Is it just me or does it seem like flu vaccines have come out awfully early this year. Or maybe I'm just clinging to summer and refuse to admit fall has come. But whatever it is, I've noticed flu shots being offered much more than usual this fall.
Perhaps, after last year's Swine Flu (H1N1) vaccine shortage, the Center for Disease Control is just trying to get a head start. According to their site, early flu vaccination is beginning in September and will continue throughout the influenza season into December, January and beyond, but the peaks of outbreak are usually in January.
This year there are a few additions to the flu vaccine. It's a bit of a guessing game already, as to which strands of flu will be most prevalent each year, but it's based on those guestimates that the CDC develops the vaccine. So what's different?
This year, the vaccine protects against the three strands the CDC thinks will be the most prevalent, one of which is Swine Flu, plus two other influenza viruses (an H3N2 virus and an influenza B virus).
While the CDC recommends that everyone get vaccinated, they list groups on their website for which it is particularly important:
Pregnant women; Children younger than 5, but especially children younger than 2 years old; 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)
One thing that is different about these guidelines is the advice that all people aged 6 months and older, even low-risk individuals aged 19 to 49 years, get vaccinated.
"The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended the change based on evidence that yearly flu shots are a "safe and effective preventive health action with potential benefit in all age groups," and concerns that a "substantial proportion" of young adults may be susceptible to H1N1-like viruses that continue to circulate," the CDC said.
The CDC also recommends who should not be vaccinated: People who have a severe allergy to chicken eggs; People who have had a severe reaction to an influenza vaccination; People who developed Guillain-Barr© syndrome (GBS) within 6 weeks of getting an influenza vaccine; Children less than 6 months of age (influenza vaccine is not approved for this age group) and People who have a moderate-to-severe illness with a fever (they should wait until they recover to get vaccinated.)
Of course, once you and your family have been vaccinated, it's important to keep yourself healthy, so be sure to exercise, drink lots of water and eat healthy. For a list of foods that can help fight off the flu, read "Fight the Flu with Food."
- Alexandra Gekas, Associate Editor