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Natrona Health Officer advises waiting until November to get a flu shot

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Flu shots are available in many pharmacies and doctors’ offices across Wyoming, but an infectious disease doctor recommends people put off getting immunized until next month.

Dr. Mark Dowell is the Public Health Officer for Natrona County and is a physician at Wyoming Medical Center. He says Wyoming’s flu season doesn’t usually peak until January, and he says a flu shot from September might be less potent by then.

“Within two weeks to about four months is the time when, I think, it is the most protective. We do know that the protection does tend to decrease over time, and that’s one of the many reasons you get a flu shot every year.”

The Wyoming Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control advise people to get flu shots as soon as their available to combat the disease, but Dowell recommends Wyomingites wait until October or November to get their flu shots.

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