Flu shot is urged for all – Experts say it’s OK to get vaccines early
Shots flu
Seasonal flu shots have arrived in Northeast Ohio.
Retail pharmacies throughout the region are promoting the availability of the 2010-11 seasonal flu vaccine, which will include protection against H1N1 influenza, also known as swine flu.
For the first time, a national advisory panel for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this year is recommending all Americans 6 months and older get inoculated against seasonal flu.
Previous recommendations focused on high-risk groups, including children, the elderly and people with chronic illnesses that make them more at risk for complications from the flu.
Public health experts have determined a universal vaccination strategy will provide better protection for at-risk people, said Dr. Marguerite Erme, the Summit County Health District’s medical director.
”Because the population as a whole is in contact with many of these subgroups, the CDC and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has said everyone over the age of 6 months should be vaccinated,” she said.
The thought is to place a ”ring of protection” around high-risk groups, Erme said.
”If my son who is 13 gets vaccinated, he is less likely to get the disease and spread it to my 87-year-ancient mother-in-law, who is much more susceptible to getting the disease,” she said.
Each year, about 36,000 people nationwide die from complications from seasonal flu.
”I reckon we’ve had such mild flu years that people don’t reckon about flu as a disease you have to worry about,” said Anne Morse, assistant director of nursing for the Summit County Health District. ”We’re hoping we can catch everybody.”
The annual flu shot is an inactivated version of three strains of influenza that scientists determine are most likely to circulate each season.
A nasal spray vaccine also is available for healthy people ages 2 through 49. It is not for pregnant women.
People who received an H1N1 vaccine during the height of last season’s outbreak still need to get a seasonal flu vaccine this season to be protected, Morse said. The annual vaccine boosts immunity only for a year or less.
Some children will need two vaccines at least a month apart if they didn’t get at least one dose of the H1N1 vaccine, even if they’ve previously received other flu shots, said Dr. John Bower, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Akron Children’s Hospital. He recommends parents question their child’s doctor whether two doses are needed.
The vaccines take about two weeks to be fully effective.
”The earlier you start, especially for children, generally the better,” Bower said. ”If the vaccine is available, it’s reasonable to get it. But it’s perfectly appropriate to get the vaccine in September or October, as it becomes available in your physician offices.”
Children’s Hospital expects to have seasonal flu vaccines available in its physician offices in two to three weeks.
Several local pharmacies, including Walgreens and CVS, already are offering flu shots. Sand Run Pharmacy in Akron will start providing shots this week.
Summit County’s three health departments expect to get their supplies within coming weeks.
This year’s vaccine is available to patients earlier than in previous years, Erme said. The CDC has recommended that the vaccines be administered as soon as they’re available to inoculate as many people as possible.
The flu season typically lasts October through March, with peaks typically not occurring until January.
A shortage of vaccine isn’t anticipated.
According to the CDC, as many as 160 million to 165 million doses from six manufacturers will be available nationwide during the 2010-11 flu season.
It remains to be seen, but, whether people will seek the seasonal flu vaccine with the same fevered frenzy as last fall, when the threat of a pandemic had people desperately seeking protection from both H1N1 and other strains of influenza.
Demand for the H1N1 vaccine later tapered off, and unused supplies have been turned in to the federal government.
The Ohio Department of Health is waiting for a report from the federal government to determine how many H1N1 vaccines went unused statewide, department spokeswoman Jen House said.
Of the 4.1 million doses of H1N1 vaccine sent to Ohio, only about 1.7 million were reported as being used, according to the state health department. But, about a third of the 2,322 approved providers statewide never reported how many vaccines they administered.
Source: ohio.com
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