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Colds and Flu:
Flu Vaccinations, Immunization and Bird Flu Vaccine Facts. (Part 4)
Getting a Flu shot or vaccination is the best way to prevent infection with the flu virus. Bare in mind that you must be re-vaccinated each year because the flu viruses change each year.
There are two main ways to receive vaccination:
1) The "flu shot" – an inactivated vaccine (containing killed or dead virus) that is given with a needle. The flu shot is approved for use in people older than 6 months, including healthy people and people with chronic medical conditions.
2) The nasal-spray flu vaccine – a vaccine made with live, weakened flu viruses that do not cause the flu (sometimes called LAIV for “Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine”). LAIV is approved for use in healthy people 5 years to 49 years old who are not pregnant.
Vaccine Dilemma
If any country faces an epidemic with only limited amounts of vaccine or anti-virals, who should get treated?
Most guidelines (national) - and conventional wisdom - give priority to health-care workers, the youngest, the frail and the elderly. But in the USA, Minnesota to be exact, they are re-writing the rules. A panel including government officials, doctors and ethicists concluded that inoculations should be given first to key workers like police and nurses, then to those who respond best to treatment - healthy 15-to40-year olds, not infants or seniors. Time Magazine quotes, "A worst-case scenario poses the hardest questions," says panelist Karen Gervais, a health-care ethicist. This strategy "is intended to protect the most people in the most vital ways." But the panel also decided that society's weakest could and should be helped in other ways, such as quarantine. - By Clayton Neuman, Time, 11.06 (See more about the morals and ethics on this issue on our Ethics Issues During a Pandemic section.)
HOW Vaccinations work
About two weeks after vaccination, antibodies develop that protect against influenza virus infection. Flu vaccines will not protect against influenza-like illnesses caused by other viruses.
WHEN should you get vaccinated?
October or November are the best months to get vaccinated. Flu season can begin as early as October and last as late as May.
WHO should be vaccinated?
Young children and older people are generally more at risk of catching influenza virus since their immune systems are weaker.
People who can transmit flu to others at high risk should be vaccinated. For example, health-care workers, those working in hospitals and caretakers of children or the elderly should be vaccinated.
Who should NOT be vaccinated?
Pregnant women, children under 6 months of age, people with asthma and
heart or lung disease patients should not be vaccinated. It is also important
that people with blood disorders, cancer patients, diabetics and those with
spleen disorders be careful and check first with a doctor.
Here is the recommended list of those who should not be vaccinated:
* People who live in nursing homes or long-term care facilities;
* Those with chronic heart or lung conditions, including asthma;
* Those with diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or weakened immune system (including immune system problems caused by medicines or by infection with human immunodeficiency virus [HIV/AIDS]);
* Children 6 months to 18 years of age who are on long-term aspirin therapy. (Children given aspirin while they have influenza are at risk of Reye syndrome.);
* Women who will be pregnant during the influenza season;
* People with any condition that can compromise respiratory function or the handling of respiratory secretions (that is, a condition that makes it hard to breathe or swallow, such as brain injury or disease, spinal cord injuries, seizure disorders, or other nerve or muscle disorders.)
NOTE: Specific information on pneumonia vaccines is on our Treating H5N1 page in the previous Bird Flu section.
Poll Results: Our
November poll asked, "Will you consider getting a flu shot?"
Yes: 44.1%
No: 52.5%
Unsure: 3.4%
Some 1200 participants.
Next: » Part 5: Anti-Virals and those making them.
Related Articles:
» Is mine a Cold or Influenza?
» Part 2: What is a common Cold? - facts and tips.
» What is Influenza? - differences between colds and flu.
» Flu Vaccines and Vaccinations - preventative measures.
» Anti-viral drugs and immunization facts and links.
(the Treating Pneumonia article is here »)
Video Presentation:
(Requires free Google video software) (28 min)
Bird Flu Media Briefing, Part 5. Question and Answer Period: Gale A. Norton,
Secretary of the Interior; Mike Johanns, Secretary of Agriculture; and Mike
Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services discuss preparations for avian
influenza (Opens a new window)