December 18, 2025 • 27 mins
This episode explores the importance of staying up to date on vaccinations for respiratory illnesses like flu, COVID-19, and RSV. Our Health Officer sits down with public health experts to discuss how vaccines protect children, adults, and high-risk community members. The conversation also addresses common misconceptions, vaccine safety, and additional steps people can take to prevent the spread of illness. Listeners will learn practical ways to keep themselves and their families healthy during respiratory illness season.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:03):
You can't get the flu from the flu shot. You can't get COVID from the COVID shot. And you
can't get RSV from the RSV shot. Every single patient that I give a flu shot to,
I say, "Thank you for protecting yourself, your family, and your community." And it it isn't just
platitudes. I mean that very sincerely because a community is healthier and safer with people
(00:28):
vaccinated. [Music] Hello and thank you for listening to the Howard County or HoCo Health
podcast. A podcast produced in collaboration with the Howard County Health Department
and Howard Community College where we discuss topics on all things public health. I'm Howard
(00:49):
County Health Officer Dr. Maura Rossman. During today's episode, we're talking about something
that affects all of us. Staying protected from respiratory illnesses like flu, COVID 19, and RSV,
also known as respiratory sensitial virus. Every year, these viruses send thousands of people,
(01:11):
including children, to the hospital. And what many people don't realize is how much protection we can
get simply by keeping up to date on vaccines. Today I'm joined by Howard County Health
Department immunization nurse supervisor Will Doyle and Assistant Nursing Director Erin Anderson
who are here to help us understand why vaccination remains one of our strongest tools for keeping
(01:37):
both children and adults healthy. Our first guest is Will Doyle. Will is our immunization
program manager. Thanks for joining us today, Will. Thanks, Dr. Rossman. Respiratory illness
season is upon us and we are seeing an increase in illnesses which will likely continue as we move
into the next several months. Can you share why it is so important for both children and adults
(02:01):
to stay up to date on vaccines for respiratory illnesses like flu, COVID 19, and RSV? Sure, I
could go on and on and on about that, but instead I came up with a succinct three point summary,
and it's even alliterative. The reasons you want to stay up to date are seasonality, severity,
(02:23):
and sub-variance. For seasonality, we know every year as we get into October through March,
we're going to see increases in flu activity, and other respiratory illnesses. If you just look at
patterns of behavior, um, kids going back to school, so we're in they're in that crowded
environment, travelers passing through busy hubs like airports for the holidays, people gathering
(02:44):
for the holidays, it's a situation where these respiratory illnesses can spread much more quickly
through a population and they do. So that's one of the reasons we want to stay up to date on vaccines
for these illnesses. I mentioned severity as well. There is a misperception and I'll admit when I was
younger I used to think that flu isn't that big a deal. You just um treat the symptoms, you get
(03:07):
through it and things bounce back to normal. But flu can be very severe for many patients. This
past season 2024 to 2025 was the second highest number of pediatric flu deaths recorded in the
last 20 years. In 89% of those kids, there were 280 total. 89% of them were not fully vaccinated
(03:28):
for flu. Flu and um RSV um are very serious for kids. Also, older adults can be affected
by them. Um seniors account for the majority of hospitalizations related to flu. And so for
that reason, flu being just so severe for many patients, it is a good idea to stay up to date on
your vaccines. And then I mentioned sub-variants. Flu and COVID are a couple of those pathogens that
(03:54):
evolve constantly. So, every season it's important to stay up to date. If you got a flu shot a year
ago or two years ago, it isn't going to protect you this season. So, it's important to stay up
to date with the most recent formulation so that you're protected against whatever bug is is out
there circulating. I'm so glad you mentioned the point about kids and how bad the flu season was
(04:18):
last year for kids because many families do think that children in general don't have very severe
illness and in general people also think that vaccines are just for kids and you mentioned
that severity can be particularly impairing for older adults. There's lots of different vaccines,
(04:41):
flu vaccines out there and respiratory vaccines. Can you describe a little bit more about who
should be getting what vaccine? Yeah. Yep. We'll go um just for the the illnesses that
we're focusing on for this podcast one by one. Let's start with flu since we are in flu season.
