New flu vaccines that combine seasonal and H1N1 viruses in single doses should help Houston and the nation avoid a repeat of last year’s scramble for immunizations.
Several drug manufacturers already have shipped seasonal vaccine to U.S. distributors, but it will be weeks before doses are available to the public through hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices.
In the past week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory announcing seasonal flu infections in several states and two recent Iowa outbreaks.
This season, there’s a new menu of vaccine options available, most notably one seasonal flu vaccine that includes H1N1 and — for the first time – a high-dose vaccine for seniors ages 65 and older.
According to the CDC, annual vaccination is the most effective strategy for preventing flu. Experts advise everyone to seek one early.
Last flu season, many frantically pursued two flu immunizations: seasonal and H1N1, because the latter emerged after the usual flu vaccine was developed. Scientists believe this year’s seasonal flu vaccine (with H1N1, another Influenza A strain and Influenza B) has the right ingredients to protect against the likely viruses as well as slight variants.
Not as bad as last year
Typically, the season begins as early as October and lasts through May. Vaccination usually starts in September, and flu activity peaks in January or later. The 2009-2010 pandemic shut down school systems, businesses and college dormitories, but experts expect the flu’s 2010-2011 run to sicken, hospitalize and kill far fewer people.
“Everyone is at risk of either developing a complication of flu or spreading the virus to someone else who will get a complication,” said Dr. Paul Glezen, flu expert and epidemiologist at Baylor College of Medicine’s Influenza Research Center. “Unfortunately, there’s a fairly good number of people (with weakened immune systems) who are vulnerable to flu who won’t respond well to the vaccine.
“It’s important that everybody get the flu vaccine so that we won’t expose those people to the flu,” Glezen said.
Vaccinating children is especially important for slowing down flu viruses.
“If we see the return of the novel H1N1, we might have 40 to 50 percent of the kids immune from vaccination and infection. If we can up that 30 to 40 percent with vaccine this year, we will really inhibit the spread,” Glezen said.
The nasal spray vaccine delivers weakened flu strains that can cause mild symptoms, and is recommended for healthy people ages 2 to 49 who are not pregnant and have no underlying medical issues. Injections, which have inactivated viruses and cannot cause flu, are generally for people 6 months and older who are healthy or have chronic conditions.
Source : chron.com