Are You Ready for Flu Season?

Rarely, I take time out on this blog to discuss regular health issues I find important. I am a proponent of vaccines. I've seen non-immunized children suffer the effects of illnesses that they could have been protected against.

While doing an on-line education program for my nursing job, I came across some very valuable statistics that I wanted to share with you. I don't have an author of the CEU but the company is called CHEX and the module is called Influenza Introduction (v.6.14). The information in this post comes directly from that program to give credit where it's due.

Did you know that pediatric influenza deaths numbered 830 between the years of 2004 and 2012? Does that surprise you? It surprised me and I work in the healthcare field. When flu season hits, we test for Flu A and Flu B. What's the difference? Flu A is capable of infecting animals like wild birds. Flu A is also responsible for the majority of deaths in the pediatric category (78%). Flu B is only found in humans and is less likely to cause pandemics. There is also Flu C but infection is usually mild and well tolerated. It is not thought to cause pandemics either.

Of the pediatric deaths mentioned above the mean age was seven. Thirty-five percent died before hospital admission and 43% had no high risk complication (something like asthma.) The majority of deaths were among children who had not been immunized.

The flu vaccine is not perfect. It's effective in about 60% of cases or has a moderate rate of effectiveness.

The benefits of getting a flu vaccine are decreased illness, decreased unnecessary use of antibiotics, decreased incidence of hospitalizations and decreased deaths.

The age old question is why some people still get the flu despite being immunized. Chances are they were exposed shortly before the vaccine or in the two weeks before they had immunity from the vaccine. They could have gotten a virus that wasn't covered by the vaccine or they didn't get an adequate immune response after the shot. I have a personal friend who doesn't mount an immune response when she gets normal immunizations.

No vaccine is perfect but, personally, I don't like the risks of not immunizing my children every year for the flu.

What about you? Will you be getting your flu shot this year?