Flu vaccine is recommended for anyone 6 months and older. There is a preferential recommendation for
(05:06):
individuals who are 65 or older to get a high dose flu vaccine. High dose flu shots aren't
associated with any worse side effects compared with a regular dose flu shot. It's just a higher
concentration in that dose. So, it gives you a better immune response. As we get older, our
immune systems weaken. And so it is important to give a a little extra boost to individuals in that
(05:31):
65 and older group to make sure that they're best protected against flu. Flu vaccine, flu shots are
safe during pregnancy. In fact, there are studies showing the antibodies are passed along to the
baby. So that's a great way to protect everyone in the population, particularly considering that
there's a minimum age of six months to get a flu shot. So that's a good way to protect very young
(05:54):
patients. So those are the main points about flu and how most of the population aside from those
younger than 6 months or someone who has a known severe allergic reaction to the vaccine. Everyone
else should be getting a flu shot every season. For COVID, it is approved for 6 months and older
and is recommended as a routine vaccination. Moderna Spike vax is particular brand that goes
(06:20):
all the way down to 6 months. If your provider has Pfizer, that's a minimum age of five years. So you
might want to check around if you have a child in that younger age group, younger than five,
just to find someone who can make that Moderna dose available to your child. So that that COVID
vaccine um similar to flu recommended for 6 months and older. And then for RSV, we'll talk about the
(06:44):
the two segments of the population that are most vulnerable to that who have recommendations for
the RSV shot. That is very young patients, babies, newborns who um whose mother did not receive the
RSV vaccine during pregnancy. So if a child is in the first RSV season between October and March,
(07:06):
I just came out of an appointment in our immunization clinic and so we screened the patient
there to see if if they were eligible for the RSV vaccine. In a lot of cases, patients respond,
parents respond that mom did get the RSV vaccine between weeks 32 and 36 of pregnancy between the
months of September and January. So that's another group aside from newborns and the elderly. You
(07:34):
can protect baby from RSV by getting the RSV shot during pregnancy. But if the timing wasn't right
or for whatever reason you weren't able to do that during pregnancy, then your child can get RSV
in that first respiratory virus season. Besides pregnant persons and babies getting RSV vaccine,
we want to think about older adults. Um, specifically there's a universal recommendation
(07:59):
for 75 and older to get the RSV vaccine. And then for the segment of the population that's
50 to 74 years old with certain risk factors like chronic underlying health conditions,
they're recommended to get RSV vaccine as well. That's a lot to take in. And just as a reminder,
if our audience hasn't remembered everything that Will just said, you can always go talk to your
(08:25):
provider, ask questions about which vaccine may be best for you and other members of your family.
Well, you mentioned immunity and immunologic aspects of a person's health of why they may be
more at risk for respiratory illnesses and why vaccine is important for them. I've heard from
(08:48):
some people about natural immunity and the feeling that well these viruses are around and my body
will take care of it and vaccines maybe I don't need vaccines or I got vaccine a year ago. What
do you say to people that want to know more about either natural immunity or about their own health
(09:10):
immune system and and the importance of vaccines and why these vaccines work? That's a really
good point because I' I've heard that argument as well. During a clinic appointment, there might be
a little bit of give and take, just figuring out, you know, what is the right approach. The way that
I think about it is I have the choice of getting a shot to protect me against flu, for example,
(09:32):
or possibly having flu. I've had a lot of patients that I've seen in clinic this season and they've
told me specifically they're getting their flu shot because they had flu last year and they'd
much rather roll up their sleeve and deal with a jab in the arm, a little bit of muscle soreness
for maybe a day or two and then they're back to normal and they're protected than being out for
(09:57):
multiple days with very severe flu symptoms. So you you can choose how to get protected against
illness either by um being infected with it and developing a natural immune response,
but that might come with some some severe symptoms, possibly even hospitalization. So
that's the the choice that you have to make is do you want to roll up your sleeve and
(10:19):
get the shot or do you want to roll the dice and possibly have a really unpleasant experience being
ill to have that natural immunity? Every single patient that I give a flu shot to, I say, "Thank
you for protecting yourself, your family, and your community." And it it isn't just platitudes.
I mean that very sincerely because a community is healthier and safer with people vaccinating. Yeah,
(10:43):
I agree. The other aspect too about vaccines, the type of vaccines we're talking about today,
is that they can also help an individual from spreading it to somebody else who may be
immuno-compromised or a newborn baby or an elderly relative. You have um you're avoiding learning
(11:04):
loss uh due to kids being out of school for multiple days. you're avoiding lost productivity,
missed deadlines, and a a lot of people are in a situation of not having sick leave,
and so if if they have to call out, they're not going to get paid. So,
um just in terms of, you know, your your household finances, what your professional goals are,
(11:26):
what your academic goals are, or what goals you have for others in your family, it makes sense to
protect yourself because thereby you're protecting everyone else in your household. We're going to
take a break right now and I want to continue the conversation with our next guest, Erin Anderson.
(11:57):
[Music]
[Music] You're listening to the HoCo Health podcast where we talk about all things public
health. Today we are talking about respiratory illnesses and getting vaccinated to help protect
against severe illness, hospitalization, and even death. Our next guest is Erin Anderson. Thanks for
joining the conversation today, Erin. Happy to be here. As you know, we have been talking about
(12:20):
the benefits of vaccination against respiratory illnesses. There's been a lot of talk about the
safety and effectiveness of vaccines and I know you like Will are very passionate about vaccines
and getting vaccinated. So for people who may be hesitant or unsure about getting vaccinated or
(12:40):
having their family members vaccinated, what would you tell them about the safety and effectiveness
of these vaccines? Um, I really like this question and I it's one that I think about a lot.
So I think the most important thing when you're talking to patients especially as a
healthcare provider about safety and efficacy of vaccines is to first of all acknowledge people's
(13:02):
fears without judgment. That's can be really important in creating that good relationship
between a patient and a provider. So you want to start with honesty and the honest answer is that
no medicine no vaccine is completely safe and no medicine no vaccine is completely 100% effective.
