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influenza

United Memorial Medical Center adds visitor restrictions due to influenza

By Billie Owens

Press release:

To help reduce further transmission of influenza and/or other infectious diseases, the following restrictions are in place at four Rochester Regional Health hospitals, including United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia.

  • Only two visitors per patient at a time;
  • Parents/caregivers are not counted as visitors;
  • All visitors must be at least 14-years-old; exception -- healthy siblings of any age may visit newborns;
  • Patients should not receive visitors who are experiencing sore throat, fever, runny nose, cough, sneezing, or other flu-like symptoms (even if the visitor has been vaccinated against the flu).

The other three locations with visitor restrictions are: Rochester General Hospital; Unity Hospital (Greece); and Newark-Wayne Community Hospital (Newark).

(Clifton Springs Hospital & Clinic in Clifton Springs has no visitor restrictions.)

WNY Public Health Alliance urges everyone to get their flu shots

By Billie Owens

Press release:

The Western New York Public Health Alliance is urging everyone over the age of 6 months to get a flu vaccine to protect themselves from the effects of influenza. Influenza is a potentially serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and sometimes even death.

Every flu season is different, and influenza infection can affect people differently, but millions of people get flu every year, hundreds of thousands of people are hospitalized and thousands to tens of thousands of people die from flu-related causes every year.

An annual seasonal flu vaccine is the best way to help protect against flu. Vaccination has been shown to have many benefits including reducing the risk of flu illnesses, hospitalizations and even the risk of flu-related death in children.

It is important that people understand how the flu vaccine works. Flu vaccines cause antibodies to develop in the body about two weeks after vaccination. These antibodies provide protection against infection with the viruses that are used to make the vaccine.

The seasonal flu vaccine protects against the influenza viruses that research indicates will be most common during the upcoming season.

Most flu vaccines in the United States protect against four different flu viruses (“quadrivalent”); an influenza A (H1N1) virus, an influenza A (H3N2) virus, and two influenza B viruses. There are also some flu vaccines that protect against three different flu viruses (“trivalent”); an influenza A (H1N1) virus, an influenza A (H3N2) virus, and one influenza B virus. Two of the trivalent vaccines are designed specifically for people 65 and older to create a stronger immune response.

It is also important to understand when to get a flu shot. You should get a flu vaccine before flu viruses begins spreading in your community, since it takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against flu.

Make plans to get vaccinated early in fall, before flu season begins. CDC recommends that people get a flu vaccine by the end of October. Getting vaccinated later, however, can still be beneficial and vaccination should continue to be offered throughout the flu season, even into January or later.

Children who need two doses of vaccine to be protected should start the vaccination process sooner, because the two doses must be given at least four weeks apart.

Flu vaccines are offered in many doctor’s offices, clinics, health departments, pharmacies and college health centers, as well as by many employers, and even in some schools.

Even if you don’t have a regular doctor or nurse, you can get a flu vaccine somewhere else, like a health department, pharmacy, urgent care clinic, and often your school, college health center, or workplace.

For more information, please contact your local Health Department or go to the Center for Disease Control website.

The Western New York Public Health Alliance (WNYPHA) is a not-for-profit organization comprised of the Health Commissioners/Public Health directors and other community public health leaders from these eight counties of Western New York: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans; and Wyoming.

Their mission is to support collaboration across WNY to further public health initiatives and priorities. As part of this mission, the WNYPHA works to provide health education and information to prevent disease and improve population health.

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