Don’t let the flu bug you this season. It’s more serious than the common cold and very easy to transmit to other people. The best way to keep from catching the flu or passing it on to your loved ones is by getting an annual flu vaccination.
Who should get a seasonal flu shot?
Everyone in your household should get a yearly flu shot, but they are especially important for:
- children 6 months old up to their 19th birthday
- anyone 50 or older
- anyone with a chronic health condition
- pregnant women
- health care workers
- anyone living with or caring for someone in one of the above high-risk groups or with a child under 6 months old
If you have a severe allergy to eggs, a history of Guillain Barré syndrome, or experienced a severe reaction to a prior flu vaccination (not just redness or swelling at the injection site), please discuss flu vaccination with your physician.
The seasonal flu shot does not protect you against the new H1N1 (swine flu) virus strain.
Update on the H1N1 flu vaccine
| Q. |
When will the vaccine for the new H1N1 flu be ready? |
| A. |
Manufacturers are working to get the vaccine ready for distribution as soon as possible. It could be available as early as this October or November. Most likely, the H1N1 flu vaccine will be given to at-risk individuals in two injections spaced one month apart. |
| Q. |
Who should get the H1N1 flu vaccine once it becomes available? |
| A. |
According to the recommendations by the CDC and local public health and infectious disease specialists, the following groups should get vaccinated:
- Pregnant women because their risk of complications is higher and being vaccinated can potentially provide protection to infants who cannot be vaccinated.
- Household caregivers for children younger than six months old because younger infants are at higher risk of influenza-related complications and cannot be vaccinated.
- Health care and emergency medical services personnel.
- Children from 6 months through 18 years old because they’re often in close contact with others in day care or school, which increases the chance that H1N1 flu could spread.
- Young adults ages 19 through 24 years old because the CDC has seen many cases of H1N1 flu in these healthy young adults and they often live, work, and study in close proximity.
- Adults ages 25 through 64 years old who have health conditions associated with higher risk of medical complication from influenza (for example, ongoing conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, and immune deficiencies).
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| Q. |
When the H1N1 flu vaccine becomes available, can I get it and the regular seasonal flu vaccine at the same time? |
| A. |
Most likely, the regular seasonal flu vaccine will be ready before the vaccine for the new H1N1 flu. We encourage you to get the seasonal flu vaccine as soon as it’s available in early September, since regular seasonal flu viruses are still expected to cause illness this fall and winter. When the H1N1 flu vaccine becomes available, patients in any of the groups listed above should get it as well. The H1N1 flu vaccine will probably be given in two shots one month apart.
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