by Harley Peebles, photo by Syda Productions, via Shutterstock, image ID: 158339984
