GETTING THE POINT; FLU SHOTS MAY BEAT BAD BUG.

Byline: Anne Burke Daily News Staff Writer

At 75, Ruby La Placa of Hollywood is hale and hearty - and wants to stay that way. On Friday she rolled up her sleeve and did something about it by getting an influenza shot.

``I've never had the flu and I don't want it,'' said La Placa, who wore a tiny, round Band-Aid on her arm and clutched a lollipop - her reward for getting poked in the arm by clinical assistant Carrie Keys at the Kaiser Permanente flu clinic in Woodland Hills.

With flu season just around the corner, Los Angeles residents are pouring into doctor's offices and medical clinics to get a needle prick to keep the dreaded bug at bay.

Although experts aren't anticipating an epidemic this season, ``these things are unpredictable, so people just need to get their flu shots,'' said Dr. Pamela Nagami, a specialist in internal medicine and infectious diseases at Kaiser Permanente.

Flu shots are recommended annually for all people ages 65 and over, and people of any age with chronic heart and lung disease. The shots also are recommended for health care providers, women who are in the second or third trimester of pregnancy, and people who have frequent contact with those at high risk for serious flu complications.

Vaccinations are also a good idea for healthy, working-age adults, according to the New England Journal of Medicine.

A 1994-95 study of 849 such adults found that those who had flu shots used 43 percent fewer sick days due to upper respiratory illness and made 44 percent fewer visits to physicians for such problems, according to the journal.

Gary Roller of Agoura Hills is among people getting flu vaccines this year even though they don't fall into any of the regular risk categories.

Roller, 59, a Caltrans landscape architect and transportation engineer, doesn't like to miss work because of illness. So he decided to play it safe, and Friday he got a shot.

Nagami urges patients to get inoculated by mid-November, so that the vaccine has time to take effect before the flu bug starts spreading.

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, there are 10,000 to 40,000 influenza-associated deaths each year, and more than 150,000 hospitalizations.

Health experts anticipate three flu virus strains for the 1997-98 season: influenzas A-Johannesburg, A-Nanchang and B-Harbin.

Influenza A is the classic, hard-hitting flu that knocks a patient down for three to five days, followed by a recovery period lasting a couple of weeks, said Dr. Shirley Fannin, director of disease control programs for Los Angeles County.

Patients should take Tylenol to keep their fever down, drink lots of fluids, eat lightly and, above all, stay home, Fannin said.

``Going to work and coughing all over the office staff is definitely not recommended,'' she said.

Influenza B is milder and tends to occur in smaller outbreaks, Fannin said.

So far, there are no reported influenza cases in Southern California, Nagami said. But with so many workers calling in sick with the flu these days, what gives?

``During the fall, there are a large number of circulating respiratory viruses that can mimic the flu,'' Nagami said. ``Influenza is a more severe disease, with high fever, severe muscle pains, sore throat and a dry cough.''

Los Angeles County's annual flu clinics, with locations throughout the area, kick off Tuesday and end Dec. 5.

The clinics are geared toward the elderly and those with chronic illnesses. The county has about 140,000 vaccine doses available, enough for the high-risk population but not for healthy, younger adults too, Fannin said.

While influenza vaccines can cause arm soreness and a little achiness, they don't cause colds or flu, Nagami said.

``It's a dead vaccine and it can't transmit influenza,'' she said. ``When patients come down with colds following flu vaccines, it's only coincidence.''

FLU PREVENTION TIPS

Wash your hands often, and keep them away from your nose and eyes.

Get plenty of rest.

Use disposable facial tissues.

Don't share glasses, dishes, silverware or towels with family members.

Clean your telephone receiver regularly.

Stop smoking. It taxes your immune system and your lungs.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

Photo: (1) A visitor to the flu-shot clinic at Kaiser Permanente in Woodland Hills gets inoculated Friday against the illness, whose season is soon to begin. Los Angeles County's annual flu clinics, with locations throughout the area, kick off Tuesday and run through Dec. 5.

(2) Ruby La Placa, 75, of Hollywood receives a dose of the influenza vaccine from Carrie Keys at the clinic.

Terri Thuente/Daily News

Box: FLU PREVENTION TIPS (see text)