September 02, 2025

Louisville Flu Vaccines for Influenza Prevention

Flu is one of several viruses that we see that comes in a seasonal pattern.

So typically we'll see flu start to creep into our communities around October and then really hit hard in November and December. There are typically upper respiratory infectious type symptoms, cough, congestion, sore throat, fevers, chills, all that sort of stuff is associated with it, and it spreads rampant. It goes throughout a whole entire household. One person brings it home and then everybody in the house is affected.

Here at Baptist Health, we are equipped to handle all sorts of illnesses, but especially the flu. We swab your nose and it comes back in about, thirty or forty minutes and tells you whether or not you have influenza. So if you or other family members feel like you have the flu, this is the place to be. We're able to help you out.

If you present in the first forty eight hours and you have certain risk factors, we can write you Tamiflu, which is one of the medicines that we use to combat the influenza virus. And that's what we're here for. We're here to help. So the influenza vaccine is not only beneficial for you, but it's also beneficial for your family, your friends.

If you do come down with the flu, you're not shedding as much virus as you would if you were unvaccinated. So it's not only a decision for yourself, it's a decision for your family members. And it just shows that you care.

Combatting the Flu Healthtalk Transcript

Kevin M. Ziegler
Baptist Health Louisville

Kevin M. Ziegler, MD:

Flu is one of several viruses we see that comes in a seasonal pattern. Typically, we'll see flu start to creep into our communities around October and then really hit hard in November and December.

They're typically upper-respiratory, infectious-type symptoms — cough, congestion, sore throat, fevers, chills — all that sort of stuff is associated with it, and it spreads rampantly. It goes through a whole household. One person brings it home, and then everybody in the house is affected. Here at Baptist Health, we are equipped to handle all sorts of illnesses, but especially the flu. We swab your nose, and it comes back in about 30 or 40 minutes and tells you whether you have influenza.

If you or other family members feel like you have the flu, this is the place to be. We're able to help you out. If you [come] in the first 48 hours and you have certain risk factors, we can write you [a prescription for] Tamiflu, which is one of the medicines we use to combat the influenza virus.

That's what we're here for; we're here to help. The influenza vaccine is not only beneficial for you, but it's also beneficial for your family [and] your friends. If you do come down with the flu, you are not shedding as much virus as you would if you were unvaccinated. It's not only a decision for yourself; it's a decision for your family members, and it just shows that you care.