But the problem is that we always as a society overestimate the risk of a vaccine injury and
(13:24):
we're really underestimating the risk of a injury from the disease itself. Like Will was
mentioning in the first part, the risk of a severe adverse event from a vaccination is about one in a
million. And that's a really hard number for our brains to wrap around. So I'll put it in a little
context for you. The risk of it getting struck by lightning is about 1 in 15,000. So, I'll spare
(13:46):
you the math, but that means that you are about 65 times more likely to get struck by lightning than
you are to have a serious reaction to a vaccine. And if we want to put that in context of vaccine
versus actual disease, let's talk about the flu virus. So, last year, like Will was mentioning,
it was a pretty bad flu year. The hospitalization rate for the flu, so getting hospitalized for the
(14:07):
flu was about 127 people for every 100,000 members of the population. That's a little bit higher than
a standard year, but it's usually pretty close to that. So again, I'll spare you the math,
but you're about 1200 to 1300 times more likely to be hospitalized from having the flu than you
are to have an adverse reaction to the flu vaccine. So to me, those numbers are really
(14:30):
in favor of helping me to understand those risks. pretty small risk of a vaccine injury,
pretty high risk of comparatively for having a hospitalization from the disease that that vaccine
is designed to prevent. The other thing I really need to emphasize to all of our patients is that
vaccines as a medical intervention are literally the most studied medical intervention we have.
(14:54):
There's over a hundred years of research about vaccine safety, about vaccine efficacy. They are
rigorously tested for safety and efficacy before they're even allowed to be on the market. And then
we have several safety monitoring tools that we use both in the United States and worldwide to
continually review vaccine safety once they're on the market. So we have tons of mechanisms in place
(15:16):
to study these vaccines and there are thousands of studies involving millions of people that
show vaccines are safe and effective. In the end, hesitation to vaccinate comes from fear,
which is valid. you're afraid for yourself and you want to protect yourself and your loved ones. And
as a health care provider, I also really want to protect myself, my family, and my loved ones
(15:38):
and my patients and my community. And that's exactly why I do choose to vaccinate and why
I do strongly recommend vaccination to everyone. I think one of the things that's happened over time
with the success and effectiveness of vaccines is that people no longer hear or see about the
terrible adverse impacts of getting the disease. I do remember taking care of infants and young
(16:05):
children in the pediatric ICU who had severe flu, severe RSV, and other vaccine-preventable diseases
that new trainees and new pediatricians have never seen. But unfortunately, we've all heard
about outbreaks of certain diseases that uh we are now seeing that we used to not see because
(16:30):
folks are not getting vaccinated and that herd immunity that will talked about earlier
um has become too low to protect the population at large. So yeah, it's all about risk benefit,
but I understand how it is hard for some folks to see the risk when it may not be visible to them.
What are some of the misconceptions people seem to have about these vaccines? I know we're talking
(16:57):
a little bit about that. And what would you say to address that? And where might people
seek out resources or more information should they want that? There's a ton of misconceptions
about vaccines, especially these flu virus or the flu vaccine and COVID vaccine that we try to get
everyone to get annually. And you know, I think that the blessing and curse of our availability,
(17:23):
internet news, things like that, you can get a lot of good information and information spreads
really quickly, but you can also get a lot of bad information and bad information spreads equally
quickly. So, I think one of the main things that I hear about especially like flu vaccine,
COVID vaccine is, well, the vaccine is going to make me sick. And again, leading with honesty,
it's definitely true that you can have some side effects, especially with the COVID vaccine. That
(17:46):
one tends to have more of those systemic side effects like fever and body aches and fatigue,
especially in that 12 to like 48 hours after vaccination. That's true. It can make you feel
kind of crummy for a little while. Usually not with the flu vaccine. That's generally
more of just the pain and swelling in the arm. But when you have those side effects,
(18:06):
it's important to remember that those are actually kind of a good sign that your that your immune
system is mounting a good immune response to that vaccine so that you can effectively fight off any
future infections. Those two vaccines that I was talking about just now, flu and COVID, they are
designed really differently, but neither of them is capable at all of giving you flu or giving you
COVID. The most common flu vaccine that we have contains three different varieties of the virus,
(18:30):
but they are all killed and they're not able to replicate. And then the COVID vaccine contains
it's basically like the instructions for just a piece of the virus. I like to use an analogy of
a bicycle. So for the flu vaccine, if I handed you a bicycle that had been run over by a semi-truck,
the frame is bent, the handlebars are broken, your brain would still recognize that as a bicycle, but
(18:53):
you wouldn't be able to ride it. it wouldn't get you anywhere. For COVID, it's like if I gave you
uh one page of the IKEA instructions for that same bicycle and that was for the handlebars,
your brain would recognize, hey, this is going to make a handlebar. I know that's an important part
of this bicycle. But can you ride that handlebar? No. And you can't even make the rest of the bike
(19:16):
with the instructions that I've given you. So neither of these viruses or vaccines, sorry,
can cause the virus that they are preventing. Another thing that I hear commonly is, "Oh,
I don't need it because I'm young and healthy." And I will be honest and say that in my early 20s,
I definitely made that statement, but I have learned a lot since then. And now I am singing
(19:40):
a different tune. So it is very true like Will was saying before for flu, for RSV, for COVID,
the most at risk populations are some of our very young and our older adults, but they are all
contagious diseases. They can all have serious complications like pneumonia or encephalitis,
blood clots, heart problems. And these risks do exist for everyone including otherwise
(20:04):
healthy adults. So it is important to continue to vaccinate to protect yourself. And then again,
like we talked about, you might be 30 with no health problems, but what about your infant
nephew, your neighbor who is elderly, or your colleague with type 1 diabetes or some other type
of immune suppressing disease that could make them a lot more at risk. So, like we've talked
(20:27):
about a couple times so far, we are a community. We protect ourselves, but we also need to protect
each other. And that is kind of why I say even if you're young and healthy, let's still vaccinate.
