By Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

You think your job is hard? Dr. Nathaniel Smith is trying to convince 3 million Arkansans to let someone stick a needle in their arm – or use a mist – to fight the flu.

Smith, Arkansas’ secretary of health, and Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, the Department of Health’s medical director for immunizations, held a moderately attended press conference last Monday. He got better coverage this week when he and Gov. Asa Hutchinson publicly received their flu shots.

Last year, 48.8% of Arkansans ages six months and older and 49.2% of Americans were vaccinated.

There were 113 reported influenza deaths in Arkansas last flu season and 228 the season before, which was a really bad one that saw 79,400 die nationwide. Most Arkansans who died last flu season were age 65 and older. Two were children. Five children died the previous season.

Also, Dillaha said the flu can provoke a heart attack or start a person on a downward spiral that leads to death by another immediate cause. Those deaths are not included in the totals.

We tend to think of the 20th century in terms of its World Wars, but the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918-19 was another mass killer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the virus killed at least 50 million people worldwide (Encyclopedia Britannica says 25 million), including 675,000 Americans. By comparison, about 418,500 Americans died in World War II, according to the National World War II Museum.

We don’t know how many Arkansans died from the 1918-19 flu, but the estimate is 7,000, according to historian Tom Dillard, who wrote about the subject in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The influenza virus is hard to stop because it is easily spread and adeptly mutates to avoid human defense mechanisms.

We have our own abilities, however, including having brains that allowed us to develop flu shots.

Vaccinations inject an incomplete virus into the body, which means you can’t get the flu from them (though you can feel a little under the weather). There’s also a nasally administered mist with a weakened virus that can’t multiply throughout the body. In both cases, the body learns to recognize the virus so it can develop an immune response to it.

Most vaccines and all mists administered this year will help the body defend itself against four virus strands the World Health Organization believes are the most likely to spread. The vaccine also makes it less likely we’ll spread the disease to vulnerable people, such as infants who can’t be vaccinated and the elderly.

As you probably know, this is an imperfect weapon. Dillaha said it’s about 50% effective most flu seasons. An unexpected flu strand can spread. Moreover, vaccinated people can still get the flu and even die from it. Seventy percent of last year’s adult deaths in Arkansas involved people who were not vaccinated or whose status could not be determined, which means that at least 30% of those who died were vaccinated. Still, Dillaha said vaccinated people who get the disease tend to become less sick.

It probably boils down to this: Nobody likes getting a flu shot, and it doesn’t guarantee anything, but it does help.

In the meantime, we do have other weapons in addition to the vaccine. Among them: Wash your hands frequently. Cover your mouths when coughing and sneezing (with the inside of your elbow, not your hands). Stay home from work when you’re sick. There’s also some research suggesting vitamin D can reduce the risk of infection, although that wasn’t discussed in the press conference. Google it.

I asked Smith if we should bump fists rather than shake hands during flu season. He said he won’t advise against handshakes because they “develop our social cohesiveness.” But we should wash our hands afterwards.

Given the disease’s potential harm, developing a better weapon should become a national priority. In a promising sign, the National Institutes of Health is awarding up to $130 million over seven years to universities and research institutes to develop vaccines that protect the body for years, rather than one season, against multiple virus strands. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis and the University of Georgia are among those working on the project.

That’s good that we’re spending $130 million. Still, can you imagine how many billions of dollars would be spent in response if terrorists killed 228 people one year and 113 the next?