By Clyde Noel

Flu shots for members of the Los Altos Senior Center will be offered 12:30 p.m., Oct. 29, at the Hillview Center.

The shots are free for senior center members, but a $5 donation is requested from nonmembers. No reservations will be accepted.

Each year, the flu (influenza) affects seniors in different ways. It is a severe, contagious viral respiratory disease that spreads rapidly through sneezing, coughing or direct contact with the infected individual or contaminated objects.

Alice Putman, senior center director, said flu season is around the corner. Many seniors think the flu is no big deal, but it is. Although many people refer to a bad cold as “the flu,” or to an illness with nausea and vomiting as “stomach flu,” these illnesses are not really the flu.

“We’re going to run the flu shot program the same as other years,” Putman said. “Volunteers will check you in, and we will have several registered nurses from Pilgrim Haven or the Public Health Department administer the shots to the seniors.”

Flu season in the county typically begins near the end of December and runs until about March. There is no practical way to differentiate between true influenza and a bad case of the common cold except the flu symptoms are often more severe and can last more than two weeks.

What makes the flu so infectious is that the virus is different each year and the body never achieves immunity to the new strains. The vaccine is produced annually to combat the current virus strains.

As in other years at the senior center, Putman said, the Health department requires the vaccine to be offered only to those over 60 years of age who are in good health.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, seniors are at high risk for the flu each winter and are most likely to have severe complications such as pneumonia and bronchitis. For some seniors, particularly those over 65 with chronic health problems, influenza continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality, causing more than 20,000 deaths each year in the United States.

In the past, limited supplies have delayed the vaccine’s delivery. The Health department said that shouldn’t be the case this year. By now more than 80 percent of this year’s supply has been distributed to doctors’ offices and other administrators.

For the last two years, many seniors struggled to schedule flu shot appointments and find transportation to their clinics. They could be found standing in line at grocery stores and pharmacies just to receive their flu shots.

Putman anticipates no problems this year. “First come, first served. Just don’t forget the flu shot,” she said.