And then finally, one of the ones that I hear a lot is, especially with the flu vaccine,
it's not even that effective. Why would I get this vaccine? And again, lead with honesty. It
(20:49):
is true that the flu vaccine on any given year is between 40 and 60% effective at preventing
you from getting the flu at all, which might not seem high in comparison to some other vaccines,
but we've also talked about it does reduce your risk significantly of hospitalizations and death
if you do get sick. So, we are preventing those long-term side effects. Like Will said,
(21:11):
we are preventing the loss of time from work, the loss of time from school, the spreading it
to other members of the community. All of these things are really important and important to think
about when you're considering whether getting vaccinated this year. I love the analogy to the
bicycle. I hadn't heard that before, but I'll add another bicycle anecdote. I guess for me,
(21:33):
it's like wearing a helmet, right? Exactly. I'm not going to crash. I'm a good bicycle rider. Why
do I need to wear a helmet? I like, you know, the feeling of the wind in my hair. But the reality is
I could fall. I may fall. And especially if I'm older or younger, that may have a significant
impact my overall health. So wearing a helmet seems like a pretty reasonable idea. And even I'm
(22:00):
adding that to mine. I'm adding that to my analogy from now on. Dr. Rossman... and even you know
talking about you know I have heard particularly the flu vaccine right oh it's just not really a
good match I may get flu anyway but let's just say someone has said I have a lottery ticket and
you have a 60% chance of winning I'd be hey I'm on it... right because there's really no downside. I
(22:27):
do get your arm may hurt a little bit but you will recover pretty quickly at that and who knows you
may win the lottery and not get the flu, not go into the hospital, not get anyone else sick. So,
yeah, totally agree with that and thank you for talking about all those misconceptions. You can't
get the flu from the flu shot. You can't get COVID from the COVID shot and you can't get RSV from the
(22:54):
RSV shot. In addition to getting vaccines, because they're just one tool to preventing respiratory
diseases from spreading, what are some other effective steps people can take to help prevent
the spread of illnesses in their homes, schools, and workplaces? The recommendations that I'm going
(23:15):
to give are not fun and they're not flashy, but they are effective. So vaccines, like we've been
talking about, consistently rank as one of the top five public health achievements of all time,
but so does improvement in basic hygiene. So the easy answer is wash your hands, cover your cough,
wear a mask if you're symptomatic and you have to go out in public, and most importantly,
(23:38):
stay home if you are sick. It is easy as that. things we learned in kindergarten or I think
now the kids learned in pre-K or or even younger. Handwashing. Handwashing. Handwashing. Cover your
cough and sneezing into your your elbow. Stay home if you're sick so you don't spread it to
(23:59):
other people and it gives your body a chance to recover. We've been discussing respiratory
illnesses and why people should get vaccinated to help prevent serious illness or worse. for
both of you. Let's talk about actually getting the vaccine and the future. How can communities
prepare for respiratory illness seasons and what part does vaccination play in that preparation?
(24:25):
At the health department, because we know I mentioned seasonality before, we know that
flu will be a problem this time of year. Every season, uh we offer a slate of community flu
events, completely free, no appointment needed. usually getting started in um early October. So,
when we get to the end of the summer into early fall and you're looking for your flu shot, just
(24:50):
check the health department website because we will have more than a dozen events probably where
you can just show up during that window and with a very short wait and just filling out a little
bit of paperwork um at no charge to you, you can get flu shot to protect yourself, your family,
your community. We also have left over from that immunization campaign since all of the events have
(25:14):
wrapped up at this point. We do have high-dose flu vaccine left over for individuals 65 and older.
Supplies are limited. But if you are 65 or older and you haven't gotten your flu shot this season,
you can come to the health department. Again, no appointment needed, just a walk up and counter
to get your high-dose flu vaccine. But that is limited to its 65 and older population based on
(25:39):
the uh approval for that vaccine. Yeah, the retail pharmacy stores, grocery stores are available
uh particularly flu and COVID vaccine and usually they accept all insurances so there is no fee.
Last question I have because we are running out of time. Is it too late to get vaccinated for any
(26:00):
of these respiratory illnesses? No, it is not too late. We talk about getting vaccinated. We
vaccinated last year through April. I think we try to vaccinate before peak flu season starts.
And peak flu season usually starts around late December, early January. We want to get vaccinated
a little before that so that our bodies can be appropriately responding to that vaccine
(26:23):
before those viruses peak. But it is never too late to get vaccinated. We really want you to
get vaccinated before during the respiratory virus season. Yeah. And just to add to that,
Erin had mentioned earlier that um if you do feel some mild side effects after getting a vaccine,
that's a sign that your immune system is mounting a response. So when you get the shot,
(26:45):
if you're feeling those symptoms, you're already having that that antibody response. For flu,
it's typically about two weeks until you hit the peak antibody response. But that response
does continue and you have that protection going on for several more months after that to get you
through the the riskiest part of flu season if you were to get your shot right now. Unfortunately,
(27:08):
it looks like we have run out of time today. I want to thank our guests Will Doyle and Erin
Anderson for the robust and very interesting conversation, an important conversation.
