Seasonal Flu Resource Center Blog
Who Should Get the 2010 Flu Vaccine?
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) encourages anyone above the age of six months to receive the vaccine for flu. Unlike last year, this year’s seasonal influenza vaccine contains the H1N1 (swine flu) strain, eliminating the need to receive a second immunization to receive complete protection. Every flu season is different, which is why it is important to get vaccinated every year. Even those who received the H1N1 vaccine in 2009 should receive a 2010 seasonal flu shot.
Groups that are highly recommended to receive the flu shot are those who want to reduce the risk of contracting the flu, people at high risk of having serious complications from influenza, and people who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu, such as those with compromised immune systems and young children.
High-Risk Groups
Children aged six months – 18 years old
Each year, approximately 20,000 children are hospitalized due to flu-related complications, such as pneumonia.1 The flu can kill healthy children. Children under five years old are particularly vulnerable. The best way to prevent your child from getting the flu is to have them receive the flu vaccine.1 For any child under nine years who is receiving the vaccine for the first time, two doses are required at least four weeks apart from each other. Since the flu vaccine has not been approved for infants under six months, the best way to protect them is to make sure everyone in your household above six months gets a flu shot.
Pregnant women
Pregnant women are at a high risk for getting the flu, as well as several complications that may accompany it, such as pneumonia and respiratory distress. This can, in turn, cause miscarriage and premature labor. Getting a flu shot is a good way to prevent these problems. The flu shot takes about two weeks after vaccination to be effective.
Chronic medical conditions
People with chronic medical issues such as, asthma or another lung disease, heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, blood disease, etc. can be especially vulnerable to contracting influenza, as well as complications from the flu, such as pneumonia. People with immune system problems caused either by disease (e.g., HIV or lymphoma) or by medication (e.g., chemotherapy or radiation therapy) are also strongly urged to get a flu shot.
Other groups that are at high risk for influenza are residents of nursing homes and other long term care facilities, as well as, people 65 years of age and older.
People Who Should Not Receive the Flu Shot
There are very few people who are not advised to receive the flu shot. Those people recommended to discuss the benefits and risks of vaccination with their doctor are: those with severe allergies (life threatening) to any component of the vaccine, those with a history of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and those who are moderately or severely ill at the time of immunization.
The Importance of Receiving a Flu Shot
Each year, it is estimated that 25-50 million flu cases are reported in the U.S. Approximately 200,000 of these cases require hospitalization and 36,000 result in death.1 Flu symptoms include fever, chills, coughing, sore throat, fatigue, headache, and runny nose.
The best way to prevent the flu is by getting a flu shot every year. The influenza vaccine works by exposing your body to the influenza virus so that your body can build up antibodies to the virus, which will protect you from getting the flu. The viruses in inactivated influenza vaccine have been killed, so you cannot get influenza from the vaccine.
Flu season usually begins in November and lasts until April. The optimal time to receive a flu shot is at the start of flu season, between October and November.
For more flu facts, click here.
Locate a flu clinic near you today.
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Sources:
1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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