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Monday, August 18, 2008



Influenza is a serious disease of the nose, throat and lungs that can make you sick for a week or longer with coughing, fever, aching and more. It can lead to pneumonia and make already existing health problems such as diabetes, asthma and heart disease worse.

Each year about 200,000 people in the U.S. are hospitalized and about 36,000 people die because of the flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Most who die are 65 years and older. But small children less than 2 years old are as likely as those over 65 to have to go to the hospital because of the flu.

In rare cases, the flu can cause Guillain-Barre syndrome in patients prone to the disease. Guillain-Barre syndrome is an uncommon inflammatory disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks its nerves, typically causing severe weakness and numbness that ususally starts in your extremities and quickly worsens.

For questions about the flu vaccine, please call the Greater Kansas City Chapter of the American Red Cross at (816) 931-8400.

Click here for local flu shot clinics.

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American Red Cross
Greater Kansas City Chapter
211 W. Armour Blvd.
Kansas City, MO 64111 USA		         Phone 816-931-8400
Fax 816-531-7306		 United Way Member Agency

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