- Video shows trick or treaters, students in schools, flu shots
- Kids like Atticus Malley Ault may have a great time on Halloween night, but the next day brings an even spookier season— cold and flu season starts on November 1st, and experts recommend getting your flu shot to stay healthy.
Flu before the boo — that's what experts say to remind people to get their flu shots before Halloween, but now that Halloween is over, it’s not too late to come get your flu shot.
Halloween means a fun filled evening for kids everywhere, especially for kids like Atticus Malley Ault.
"What’s your favorite candy?" reporter Dominique LaVigne said.
“Lollipops,” Atticus replied.
"Have you gotten a lot of lollipops today?" LaVigne said.
“I got this one,” he showed her.
It’s the day after that marks the start of a season that’s not quite as fun.
Cold and flu season officially begins on November 1st according to Kern County Public Health, and it’s times like this when schools start to see a decline in attendance.
“If we see that dip in attendance thereafter. It’s probably because they’re having a good time the night before,” Marisela Sanchez, the ssistant director to the health safety and wellness team at the Panama-Buena Vista School District said.
From late October through the end of the year, the school district reports a 2-3% decline in attendance not exclusively related to illness.
Sanchez says the respiratory viruses we see this time of year are inevitable.
“The most optimal protection for flu season is to get your flu vaccine before Halloween, so you are protected during that surge,” Sanchez said.
That’s something Atticus and his family know all too well.
“We had probably had the worst flu we’ve ever had in our lives, last Halloween, so we probably do need to get a flu shot right now,”
Brooke Malley Ault, Atticus' mom said.
Experts say the cold weather mean more time indoors and changes in your immune systems response.
For younger kids, lack of sleep after late nights like on Halloween, and an abundance of candy could increase the chance of getting sick.
“He’s in first grade, so he’s pretty much bringing everything home. I work in a school, so I'm bringing everything home," Malley Ault said. "He works in a school, so we’re all bringing a confluence of germs home.”
Paul Rzucidlo, the senior public health epidemiologist with Kern county public health advises kids and adults alike to cover their coughs and wash their hands to prevent outbreaks.
“Especially with younger kids we see that increased disease transmission because they’re touching everything," Rzucidlo said. "They’re touch their faces and things like that.”
You can get your flu shot at your local pharmacy or with Kern County Public Health to stay healthy and keep the fun going even after Halloween.
“If you see him, don’t give him any candy!” Malley Ault said, smiling at her son.
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