Take the shot

"I've never had a flu shot, and I've never had the flu."

We've overheard that phrase several times from different quarters over the last few months.

With the impending arrival of a new strain of the influenza virus, we believe it is our duty to take seriously warnings provided by public health officials.

At the same time those messages are requiring extra attention from residents, who are being asked to take not just one, but two flu shots, one for the seasonal flu and another for the H1N1, or swine flu.

Over the summer, when cases of the seasonal flu are rare, we've had several confirmed cases of swine flu. It's out there and it seems to target children and young adults.

The first swine flu-related death in the three counties of Western Nevada occurred when a Lyon County man succumbed to complications from the virus. According to the World Health Organization, more than 2,100 people have died around the world from the H1N1.

This is not like 1976 when a single death prompted mass inoculations that were traced to scores of deaths due to reaction to the vaccine. There is a real disease out there and it's making people sick.

Its target is those we rely upon to be healthy when everybody is sick, the young.

We advise our readers to take the coming flu season seriously and get vaccinated for both the seasonal and the H1N1 flu. It's not just a question of protecting your own health, but that of those around you.