PREVENTING INFLUENZA

As the weather turns cooler and the leaves start to change we begin to think about flu immunization. In the past few years the pharmaceutical industry had production problems, which limited production of the vaccine but this year the CDC says that there will be plenty of flu vaccine to go around.

Flu, or influenza, is a serious disease that has important public health and economic consequences in our country and around the world. Influenza is primarily a respiratory illness. It is caused by a virus and has a fairly short incubation period. The main symptoms are high fever and severe dry cough. Muscle aches, nasal congestion and sore throat are also common symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are less common, even though many people think of the flu as a “stomach virus.”

When young healthy people get the flu they are usually quite sick and miss several days of work. When older people, very young children, and folks with underlying heart and lungs problems like asthma or coronary artery disease get the flu, it can be deadly. The viral infection decreases the ability of the immune system to fight off bacterial infections like pneumonia.

Because of this, annual vaccination for influenza is very important for adults with chronic medical conditions such as asthma, heart disease and diabetes. This vaccine is also recommended for all adults over 50. These are the people for whom the CDC recommends flu vaccine annually because of the risk of serious complications from the disease.

• persons aged >50 years;*
• residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities that house persons of any age who have long-term illnesses;
• adults and children > 6 months of age who have chronic heart or lung conditions, including asthma;
• adults and children > 6 months of age who need regular medical care or had to be in a hospital because of metabolic diseases (like diabetes), chronic kidney disease, or weakened immune system (including immune system problems caused by medicine or by infection with human immunodeficiency virus [HIV/AIDS]);
• children and teenagers (aged 6 months to 18 years) who are on long-term aspirin therapy and therefore could develop Reye Syndrome after the flu; and
• women who will be more than 3 months pregnant during the flu season.

However, anyone can benefit from the vaccine to prevent a week of misery and lost work or school. The flu virus is able to mutate and change to avoid the immunity we develop to past strains, so annual vaccination is important to prevent illness. Many employers sponsor vaccination for their employees to prevent missed work.

This year a new form of flu vaccine is available. The traditional vaccine is an injection given in the arm. The new vaccine is a nasal spray administered at the doctor’s office. The intranasal vaccine is only recommended for healthy children and adults between the ages of 5 and 49. Many insurance companies cover immunization with traditional injectable flu vaccine but at this time they do not cover intranasal vaccine. It is an alternative, though, for healthy folks who want to avoid getting a shot but still need protection from a miserable illness.

The bottom line is that flu is largely preventable. Except for folks with an allergy or sensitivity to the vaccine or its components (like eggs), almost anyone can benefit from annual flu vaccination. The side effects of vaccination are usually minimal, with a possibility of low-grade fever or an achy arm. The vaccine does not contain live virus and cannot cause flu. Talk to your doctor if you have questions. Both injectable and intranasal flu vaccine are available at MedEx Urgent Care.