COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Doctors at Prisma Health warn that the height of flu season is yet to come — and it’s not too late to get your vaccine. Influenza typically starts as an upper respiratory infection — with symptoms like a runny nose, severe cough, and high fever. It’s often followed by severe head and body aches, says Dr. Anna Kathryn Burch, a Pediatric Infectious Diseases doctor at Prisma Health Children’s Hospital of the Midlands. “You are gonna feel terrible! I’d like to say in very simple terms, you’re gonna feel like you got run over by a Mack truck. It is just gonna make your body hurt. You get a lot of what we call myalgias or what we call muscle pains. You’re gonna be achy all over, and a lot of people really feel so bad that they just want to stay in bed,” she says. According to doctors, while the vaccine may not prevent you from catching the flu, it will drastically lower it’s severity. “So even if you get the flu, you’re gonna have more of a mild illness, and stay home and get better from it, instead of some individuals who get the really bad flu and end up in the hospital or unfortunately even die from it,” says Dr. Burch. Your body needs about two weeks to build up the proper antibodies after getting the vaccine, so with the holidays approaching, Dr. Burch says now is the time to get it! “Because we’re all gonna be gathering for the holidays. We’re gonna be having family get-togethers, we’re gonna be shopping, and going out in public. We’re gonna be eating with each other – all of those kinds of things. So if you can get yourself protected now, it’s only gonna help us with maybe blunting the amount of influenza we’re seeing in our community. But it’s also gonna protect you and protect other family members from getting influenza as well,” she says. Doctors consider the flu vaccine to be safe for anyone six months old or older. “Please go get your flu vaccine. It just is gonna make your life and your family’s life this holiday season better, because your chance of getting the flu is gonna be decreased if you get yourself vaccinated,” says Dr. Burch. Categories: Local News, News Tags: Dr. Anna-Kathryn Burch, Flu, Influenza, Prisma Health, Vaccine ...read more read less