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Beebe Healthcare to host free flu vaccination clinics

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2016

 

Beebe Healthcare will offer free flu clinics for the community starting this month.

Influenza viruses are always changing so annual vaccination is recommended. Each year scientists try to match the viruses in the vaccine to those most likely to cause flu that year. Vaccinations will be provided to adults only (18 and over) at the clinics. Parents should contact their children's physician or the Division of Public Health for information about pediatric vaccinations.

Megan Williams, DNP, BA, FNP-COPC, director of Population Health, said Beebe will once again host a free flu clinic at the Medical Center in Lewes every Monday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., September 19 through November 17, 2016. Beebe also participates in free health screenings at events across Sussex County to better serve the community.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that the following populations consider getting the influenza vaccination:

  • People 50 to 64 years of age. Nearly one-third of people between the ages of 50 and 64 years of age in the United States have one or more medical conditions that place them at an increased risk for serious flu complications.
  • People who can transmit flu to others at high risk for complications. Any person in close contact with someone in a high-risk group should get vaccinated. This includes all health-care workers, household contacts and out-of-home caregivers of young children up to 23 months of age, and close contacts of people 65 years and older.

According to CDC, people at high risk for complications from influenza include:

  • People 65 years and older.
  • People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities that house those with long-term illnesses.
  • Adults and children six months and older with chronic heart or lung conditions, including asthma.
  • Adults and children six months and older who needed regular medical care or were in a hospital during the previous year because of a metabolic disease (like diabetes), chronic kidney disease, or weakened immune system (including immune system problems caused by medicines or by infection with human immunodeficiency virus [HIV/AIDS]).
  • Children 6 months to 18 years of age who are on long-term aspirin therapy. (Children given aspirin while they have influenza are at risk of Reye's syndrome.).
  • Women who are pregnant during influenza season.
  • All children 6 to 23 months of age.
  • People with any condition that can compromise respiratory function or the handling of respiratory secretions (that is, a condition that makes it hard to breathe or swallow, such as brain injury or disease, spinal cord injuries, seizure disorders, or other nerve or muscle disorders).

If you become ill with the influenza virus, make sure to rest, drink plenty of liquids, avoid using alcohol and tobacco, and take medication to relieve symptoms. Never give aspirin to children or teenagers who have flu-like symptoms, especially fever, without consulting a physician. In some cases, physicians may choose to prescribe certain antiviral drugs to treat influenza. Antibiotics do not cure influenza, which is caused by a virus.

Every Monday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., September 19 through November 17, free flu vaccinations will be given in the lobby of the Medical Center on Savannah Road in Lewes.

Additional flu vaccination clinics are set for:

  • September 26, 4 p.m. — 7 p.m., at Ocean View VFW, Mason Dixon Post 7234, 29265 Marshy Hope Way, Ocean View
  • October 4, 2 p.m. — 5 p.m., at Beebe Lab Express, Millville, 32550 Doc’s Place (Creekside Plaza, Route 26), Millville
  • October 5, 12 p.m. — 6 p.m., at CAMP Rehoboth, 37 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth
  • October 6, 8 a.m. — 2 p.m., at Sussex County YMCA, 20080 Church Street, Rehoboth
  • October 8, 9 a.m. — 2 p.m., at Rabbit’s Ferry Community Center, Robinsonville Road (7 Shady Nook Road), Lewes
  • October 9, 8:30 a.m. — 2 p.m., at Lewes Presbyterian Church, 133 King’s Highway, Lewes
  • October 11, 2 p.m. — 5 p.m., at Beebe Lab Express, Georgetown, 21635 Biden Ave. (across from Del Tech on Route 18/404)
  • October 13, 2 p.m. — 5 p.m., at Beebe Lab Express, Millsboro, 28538 duPont Blvd. (Route 113)
  • October 14, 8 a.m. — 10 a.m., at Rehoboth Police Department, Rehoboth Beach Fire Department, East Bay, 219 Rehoboth Ave.
  • October 18, Noon — 3 p.m., at Beebe Lab Express, Milton, Clipper Square Shopping Center, 614 Mulberry St.
  • October 22, Noon — 3 p.m., at Beebe Health Campus, Outpatient Center, John J. Williams Hwy (Rt. 24), Rehoboth
  • October 26, 2 p.m. — 6 p.m., at Crossroad Community Church, 20684 State Forest Road, Georgetown
  • November 12, 10 a.m. — 2 p.m., at St. Jude’s Catholic Church (Five Points/Nassau), 152 Tulip Drive, Lewes
  • November 20, 11 a.m. — 3 p.m., at Bethel AME Church, Milton, Mulberry Street, Milton

For more information on the clinics, call Beebe Population Health at (302) 645-3337. For a full listing of flu clinics and street addresses, go to Calendar of Events.

Beebe Healthcare is a not-for-profit community healthcare system with a charitable mission to encourage healthy living, prevent illness, and restore optimal health for the people residing, working, or visiting in the communities we serve. It offers services throughout Southern Delaware including a 210-licensed-bed hospital, a cancer center, and outpatient facilities at multiple sites providing walk-in care, lab, imaging, and physical rehab services. For more information, please visit us online at Beebe Healthcare.