This is NOT the year you want to end up in an ER with a fever or other flu-like symptoms that might be mistaken for Ebola, he tells Newsmax TV’s “Meet the Doctors” program. While U.S. health officials need to continue to focus on Ebola — which has killed thousands of people in West Africa and could pose a significant challenge to the U.S. healthcare system — Dr. Vastola says we should not lose sight of the fact that the flu and other infectious diseases claim tens of thousands of American lives every year.

 

“Influenza kills about 35,000 Americans every year — it’s a pretty significant organism,” he says. “If you get the flu, you’re going to be down two weeks. And for employers I think it’s really really important, if someone becomes noticeably sick, that they get them out to a doctor quickly because they will contaminate the offices.”

 

 

 

Dr. Vastola notes that the flu is more easily transmitted than Ebola, which is primarily spread through direct contact with body fluids from an infected person. Influenza is typically spread by “airborne transmission” — meaning the virus can float in the air for long periods of time, after an infected person coughs or sneezes, and can then be inhaled into the lungs by a healthy person. The flu virus can also live on surfaces for a long time, unlike Ebola, which can survive outside of the body for only a few hours, under normal conditions, scientists say.

 

That’s why flu poses a bigger risk than Ebola to most Americans, Dr. Vastola says. Other major infectious disease risks to Americans include pneumonia, which can develop as a complication from flu and kills another 20,000 Americans annually (even though effective pneumonia vaccines are available), federal statistics show. In addition, antibiotic resistant bacterial infections strike 2 million Americans every year and kill about 23,000, according to the CDC.

 

“It’s very very contagious,” Dr. Vastola says of the flu. “What’s dangerous about influenza is that it causes pneumonia…and it can kill you within three to five days — it can take you out. Of course the remedy is the flu vaccine, which again most people take for granted because [influenza] comes around every year after year after year.”

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend the flu shot for everyone over the age of 6 months. Seniors, children, and individuals with chronic conditions like asthma are particularly at risk for flu complications. And there are various formulations — including a new four-in-one flu shot that offers protection against four strains, a high-dose vaccine urged for seniors, and nasal flu sprays for children.

 

Yet, CDC surveys show that fewer than half of all Americans bother to get the flu shot each year.

 

“I think it’s partly that we take it for granted, because it’s here every year,” Dr. Vastola says. “Most times you don’t get it. But if you do get it, you will remember it because you will be sick.

 

“I think everybody should get it,” he says of the flu shot.

 

Some people avoid the flu shot out of fear of negative side effects, which can occur, but they are rare, according to the CDC. Others opt not to be vaccinated because research shows the flu shot is not 100 percent effective. In addition, some individuals should avoid the shot for health reasons, including those allergic to some constituents of the vaccine or who have particular immune-suppressing health conditions.

 

But Dr. Vastola notes the flu shot isn’t the only way to stay healthy this winter. In fact, a number of alternative medicine techniques can help boost the immune system’s ability to fend off, combat, or lessen the severity of infectious pathogens, including cold and flu viruses.

 

“There are some things, more specifically with viruses in general … some natural remedies and nutritional therapies that do work,” says Dr. Vastola, whose forthcoming book — “Fountain of Youth: Nutritional Therapies” (Carrel Books/Skyhorse Publishing), slated for release in 2015 — examines disease-fighting natural alternatives to conventional medicine.

 

“For example, Echinacea it’s been shown works. Zinc does work. Ginseng works. Now against the influenza, it’s like shooting an elephant with a BB gun, but it may help. With the influenza [virus] that’s a whole different organism, as compared to the cold virus …so the vaccine is the [best] thing. But [alternative treatments] won’t hurt.”

 

The bottom line, Dr. Vastola says, is that Americans should be concerned about Ebola, and the government needs to do everything possible to prevent a widespread outbreak of the virus in the U.S. But the current crisis underscores the need to get a flu shot and take other key steps to prevent contracting influenza.