Fly-by flu shots

Harriet Baskas, USA TODAY, 11/08/2006

Before your next trip to the airport, take a moment for this quick quiz:

Your connecting flight arrives 25 minutes early. You use the extra time to:

A) Find your gate, grab a seat, and zone out until flight time;
B) Find a bar and down a few stiff drinks;
C) Grab something to eat;
D) Buy a gift for yourself or your sweetie;
E) Get a flu shot.

If you're like 62-year old Barbara Scavullo, who found herself with some extra time at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on her way from San Francisco to a design conference recently, your choice would be the flu shot. "This is a spur–of-the-moment thing," Scavullo said, rolling up her sleeve at a flu shot kiosk next to a candy shop in the United Airlines terminal, "Usually I'm a little casual about whether or not I get a flu shot, but this is so convenient." So convenient in fact, that Scavullo didn't mind paying $35 for the vaccine, a bit more than she'd have paid back home at the flu clinics at her local Walgreens or Safeway grocery store.

Right behind Scavullo, on a one-hour layover, were the Warndorfs of Cincinnati. Vicki Warndorf said that she gets her flu shots at work every year, but when she saw flu shots being offered right there in the concourse, she insisted her husband stop here for his. "Otherwise I would have had to nag longer. This was an immediate 'Yes, dear,'"

According to Dr. John Zautcke, Medical Director of the year-round UIC-O'Hare Medical Clinic, a lot of people are saying are saying, "Yes, dear," to flu shots on the concourses at O'Hare International Airport this year. In the past, the in-airport medical clinic posted signs letting passengers know that flu shots were available. "But while the service has always been a big hit, the clinic is located somewhat off-the-beaten-path," says Zautcke, "We thought we could reach more people by setting up tables and chairs closer to where people are sitting around waiting for their flights." The strategy is definitely working: between 1,500 and 1,800 people a week are stopping by for flu shots at the four kiosks that operate Sunday through Friday in Terminals 1, 2, and 3.

Chicago's O'Hare Airport may be the first airport where passengers can get flu shots alongside their shots of espresso but, there are close to a dozen other airports that routinely offer flu shots to passengers at clinics located inside the terminals or close by. [See chart]

Carol Schjaerve, the nurse manager at San Francisco International Airport's SFO Medical Clinic, says in past years the nationwide shortage of flu shots extended to the airport clinic, but this year they're "flush with vaccine" and happy to accommodate anyone who walks in or calls ahead to make an appointment. She says not only should anyone who travels definitely get a flu shot, but they should do so as early as possible. "It takes 10 to 14 days for the protection to kick in," says Schjaerve, "and when you fly you're in this machine in the sky re-breathing all this air." She notes that "people with the flu shouldn't be flying," but unfortunately the airlines don't consider that the sort of emergency that warrants a no-fee cancellation.

Flu season officially runs from December through March, but Schjaerve and others say there are some things you can start doing now to start building up a defense and keep from spreading your germs to others. "Use common sense. Make sure to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Wash your hands a lot. Stay hydrated. Get plenty of rest. Eat well. And don't fly if you're sick."

John Barth, managing director for PRX, an audio Web distribution service based in Boston, has decided that getting a flu shot at the airport is good for his health and for his bottom line. Although he considers air travel a health hazard "because on an airplane germs are your fellow travelers," he admits he's usually "one of the last people to get a flu shot." But once he was convinced that the needle-wielding women in white coats standing behind a table by a Starbucks outlet at O'Hare Airport were actually nurses, he pulled out his credit card and rolled up his sleeve. "It saved me money by saving me time. This way I don't have to make a doctor's appointment, leave work, drive to the doctor's office, find a parking spot, etc."

Want to get a flu shot on your next layover? Here's a list of some airports with clinics on-site or nearby that are offering flu shots this season. As always, it's a good idea to call ahead to confirm availability, hours and prices.