Patients across the U.S understand that the influenza virus, or the “flu,” is one of the most viral and infectious diseases around. Additionally, patients know that getting a flu shot is the only way to stay healthy and avoid the irritating symptoms that comes with the virus.

Over 40 million people each get sick with the flu while thousands end up in the hospital, due to a weakened immune system or other autoimmune vulnerabilities. The flu virus spreads rapidly and can lead to symptoms in days for most patients. However, the sneezing, coughing, nausea, fever, headache, and congestion are just a few of these symptoms that cause patients to miss several weeks of life events, such as school or work. Thankfully, most patients can avoid these consequences with a simple flu shot each year.

Getting a flu shot at a walk-in clinic is one of the easiest and stress-free methods for getting a flu shot and protection against the virus. However, there are a few other preparation tactics to ensure that you get the flu shot without a hitch!

Find out when the flu is spreading in your community to plan for your shot

Most patients will want to follow public health updates to see if the flu is an immediately threat in their local community. To do this, simply follow updates from news stations, health departments, and your local healthcare providers/offices to see if the flu is coming your community.

If an outbreak is present, then make sure you get your flu shot ASAP. Walk-in clinics and urgent care centers provide flu shots for patients with relative easy and in just a few minutes.

Get your flu shot before the general peak of flu season

Are you the type of patient that wants to play it safe and avoid risks as much as humanly possible? If so, get your flu shot right before the peak of flu season!

Flu season usually peaks anywhere from the start of September to mid-October, which means getting your flu shot around that time means you’ll be protected throughout the rest of the year.

Flu season can peak at random times and extended for prolonged periods of time, which means that you’ll want to possibly get a follow up flu shot.

Getting a flu shot is simple, but understanding the timing to do so is never quite straightforward. Outside of the above guidelines make sure you contact AFC Urgent Care Fairfield for any information about flu season!