Urgent Care Flu Shots Clinic Q&A

The common cold and the flu are caused by different viruses, but they are both considered respiratory illnesses. That is due to these two types of illnesses having similar symptoms, which can cause them to be self-diagnosed incorrectly by individuals due to them being difficult to tell apart based on their similar symptoms.

The flu is much worse than the cold, as the symptoms of the flu are more intense, while the common cold is known to be milder.

While it can be difficult to tell the difference between the two, there are some signs and symptoms that can offer some more insight into the differences:

COLD

• Gradual onset of symptoms
• Fevers are rare with a cold
• You may experience slight aches
• It is uncommon to have chills
• You may experience fatigue and weakness
• Sneezing is common
• Mild to moderate chest congestion/cough
• Stuffy nose is common
• Sore throat is common
• Headache is rare

FLU

• Abrupt onset of symptoms
• Fevers are common with the flu
• Aches are usual with the flu
• Fairly common to have chills
• You most likely will experience fatigue and weakness
• Sneezing is rare
• Common chest congestion/cough
• Stuffy nose is rare
• Sore throat is rare
• Headache is common

Flu season normally becomes more common during the fall and winter months. The exact timing and duration of the flu season will vary each year, but it is noticeable to see flu symptoms increasing in individuals around October.

The flu vaccine offers important benefits that can help not only to reduce the flu illness, but doctors’ visits, missed work or school as well as any hospitalizations or deaths that are flu-related.

It is advised and highly recommended that anyone 6 months or older receive a flu vaccine every season. Vaccinations are particularly important for individuals who are at a higher risk of receiving serious complications due to the flu.

There are different flu vaccines available for different groups of individuals:

• Flu shots for children as young as 6 months old and approved for use in adults 65 years or older
• Flu shots are recommended for pregnant women and people with certain chronic health conditions.
• The nasal spray flu vaccine is approved for non-pregnant women who are ages 2-49 years old.

The flu vaccine reduces the risk of flu illness by 40% to 60% among the overall population of the United States during the flu season, when the flu is circulating the most. The flu vaccine that is made each year tends to work better against the influenza B and influenza A viruses.

Each year, the flu leads to high hospitalizations and in some cases death due to the seriousness of the disease and the symptoms it entails. Each flu season varies, as the influenza virus can affect each individual differently, but millions of people contract the flu each year, and hundreds of thousands of people die from flu-related causes each year.

You may have had the flu previously, and only felt mild symptoms and had to miss work or school for a few days, due to the virus having different types, if you contract one of the more severe influenza types, those mild symptoms can lead to more serious illness and can cause complications which may include bacterial pneumonia, sinus infections, ear infections and worsening of chronic conditions, if you have any like congestive heart failure, asthma or diabetes.

If you are looking for urgent care that provides flu vaccines, contact Priority Urgent Care today! We provide walk-in flu vaccines and appointment-based flu vaccines. We serve patients from Ellington CT, Unionville CT, East Haven CT, Cromwell CT, Oxford, CT and Newington, CT, and BEYOND!