Chris O'Donnell, who stars as Special Agent "G" Callen on NCIS Los Angeles, chose Fluzone for his flu vaccination this year. The 90% smaller needle makes this tough guy feel less squeamish.
It’s another gorgeous November afternoon in Southern California, and actor Chris O’Donnell is phoning in from his trailer at a downtown location shoot for NCIS Los Angeles. As Special Agent “G” Callen on the popular CBS Tuesday night action drama, he’s a tough guy. “I’m walking around this park in downtown L.A. today dressed like an LAPD cop, and nobody’s messing with me right now,” he jokes.
But when it’s time to roll up his sleeve during flu season, he’s a bit squeamish. “I’m the biggest baby when it comes to getting a shot,” O’Donnell says.
Still, the father of five kids ages “almost 5” to 13 makes sure the whole family is vaccinated every year. Parenting presents constant challenges, he explains, but some decisions are just common sense. “Kids are like little Petri dishes,” he jokes. “My age group, you think you’re impervious to that,” but it’s important to prevent the spread of flu to others who are more vulnerable.
Staying healthy also gives the 42-year-old actor – who played Robin in two “Batman” films and has starred on NCIS Los Angeles since 2009 – more time to boogie board and play volley ball at the beach with the family. The Chicago native says he still can’t get used to the constant sunny weather in his adopted home.
He also needs to stay healthy to juggle the demands of work and family. With NCIS-LA in its fourth season, O’Donnell doesn’t have time for movies or other side projects. He missed a recent round of parent-teacher conferences, but was able to take advantage of a surprise afternoon break to run across town to see his son play football.
He also managed to find time to get his annual flu shot, and says it was a bit easier this year because of Fluzone, a vaccine delivered via a needle that is 90 percent smaller than those on traditional syringes. Squeamish though he is, he barely felt the shot, and headed right back out to his tough guy duties on the NCIS set.
It seems like we’ve hardly left summer, but now is the time to get ready for flu season. Experts are anticipating this will be a busy one, and manufacturers of influenza vaccine are cranked up and producing around 150 million doses – up 17 million from last year. This means that even though we’re in the middle of October, it is time to round up your family for a flu shot (or flu mist, which works just as well).
As state and county fairs, livestock shows and harvest fests take place across the country, health officials are warning about a new influenza strain, H3N2v, which can pass from pigs to people. Nearly 300 cases of H3N2v have been reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during the past year, most of them in the Midwest.
To be really smart about antibiotics, you have to know the difference between a bacterial infection (like strep throat) and a viral infection (like a cold or the flu). Antibiotics work great for one, but are useless against the other.
The new news about the upcoming 2011-12 flu season is … there is no new news. Experts have determined that the same three strains of flu will be circulating this season as last, and manufacturers have already delivered a vaccine – exactly the same vaccine in use last season – well ahead of schedule.
I took your question to James Cherry, M.D., a professor of pediatric infectious diseases who works with Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA. Asked if your daughter’s cold could have been related to the nasal flu vaccine, he responded, “Almost certainly not.” Some people do experience symptoms after having the nasal flu vaccine, but Cherry says these come on right away. Since your daughter’s cold didn’t come along until a week after she received the vaccine, “Unfortunately, she was exposed to somebody with a cold and she caught it,” Cherry says.
If you’re allergic to eggs (Egg allergy is most common in kids, and somewhere around 2% of children have it.), take care before getting a flu vaccine. They commonly contain egg and could cause a reaction.
Years ago, I was interviewing a doctor about cold and flu season – something I’ve done many seasons in a row. We were having the inevitable discussion about hand washing, and I mentioned how often people seem to put their hands in their mouths.
