ATLANTA -- As the flu season approaches, public health officials
are recommending that everyone over six months of age get a flu
shot this year.
This is the first time that the flu vaccine has been recommended
for all adults, said Diane Watson, director of Georgia's office of
immunization.
Children and the elderly have long been urged to get a flu
vaccine, since getting the flu is especially risky for those
groups. And officials have gradually expanded the list of
non-elderly adults who should get the shot to include anyone coming
into contact with kids or older people.
But this year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention is calling on everybody to roll up their sleeves and get
the shot.
"We have long recognized that vaccination is the single most
important thing you can do to protect yourself from getting the
flu," said Tom Skinner, a CDC spokesman.
The flu vaccine this year will protect people from three types
of flu, including the H1N1 flu that last year created a flu
epidemic.
The strains included in last year's flu vaccine had already been
identified by the time H1N1 appeared in April. A second vaccine
just for H1N1 was manufactured and administered last fall.
It can be difficult to predict which strains of the flu will do
the most harm each year, but public health officials say that the
flu activity observed so far suggests this year's vaccine should be
effective.
"It appears we have a really good match as far as what's in the
vaccine and what we expect to circulate," said Skinner, of the
CDC. "That is encouraging news and all the more reason people
should go out and get a vaccine."
Public health officials expect the impact of H1N1 to be less
intense this year because many people are now resistant to it and
those who are vaccinated will be protected.
"While flu is unpredictable, it's unlikely it's going to return
with a vengeance the way it did last year," Skinner said.
People facing an especially high risk of serious complications
from the flu include young children, people 65 and older, pregnant
women and those with chronic health conditions such as asthma,
heart and lung diseases or diabetes.
Public health officials are also strongly urging people who work
in hospitals, nursing homes and other health care settings to get
the vaccine.
You don't want health care workers infecting sick people, and we
need the health care workers at work," said Watson, Georgia's
immunization chief.
Elderly people should consider getting a new high-dose flu shot
available for the first time this year. The stronger version of the
flu shot might be more effective for people over 65, whose immune
systems tend to have weakened with age.
Watson, Georgia's immunization chief, said she wasn't sure how
widely available the high-dose vaccine would be.
"What the elderly populations should do is discuss with their
private provider what is recommended for them," she said.
Flu shots are now widely available at county health departments,
doctors' offices, pharmacies, clinics and at many workplaces. The
vaccines are the same no matter where they are administered. Health
departments often offer the best deals on flu shots.
Carrie Teegardin writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
E-mail: cteegardin@ajc.com.
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