You can stay up to date on what's going on at the health department by following us on social
media at HoCo Health and you can also listen to all our episodes at hocohealth.podbean.com
(27:36):
on Spotify or wherever else you listen to your podcasts. Thank you for listening to
the HoCo Health podcast. We hope you will join us again for a new public health topic. [Music]
You can't get the flu from the flu shot. You can't get COVID from the COVID shot. And you
can't get RSV from the RSV shot. Every single patient that I give a flu shot to,
I say, "Thank you for protecting yourself, your family, and your community." And it it isn't just
platitudes. I mean that very sincerely because a community is healthier and safer with people
(00:28):
vaccinated. [Music] Hello and thank you for listening to the Howard County or HoCo Health
podcast. A podcast produced in collaboration with the Howard County Health Department
and Howard Community College where we discuss topics on all things public health. I'm Howard
(00:49):
County Health Officer Dr. Maura Rossman. During today's episode, we're talking about something
that affects all of us. Staying protected from respiratory illnesses like flu, COVID 19, and RSV,
also known as respiratory sensitial virus. Every year, these viruses send thousands of people,
(01:11):
including children, to the hospital. And what many people don't realize is how much protection we can
get simply by keeping up to date on vaccines. Today I'm joined by Howard County Health
Department immunization nurse supervisor Will Doyle and Assistant Nursing Director Erin Anderson
who are here to help us understand why vaccination remains one of our strongest tools for keeping
(01:37):
both children and adults healthy. Our first guest is Will Doyle. Will is our immunization
program manager. Thanks for joining us today, Will. Thanks, Dr. Rossman. Respiratory illness
season is upon us and we are seeing an increase in illnesses which will likely continue as we move
into the next several months. Can you share why it is so important for both children and adults
(02:01):
to stay up to date on vaccines for respiratory illnesses like flu, COVID 19, and RSV? Sure, I
could go on and on and on about that, but instead I came up with a succinct three point summary,
and it's even alliterative. The reasons you want to stay up to date are seasonality, severity,
(02:23):
and sub-variance. For seasonality, we know every year as we get into October through March,
we're going to see increases in flu activity, and other respiratory illnesses. If you just look at
patterns of behavior, um, kids going back to school, so we're in they're in that crowded
environment, travelers passing through busy hubs like airports for the holidays, people gathering
(02:44):
for the holidays, it's a situation where these respiratory illnesses can spread much more quickly
through a population and they do. So that's one of the reasons we want to stay up to date on vaccines
for these illnesses. I mentioned severity as well. There is a misperception and I'll admit when I was
younger I used to think that flu isn't that big a deal. You just um treat the symptoms, you get
(03:07):
through it and things bounce back to normal. But flu can be very severe for many patients. This
past season 2024 to 2025 was the second highest number of pediatric flu deaths recorded in the
last 20 years. In 89% of those kids, there were 280 total. 89% of them were not fully vaccinated
(03:28):
for flu. Flu and um RSV um are very serious for kids. Also, older adults can be affected
by them. Um seniors account for the majority of hospitalizations related to flu. And so for
that reason, flu being just so severe for many patients, it is a good idea to stay up to date on
your vaccines. And then I mentioned sub-variants. Flu and COVID are a couple of those pathogens that
(03:54):
evolve constantly. So, every season it's important to stay up to date. If you got a flu shot a year
ago or two years ago, it isn't going to protect you this season. So, it's important to stay up
to date with the most recent formulation so that you're protected against whatever bug is is out
there circulating. I'm so glad you mentioned the point about kids and how bad the flu season was
(04:18):
last year for kids because many families do think that children in general don't have very severe
illness and in general people also think that vaccines are just for kids and you mentioned
that severity can be particularly impairing for older adults. There's lots of different vaccines,
(04:41):
flu vaccines out there and respiratory vaccines. Can you describe a little bit more about who
should be getting what vaccine? Yeah. Yep. We'll go um just for the the illnesses that
we're focusing on for this podcast one by one. Let's start with flu since we are in flu season.
Flu vaccine is recommended for anyone 6 months and older. There is a preferential recommendation for
(05:06):
individuals who are 65 or older to get a high dose flu vaccine. High dose flu shots aren't
associated with any worse side effects compared with a regular dose flu shot. It's just a higher
concentration in that dose. So, it gives you a better immune response. As we get older, our
immune systems weaken. And so it is important to give a a little extra boost to individuals in that
(05:31):
65 and older group to make sure that they're best protected against flu. Flu vaccine, flu shots are
safe during pregnancy. In fact, there are studies showing the antibodies are passed along to the
baby. So that's a great way to protect everyone in the population, particularly considering that
there's a minimum age of six months to get a flu shot. So that's a good way to protect very young
(05:54):
patients. So those are the main points about flu and how most of the population aside from those
younger than 6 months or someone who has a known severe allergic reaction to the vaccine. Everyone
else should be getting a flu shot every season. For COVID, it is approved for 6 months and older
and is recommended as a routine vaccination. Moderna Spike vax is particular brand that goes
(06:20):
all the way down to 6 months. If your provider has Pfizer, that's a minimum age of five years. So you
might want to check around if you have a child in that younger age group, younger than five,
just to find someone who can make that Moderna dose available to your child. So that that COVID
vaccine um similar to flu recommended for 6 months and older. And then for RSV, we'll talk about the
(06:44):
the two segments of the population that are most vulnerable to that who have recommendations for
the RSV shot. That is very young patients, babies, newborns who um whose mother did not receive the
RSV vaccine during pregnancy. So if a child is in the first RSV season between October and March,
(07:06):
I just came out of an appointment in our immunization clinic and so we screened the patient
there to see if if they were eligible for the RSV vaccine. In a lot of cases, patients respond,
parents respond that mom did get the RSV vaccine between weeks 32 and 36 of pregnancy between the
months of September and January. So that's another group aside from newborns and the elderly. You
(07:34):
can protect baby from RSV by getting the RSV shot during pregnancy. But if the timing wasn't right
or for whatever reason you weren't able to do that during pregnancy, then your child can get RSV
in that first respiratory virus season. Besides pregnant persons and babies getting RSV vaccine,
we want to think about older adults. Um, specifically there's a universal recommendation
(07:59):
for 75 and older to get the RSV vaccine. And then for the segment of the population that's
50 to 74 years old with certain risk factors like chronic underlying health conditions,
they're recommended to get RSV vaccine as well. That's a lot to take in. And just as a reminder,
if our audience hasn't remembered everything that Will just said, you can always go talk to your
(08:25):
provider, ask questions about which vaccine may be best for you and other members of your family.
