New podcast: Flu season update from CDC

Dr. Jhung, MD, MPH, MS,
Medical Officer for the CDC

Have you noticed that a lot of people are talking about the flu right now? It’s on the news, and as more people come down with the flu this year, it’s on everyone’s minds, too.

More than 40 U.S. states are reporting widespread flu activity in what has turned out to be an early start to the 2012-2013 flu season. The Get Ready campaign spoke with Michael Jhung, a medical officer for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to get the scoop on this year’s flu season in the latest episode of our Get Ready Report podcast.

Jhung said that this year’s flu season is off to “quite an early start,” and that this year could turn out to be worse than last year’s flu season.

Why worry about the flu? Jhung reported that the flu kills anywhere between 3,000 and 49,000 people in the U.S. each year, and makes thousands more severely ill.

“Influenza puts several hundred thousand people into the hospital every year in the United States,” he said. “Even if you don’t end up in the hospital with influenza, it’s really a miserable experience to be pretty much incapacitated for the few days to week of influenza symptoms.”

If you’ve been lucky enough to avoid the flu so far this year, you can increase your chances of staying healthy by getting a flu shot. That’s right — it’s not too late!

“There is a lot of flu activity out there right now, and there is every reason to go out and get vaccinated if you haven’t been vaccinated already,” Jhung said.

If you are looking for the flu shot, check flushot.healthmap.org to find a location near you.

Jhung also explains during the podcast why some flu seasons are worse than others, and talked about how the CDC monitors flu every year. Plus, he has other useful tips for keeping yourself healthy after you’ve gotten your flu shot.

Check out the podcast for more helpful information about the flu. You can listen to the episode or read the full transcript. And don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast for free via iTunes!

Flu Fridays: Learn about our new flu tracking tool, Flu Near You

Welcome back to Flu Fridays! Did you know that you can help track the flu this year, right from your computer? The Get Ready Report podcast team recently sat down with Michelle Holshue, RN, APHA’s Flu Near You fellow, to learn more about an online tracking tool called Flu Near You.

Launched in October, Flu Near You asks people to sign up to report their symptoms. Users get a weekly email asking, “How are you feeling?” They fill out a short survey about their recent symptoms — or lack of them — and then they can see a map of other reported flu symptoms in their area. The information on the map is anonymous, and the map is interactive, too.

“You can push ‘play’ on the map and watch the flu season unfold week by week, like a movie,” Holshue said.

Holshue believes that there are many reasons why the public should be interested monitoring the flu.

“A lot of people think that the flu is ‘no big deal,’ but in the U.S., thousands of people die every year from influenza and related complications,” she said during the podcast.

Holshue said she hopes that by using Flu Near You, everyday people can arm themselves with knowledge about flu activity in their area.

Image courtesy Flu Near You.

“By looking at the map every week, they’ll be able to know if flu cases are picking up in their area, and then hopefully they can take precautions to prevent themselves from getting sick, like getting the flu shot or practicing better hygiene,” she said.

Are you ready to learn more about Flu Near You? Listen to episode 23 (Part A) of our Get Ready Report online. iTunes users can download all of our Get Ready Report podcasts for free from the iTunes Store. You can also read the full transcript of the interview with Holshue.

If you’re an APHA member, you’ll also want to listen to Part B of episode 23, where we explain the special Flu Near You Challenge that we have developed just for members.

Find out more about Flu Near You or sign up to take part at https://flunearyou.org/.

Workplace preparedness: What businesses can do to prepare for disasters

Did you know that 65 percent of businesses in the United States don’t have a plan for disaster preparedness? That’s what we learned last month when we sat down with Bob Boyd to record the latest episode of our Get Ready Report podcast.

Boyd is president and CEO of Agility Recovery, a Charlotte, N.C., company that develops disaster preparedness plans for the workplace. He says that typically only the largest companies he’s worked with have developed plans to protect their employees, customers and their financial future in case of emergencies — but he believes that all businesses need to plan for disasters. Boyd says that a workplace preparedness plan will help companies “overcome any kind of interruption, whether that’s a hurricane or a burst pipe,” as he explains in our interview.

Even owners and employees of smaller businesses can take steps to be prepared for emergencies — and, Boyd says, these steps won’t cost a lot of money or time. In fact, he provided Get Ready Report listeners with five quick steps “that any business can take” to be prepared.

And the best part is, these steps are free — and so is our podcast! So, what are you waiting for? Listen to our Get Ready Report episode right now!

You can also read the full transcript of our interview with Boyd or the shortened Q&A version.

And don’t forget to check out all of our great podcasts!