You and the flu

In late November 2007, Julie Louise Gerberding, MD, MPH, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sent out a letter to all health care professionals encouraging them to get an influenza (flu) vaccination for the 2007-2008 influenza season. Michigan has already seen its first culture confirmed case of the flu this year. Now is the time that the flu will peak in Michigan so even if you have not been vaccinated as of yet, there is still time to make sure that your loved ones and your patients are protected from
. . . well, you!

Some reminders from Dr. Gerberding’s letter:

What is influenza?

• Influenza, also called “the flu,” is a contagious respiratory disease that can cause cough, fever (usually high), headache, muscle aches, chills, sore throat, extreme fatigue, and runny nose. The disease is usually spread by droplets from coughing or sneezing. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to hospitalization and death.
• Certain people, including the young, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with chronic health problems are at higher risk from serious flu-related complications.
• People sometimes confuse the term “flu” with gastrointestinal (stomach) viruses or other respiratory viruses that can have similar symptoms, but true influenza can be very serious.
• Every year, about 36,000 people in the United States die from flu-related complications, and more than 200,000 people are hospitalized – including 20,000 children.

Why is vaccination against influenza so important?

• Healthcare workers are in contact with people at high risk from serious flu-related complications every day.
• Low vaccination rates among healthcare workers have been associated with influenza outbreaks in hospitals and nursing homes.
• You can get the flu and be asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, but still be contagious to others, putting your patients at risk.
• The safety of your patients may depend on your getting a flu vaccine this and every year.
• Currently only about 40 percent of healthcare workers get vaccinated against the flu. We need to do better.

What do you need to know about flu vaccines?

• For healthy children and adults, aged 2-49 years old, the “nasal spray” vaccine (live, attenuated influenza vaccine, or “LAIV”) is an option. LAIV can be used in healthcare workers, except for those in contact with severely immunosuppressed patients cared for in specialized patient-care areas.
• In addition, the injectable inactivated vaccine (“the flu shot”) is safe and readily available for people aged 6 months and older, including pregnant women.
• True adverse events from influenza vaccines are rare. The most common problems are pain at the injection site (with the shot), or stuffy nose, headache, or cough (from the nasal vaccine).
• Neither type of vaccine can give you the flu.
• Influenza vaccines prevent influenza illness in 70-90 percent of healthy adults younger than 65 years of age, when the vaccine and circulating viruses are well-matched.
• Because it takes two weeks for the vaccine to provide protection, people who believe they contracted the flu after being vaccinated may have been exposed before they developed antibodies. Alternatively, they may have been exposed to another type of respiratory virus with similar “flu-like” symptoms.