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Louisiana health officials urge residents to get flu shots
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BATON ROUGE - State health officials are not only urging residents to get a flu shot, but they're making them available at a low cost even for those without insurance.
WBRZ spoke to Dr. Alexander Billioux, the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Public Health.
"Last year we lost 1,600 people from Louisiana to the flu," Billioux said. "That number would likely be worse without the vaccine."
This year, this state is aiming to be more proactive at sparing lives.
"Anybody who is feeling ill and thinks they have the flu--fever, chills, and body aches--go see your doctor," Billioux added.
One Louisiana resident is no stranger to the flu, but still refuses to get the vaccine.
"I've had the flu twice in my life," Kara Flake told News 2. "I know a lot of people who still got the flu last year, and they got the shot."
But Dr. Billioux says doctors and scientists around the world are constructing the next vaccination to respond to the upcoming flu season.
"This year it'll be four different strands that are related from what we're seeing across Asia towards the Northern Hemisphere," he said.
Community clinics are starting to give out shots today, as well as October 29, at the East Baton Rouge Parish Health Unit. Without insurance, the vaccine will cost just $10.
For more dates and clinic information, click here.
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