Pointing to last year’s early and unusually harsh influenza season, U.S. health officials urged Americans Thursday to get their flu shots.
The vaccine shortages of recent flu seasons should not be a problem this year, and 100 million doses of vaccine will be available by the middle of November, the officials said.
That still falls far short of the 185 million people who are supposed to get the vaccine, said flu expert Dr. Keiji Fukuda of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But fewer than half of those who should get the vaccine actually do. “A lot of people simply don’t want to get the vaccine or don’t get vaccinated because of some obstacle,” Fukuda told a news conference.
The results are deadly. Every year, an average 36,000 Americans die of influenza and updated figures show that 200,000 a year end up in the hospital with serious flu complications such as pneumonia.
“It is a disease that we have the means to prevent,” said Dr. Carol Baker of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Child deaths
The CDC said it was officially notified that 152 children died last season from influenza or its complications.
“The vast majority of these children were not adequately vaccinated against flu,” the CDC said in a statement.
“Almost half of the children had an underlying medical condition, but 40 percent were previously healthy.”
The only way to protect babies under the age of 6 months, who are too young to be vaccinated, is for all those around them to get vaccinated, Baker said. Vaccinated pregnant women pass the immunity to their babies.
Baker said parents should make appointments now for their children to get flu vaccines. Those under 9 need two doses, at least a month apart, so they should start soon, she said.
A special appeal went out to healthcare workers, most of whom do not get the vaccine even though they are supposed to. Only 46 percent of healthcare workers such as doctors and nurses get an annual flu vaccine.
The flu vaccine is reformulated every year to match strains known to be circulating. Last year it did not match the most common flu strains very closely but the CDC said it was still 50 percent effective, meaning it prevented half the expected number of deaths and hospitalizations.
Pregnant women, children aged 6 to 23 months, people over 50 and people with chronic diseases are all supposed to get the flu vaccine, as are those who come in contact with the very young, old and sick.
The American Lung Association said it had launched an online flu vaccine finder at http://www.lungusa.org that allows people to type in their zip code to find out where they can go to get a flu shot.