A Potentially Severe Flu Season Predicted In Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. – Oregon could be in a for a severe flu season.

Kaiser Permanente’s Chief of Infection Disease, Dr. Katie Sharff, says that prediction is based on several factors.

That includes an aggressive flu season in the Southern Hemisphere, “This year I’m really anxious about flu season, to be honest.”

Other factors include the return to normalcy in places like schools, the removal of mitigation factors, and vaccine fatigue, “You know in a good year, we get about 50 percent of people getting a flu shot. I do worry we won’t even have that uptake of a flu vaccine. You know, a further decrease of protection in the community.”

She says on top of a getting a flu shot, the best way to avoid the flu, or any other viral infection, is to wash your hands, stay home if you can, and develop a winter action plan with a doctor, “This is the year to get a flu shot. I mean I say that every year, but this is the year.”

Flu clinics begin at Kaiser Permanente on September 19, and members can schedule both flu and COVID-19 vaccinations by appointment at kp.org.