Well, you mentioned immunity and immunologic aspects of a person's health of why they may be
more at risk for respiratory illnesses and why vaccine is important for them. I've heard from
(08:48):
some people about natural immunity and the feeling that well these viruses are around and my body
will take care of it and vaccines maybe I don't need vaccines or I got vaccine a year ago. What
do you say to people that want to know more about either natural immunity or about their own health
(09:10):
immune system and and the importance of vaccines and why these vaccines work? That's a really
good point because I' I've heard that argument as well. During a clinic appointment, there might be
a little bit of give and take, just figuring out, you know, what is the right approach. The way that
I think about it is I have the choice of getting a shot to protect me against flu, for example,
(09:32):
or possibly having flu. I've had a lot of patients that I've seen in clinic this season and they've
told me specifically they're getting their flu shot because they had flu last year and they'd
much rather roll up their sleeve and deal with a jab in the arm, a little bit of muscle soreness
for maybe a day or two and then they're back to normal and they're protected than being out for
(09:57):
multiple days with very severe flu symptoms. So you you can choose how to get protected against
illness either by um being infected with it and developing a natural immune response,
but that might come with some some severe symptoms, possibly even hospitalization. So
that's the the choice that you have to make is do you want to roll up your sleeve and
(10:19):
get the shot or do you want to roll the dice and possibly have a really unpleasant experience being
ill to have that natural immunity? Every single patient that I give a flu shot to, I say, "Thank
you for protecting yourself, your family, and your community." And it it isn't just platitudes.
I mean that very sincerely because a community is healthier and safer with people vaccinating. Yeah,
(10:43):
I agree. The other aspect too about vaccines, the type of vaccines we're talking about today,
is that they can also help an individual from spreading it to somebody else who may be
immuno-compromised or a newborn baby or an elderly relative. You have um you're avoiding learning
(11:04):
loss uh due to kids being out of school for multiple days. you're avoiding lost productivity,
missed deadlines, and a a lot of people are in a situation of not having sick leave,
and so if if they have to call out, they're not going to get paid. So,
um just in terms of, you know, your your household finances, what your professional goals are,
(11:26):
what your academic goals are, or what goals you have for others in your family, it makes sense to
protect yourself because thereby you're protecting everyone else in your household. We're going to
take a break right now and I want to continue the conversation with our next guest, Erin Anderson.
(11:57):
[Music]
[Music] You're listening to the HoCo Health podcast where we talk about all things public
health. Today we are talking about respiratory illnesses and getting vaccinated to help protect
against severe illness, hospitalization, and even death. Our next guest is Erin Anderson. Thanks for
joining the conversation today, Erin. Happy to be here. As you know, we have been talking about
(12:20):
the benefits of vaccination against respiratory illnesses. There's been a lot of talk about the
safety and effectiveness of vaccines and I know you like Will are very passionate about vaccines
and getting vaccinated. So for people who may be hesitant or unsure about getting vaccinated or
(12:40):
having their family members vaccinated, what would you tell them about the safety and effectiveness
of these vaccines? Um, I really like this question and I it's one that I think about a lot.
So I think the most important thing when you're talking to patients especially as a
healthcare provider about safety and efficacy of vaccines is to first of all acknowledge people's
(13:02):
fears without judgment. That's can be really important in creating that good relationship
between a patient and a provider. So you want to start with honesty and the honest answer is that
no medicine no vaccine is completely safe and no medicine no vaccine is completely 100% effective.
But the problem is that we always as a society overestimate the risk of a vaccine injury and
(13:24):
we're really underestimating the risk of a injury from the disease itself. Like Will was
mentioning in the first part, the risk of a severe adverse event from a vaccination is about one in a
million. And that's a really hard number for our brains to wrap around. So I'll put it in a little
context for you. The risk of it getting struck by lightning is about 1 in 15,000. So, I'll spare
(13:46):
you the math, but that means that you are about 65 times more likely to get struck by lightning than
you are to have a serious reaction to a vaccine. And if we want to put that in context of vaccine
versus actual disease, let's talk about the flu virus. So, last year, like Will was mentioning,
it was a pretty bad flu year. The hospitalization rate for the flu, so getting hospitalized for the
(14:07):
flu was about 127 people for every 100,000 members of the population. That's a little bit higher than
a standard year, but it's usually pretty close to that. So again, I'll spare you the math,
but you're about 1200 to 1300 times more likely to be hospitalized from having the flu than you
are to have an adverse reaction to the flu vaccine. So to me, those numbers are really
(14:30):
in favor of helping me to understand those risks. pretty small risk of a vaccine injury,
pretty high risk of comparatively for having a hospitalization from the disease that that vaccine
is designed to prevent. The other thing I really need to emphasize to all of our patients is that
vaccines as a medical intervention are literally the most studied medical intervention we have.
