Hospital offers FluMist inhalent

   Princeton HealthCare System’s Occupational Medicine Services is offering FluMist, an intranasally administered flu vaccine, to the community as long as supplies last. FluMist is considered as effective as the flu shot.
   According to the guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), FluMist can be given only to those persons who are between the ages of 5 and 49 years, healthy and not pregnant. People who have contact with others with lesser degrees of immunosuppression (for example, people with diabetes, people with asthma taking corticosteroids or people infected with HIV) can get FluMist.
   FluMist is contraindicated in persons with hypersensitivity to any component of the vaccine, including eggs; in children and adolescents receiving aspirin therapy or aspirin-containing therapy; in individuals with a history of Guillain-Barre syndrome, and in individuals with known or suspected immune deficiency.
   Those who are in contact with others with severely weakened immune systems who require care in a protective environment (for example, people with hematopoietic stem cell transplants) should not get FluMist.
   The most common side effects from using FluMist may include runny nose/nasal congestion, headache, cough, sore throat, tiredness/weakness, irritability, decreased activity, and muscle aches.
   To make an appointment to get the FluMist vaccine or for more information, call Princeton HealthCare System’s Occupational Medicine Services at (609) 497.4206. The fee for FluMist is $28.