RSS
Home
An ouch of prevention
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
.jpg)
People 50 years and older should get a flu shot
Getting a flu vaccine is an important way to protect you from seasonal influenza. Ensuring children are up-to-date on their flu shots as well as all their immunizations is an important part of back-to-school activities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers an updated report on the 2007-2008 flu season, and access to data on flu activity in the United States. They also offer a flu guide for parents.
Routine immunization is the most effective way to prevent influenza and decrease influenza-related complications which can include serious illness and death. There are two types of vaccines. The first is the widely known flu shot, containing an inactivated virus. The second is a nasal spray vaccine that contains weakened live influenza viruses instead of killed viruses. Both forms of the vaccine contain three vaccine strains -- two types of influenza A and one B.
Flu season in the United States can begin as early as October and can last as late as May, according to the CDC. While it is best to be immunized as soon as the vaccine is available, usually in September, getting a vaccine in October or November is wise. Flu season often peaks in February or later, so if you get the vaccine in December or January, you can still be protected for the season.
Every year in the United States, more than 200,000 people are hospitalized with influenza and about 36,000 people die from its complications. The impact of flu in the workplace is responsible for over a million days of office absence. Many employers are providing a flu vaccination service for their workforce to reduce the human cost of the illness and economic burden.
Who Should Get Vaccinated
In general, anyone who wants to reduce their chances of getting the flu should be vaccinated. However, people who should get vaccinated each year are:
- Children aged 6 months up to their 19th birthday
- Pregnant women
- People 50 years of age and older
- People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions
- People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities
- People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu, including; health care workers, household contacts of persons at high risk for complications from the flu, household contacts and out of home caregivers of children less than 6 months of age (these children are too young to be vaccinated)
Treatment
Anti-viral drugs interfere with a virus' ability to reproduce, so they can aid a person who is already infected with the disease by reducing the duration of the symptoms and complications associated with the disease. But they do not cure influenza outright. An upside to anti-viral drugs is that they are not specific for a particular strain of the flu (unlike a vaccine), and can be used to combat a new strain before a vaccine could be produced. The four antiviral drugs (amantadine, rimantadine, zanamavir and oseltamivir) approved for use in the United States are prescription only.
Related Articles:
Comments
.jpg)
