It's never to early to prepare for looming pandemic

(Today is my birthday. I usually don't make a big deal of it, but it is especially sweet considering everything I went through these past few months. I am not celebrating it so much as using it to reflect on the past and plan for the future. I will treat myself to a moment at the beach. I hope your day is a good one, too - David)

Summer has finally hit the East and Midwest. This week, forecasters say we’ll be basking in the bright sun and enjoying temperatures in the mid-80s. Thunderstorms are on the horizon, too.

Between rain drops, we’ll be playing in the parks and beaches and grilling, all under a blazing sun.

Good time to look forward to flu shots. Seriously. There may be big problems looming just over the seasonal horizon.

The annual flu vaccination season begins in September or as soon as vaccine is available and continues throughout the influenza season - December, January and beyond.

The Centers for Disease Control recommend flu shots for the following:

• Children aged 6 months up to their 19th birthday

• Pregnant women

• People 50 years of age and older

• People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions

• People who live with people with certain chronic medical conditions

• People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities

I decided to get vaccinated for the first time back in 2006 after a health scare. I did not get the flu in 2006 and 2007. I am currently taking predinsone to fight a flare up of pulmonary and cardiac sarcodosis. I had been experiencing a serious sarc flare up for about a year before it was properly diagnosed in March (I was first diagnosed in 2005 but it was deemed dormant).

Prednisone is helping with my symptoms, but it and another drug I have been prescribed, methotrexate, suppress the immune system, making the body vulnerable to infections, including the flu. I am particularly concerned about H1N1, the swine flu, which reared its head in April and is expected to return with a vengeance this fall.

I am happy that my docs are reducing the amount of prednisone I am taking, but I want off completely so I can get a flu shot. I am going to talk to them about alternatives just in case and will share that information when I have it.

Health experts fear that H1N1 might spread to nearly every corner of the globe much like the Spanish flu of 1918. The Spanish flu hit in two waves, first in March of 1918 and then in August. By then, it had mutated into a deadlier virus that ultimately killed an estimated 50 million to 100 million people. Most of the victims were health young adults, experts say. That pandemic ended in 1920.

H1N1 is expected to make a return early this fall. In time for school.

The World Health Organization predicts that some two billion people will catch H1N1. The outcome is unpredictable because the strain is new. The healthy, the sick; all are vulnerable to this new strain of flu. If, when, H1N1 returns and if people start to drop like flies, there will be a panic run on vaccine. That will make it more difficult to get shots.

Vaccines will be available for H1N1 and other strains of flu, so more than one shot may be necessary. In layman’s terms, predicting flu outbreaks is tricky, so a couple of vaccines are being prepared.

Do yourself and your loved ones a favor: Get your shot as early as possible. Go to your doc, a clinic, Target, Wal-Mart or wherever shop is set up to administer vaccinations.

Check with your doc to see if you are allergic to egg products – used to make the vaccination. Double-check to make sure there aren't other complications that might prevent you from getting the shot.

But if nothing but planning stands in the way of the shot, mark a calender to get the a flu shot as soon as possible.

While you're at it, remember to wash your hands and cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. That’s how the deadly virus is spread.