(14:54):
There's over a hundred years of research about vaccine safety, about vaccine efficacy. They are
rigorously tested for safety and efficacy before they're even allowed to be on the market. And then
we have several safety monitoring tools that we use both in the United States and worldwide to
continually review vaccine safety once they're on the market. So we have tons of mechanisms in place
(15:16):
to study these vaccines and there are thousands of studies involving millions of people that
show vaccines are safe and effective. In the end, hesitation to vaccinate comes from fear,
which is valid. you're afraid for yourself and you want to protect yourself and your loved ones. And
as a health care provider, I also really want to protect myself, my family, and my loved ones
(15:38):
and my patients and my community. And that's exactly why I do choose to vaccinate and why
I do strongly recommend vaccination to everyone. I think one of the things that's happened over time
with the success and effectiveness of vaccines is that people no longer hear or see about the
terrible adverse impacts of getting the disease. I do remember taking care of infants and young
(16:05):
children in the pediatric ICU who had severe flu, severe RSV, and other vaccine-preventable diseases
that new trainees and new pediatricians have never seen. But unfortunately, we've all heard
about outbreaks of certain diseases that uh we are now seeing that we used to not see because
(16:30):
folks are not getting vaccinated and that herd immunity that will talked about earlier
um has become too low to protect the population at large. So yeah, it's all about risk benefit,
but I understand how it is hard for some folks to see the risk when it may not be visible to them.
What are some of the misconceptions people seem to have about these vaccines? I know we're talking
(16:57):
a little bit about that. And what would you say to address that? And where might people
seek out resources or more information should they want that? There's a ton of misconceptions
about vaccines, especially these flu virus or the flu vaccine and COVID vaccine that we try to get
everyone to get annually. And you know, I think that the blessing and curse of our availability,
(17:23):
internet news, things like that, you can get a lot of good information and information spreads
really quickly, but you can also get a lot of bad information and bad information spreads equally
quickly. So, I think one of the main things that I hear about especially like flu vaccine,
COVID vaccine is, well, the vaccine is going to make me sick. And again, leading with honesty,
it's definitely true that you can have some side effects, especially with the COVID vaccine. That
(17:46):
one tends to have more of those systemic side effects like fever and body aches and fatigue,
especially in that 12 to like 48 hours after vaccination. That's true. It can make you feel
kind of crummy for a little while. Usually not with the flu vaccine. That's generally
more of just the pain and swelling in the arm. But when you have those side effects,
(18:06):
it's important to remember that those are actually kind of a good sign that your that your immune
system is mounting a good immune response to that vaccine so that you can effectively fight off any
future infections. Those two vaccines that I was talking about just now, flu and COVID, they are
designed really differently, but neither of them is capable at all of giving you flu or giving you
COVID. The most common flu vaccine that we have contains three different varieties of the virus,
(18:30):
but they are all killed and they're not able to replicate. And then the COVID vaccine contains
it's basically like the instructions for just a piece of the virus. I like to use an analogy of
a bicycle. So for the flu vaccine, if I handed you a bicycle that had been run over by a semi-truck,
the frame is bent, the handlebars are broken, your brain would still recognize that as a bicycle, but
(18:53):
you wouldn't be able to ride it. it wouldn't get you anywhere. For COVID, it's like if I gave you
uh one page of the IKEA instructions for that same bicycle and that was for the handlebars,
your brain would recognize, hey, this is going to make a handlebar. I know that's an important part
of this bicycle. But can you ride that handlebar? No. And you can't even make the rest of the bike
(19:16):
with the instructions that I've given you. So neither of these viruses or vaccines, sorry,
can cause the virus that they are preventing. Another thing that I hear commonly is, "Oh,
I don't need it because I'm young and healthy." And I will be honest and say that in my early 20s,
I definitely made that statement, but I have learned a lot since then. And now I am singing
(19:40):
a different tune. So it is very true like Will was saying before for flu, for RSV, for COVID,
the most at risk populations are some of our very young and our older adults, but they are all
contagious diseases. They can all have serious complications like pneumonia or encephalitis,
blood clots, heart problems. And these risks do exist for everyone including otherwise
(20:04):
healthy adults. So it is important to continue to vaccinate to protect yourself. And then again,
like we talked about, you might be 30 with no health problems, but what about your infant
nephew, your neighbor who is elderly, or your colleague with type 1 diabetes or some other type
of immune suppressing disease that could make them a lot more at risk. So, like we've talked
(20:27):
about a couple times so far, we are a community. We protect ourselves, but we also need to protect
each other. And that is kind of why I say even if you're young and healthy, let's still vaccinate.
