Health

Care for a flu shot?
by Claudia Sonea

If you want to get rid of that pesky flu that is threatening to ruin your winter joy and keep you in bed with a high fever and a red nose, you now have the chance to actually do it. Moreover, you can even plan a trip to Alaska, while you have your vaccine; there are the nursing waiting you right before you take off. Airports in cities like Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Newark, N.J., and San Francisco are installing health stations close to the gates, past the security checkpoints for travelers to have a flu shot just after taking off their shoes, emptying their pockets and passing through the security checkpoint. These airports already have a history in offering flu shots to airline passengers before they cleared security. However, passengers were usually too scared that they miss their plane if they stop to get vaccinated. Now, that they moved it after the security checkpoint and the fear that or being stuck in security and not making their plane is gone, travelers seem to love the idea, according to Maureen Zampella, director of nursing and general operations manager of a service that is offering flu shots at the Newark airport. Dr. Dominic Mack, chief medical officer of the service offering shots in Atlanta adds that the lack of time to go to a physician is another factor. Even if the vaccines will not have an effect right away, because it takes about two weeks for a shot to offer full protection, you can prepare yourself or when the peak flu season begins, typically after December. Because the flu shots had such an amazing success, airports will also introduce cholesterol tests and screening for high blood pressure. Dr. John Zautcke, medical director for the University of Illinois Medical Center at O'Hare confessed that business travelers love the initiative and the fact that O'Hare and Midway have vaccinated a total of about 9,500 people this year confirms his statement. Have you had your flu shot yet?

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071206/ap_on_re_us/airport_flu_shots;_ylt=AtI2eszv.rl2yA4VZRyyJCqs0NUE

by Claudia Sonea for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

posted by Blog TechSource @ 4:05 PM