And then finally, one of the ones that I hear a lot is, especially with the flu vaccine,
it's not even that effective. Why would I get this vaccine? And again, lead with honesty. It
(20:49):
is true that the flu vaccine on any given year is between 40 and 60% effective at preventing
you from getting the flu at all, which might not seem high in comparison to some other vaccines,
but we've also talked about it does reduce your risk significantly of hospitalizations and death
if you do get sick. So, we are preventing those long-term side effects. Like Will said,
(21:11):
we are preventing the loss of time from work, the loss of time from school, the spreading it
to other members of the community. All of these things are really important and important to think
about when you're considering whether getting vaccinated this year. I love the analogy to the
bicycle. I hadn't heard that before, but I'll add another bicycle anecdote. I guess for me,
(21:33):
it's like wearing a helmet, right? Exactly. I'm not going to crash. I'm a good bicycle rider. Why
do I need to wear a helmet? I like, you know, the feeling of the wind in my hair. But the reality is
I could fall. I may fall. And especially if I'm older or younger, that may have a significant
impact my overall health. So wearing a helmet seems like a pretty reasonable idea. And even I'm
(22:00):
adding that to mine. I'm adding that to my analogy from now on. Dr. Rossman... and even you know
talking about you know I have heard particularly the flu vaccine right oh it's just not really a
good match I may get flu anyway but let's just say someone has said I have a lottery ticket and
you have a 60% chance of winning I'd be hey I'm on it... right because there's really no downside. I
(22:27):
do get your arm may hurt a little bit but you will recover pretty quickly at that and who knows you
may win the lottery and not get the flu, not go into the hospital, not get anyone else sick. So,
yeah, totally agree with that and thank you for talking about all those misconceptions. You can't
get the flu from the flu shot. You can't get COVID from the COVID shot and you can't get RSV from the
(22:54):
RSV shot. In addition to getting vaccines, because they're just one tool to preventing respiratory
diseases from spreading, what are some other effective steps people can take to help prevent
the spread of illnesses in their homes, schools, and workplaces? The recommendations that I'm going
(23:15):
to give are not fun and they're not flashy, but they are effective. So vaccines, like we've been
talking about, consistently rank as one of the top five public health achievements of all time,
but so does improvement in basic hygiene. So the easy answer is wash your hands, cover your cough,
wear a mask if you're symptomatic and you have to go out in public, and most importantly,
(23:38):
stay home if you are sick. It is easy as that. things we learned in kindergarten or I think
now the kids learned in pre-K or or even younger. Handwashing. Handwashing. Handwashing. Cover your
cough and sneezing into your your elbow. Stay home if you're sick so you don't spread it to
(23:59):
other people and it gives your body a chance to recover. We've been discussing respiratory
illnesses and why people should get vaccinated to help prevent serious illness or worse. for
both of you. Let's talk about actually getting the vaccine and the future. How can communities
prepare for respiratory illness seasons and what part does vaccination play in that preparation?
(24:25):
At the health department, because we know I mentioned seasonality before, we know that
flu will be a problem this time of year. Every season, uh we offer a slate of community flu
events, completely free, no appointment needed. usually getting started in um early October. So,
when we get to the end of the summer into early fall and you're looking for your flu shot, just
(24:50):
check the health department website because we will have more than a dozen events probably where
you can just show up during that window and with a very short wait and just filling out a little
bit of paperwork um at no charge to you, you can get flu shot to protect yourself, your family,
your community. We also have left over from that immunization campaign since all of the events have
(25:14):
wrapped up at this point. We do have high-dose flu vaccine left over for individuals 65 and older.
Supplies are limited. But if you are 65 or older and you haven't gotten your flu shot this season,
you can come to the health department. Again, no appointment needed, just a walk up and counter
to get your high-dose flu vaccine. But that is limited to its 65 and older population based on
(25:39):
the uh approval for that vaccine. Yeah, the retail pharmacy stores, grocery stores are available
uh particularly flu and COVID vaccine and usually they accept all insurances so there is no fee.
Last question I have because we are running out of time. Is it too late to get vaccinated for any
(26:00):
of these respiratory illnesses? No, it is not too late. We talk about getting vaccinated. We
vaccinated last year through April. I think we try to vaccinate before peak flu season starts.
And peak flu season usually starts around late December, early January. We want to get vaccinated
a little before that so that our bodies can be appropriately responding to that vaccine
(26:23):
before those viruses peak. But it is never too late to get vaccinated. We really want you to
get vaccinated before during the respiratory virus season. Yeah. And just to add to that,
Erin had mentioned earlier that um if you do feel some mild side effects after getting a vaccine,
that's a sign that your immune system is mounting a response. So when you get the shot,
(26:45):
if you're feeling those symptoms, you're already having that that antibody response. For flu,
it's typically about two weeks until you hit the peak antibody response. But that response
does continue and you have that protection going on for several more months after that to get you
through the the riskiest part of flu season if you were to get your shot right now. Unfortunately,
(27:08):
it looks like we have run out of time today. I want to thank our guests Will Doyle and Erin
Anderson for the robust and very interesting conversation, an important conversation.
You can stay up to date on what's going on at the health department by following us on social
media at HoCo Health and you can also listen to all our episodes at hocohealth.podbean.com
(27:36):
on Spotify or wherever else you listen to your podcasts. Thank you for listening to
the HoCo Health podcast. We hope you will join us again for a new public health topic. [Music]
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