Tag: vaccination

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You and Flu Vaccine

Have you had your flu shot yet?

If yes, then you are smart and you do care about your health. If no, then you should worry about your health and get a flu shot. Here are some reasons, summarized from an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (October 23, 2007), why it is important to get flu shot each year:

In Canada, more than 4000 people die from influenza each year.

Influenza comes every year during the winter months (January–March). The specific types of influenza viruses change each year.

Because the influenza virus changes every year, a new vaccine has to be developed each year. If there is a good match, that is how closely the virus in the vaccine matches the type of influenza virus in the community, then the vaccine prevents illness in 70 to 90 per cent of people.

The flu shot protects for less than one year, and it protects only against the types of influenza virus in the vaccine. For the best protection, the flu shot should be taken every year.

The influenza virus can cause severe illness like pneumonia, especially in people who are very young or very old, or who have conditions such as cancer, heart disease, asthma and diabetes.

People with influenza are often too sick to go to work, school or daycare. There is a sharp increase in the number of doctor visits, admissions to hospital and respiratory outbreaks in long-term care facilities.

Infected people spread influenza by coughing or sneezing, or by touching things with their hands after coughing or sneezing.

Adults with influenza can spread the virus from one day before their symptoms appear to up to seven days after their symptoms appear. Children may spread the infection for more than seven days, especially if their symptoms persist.

The combination of receiving the influenza vaccine and cleaning your hands many times a day during flu season can prevent most influenza cases.

The flu shot does NOT cause influenza because there is no live virus in the vaccine.

For best results, the flu shot should be given before influenza comes into the community. The flu shot does not work if it is given after the symptoms have started.

The influenza virus used in the flu shot is grown in eggs, so anyone who is allergic to eggs cannot get a flu shot. Development of Guillain–Barré Syndrome, a nerve disorder, following flu vaccination is very rare (about 1 in 1 000 000 people vaccinated).

Most people do not have any side effects other than a sore arm at the injection site for one or two days.

People at risk of serious complications because of influenza and the people who care for them (e.g, in the health care system or at home) are strongly urged to get the flu shot. This includes
-people aged 65 years or older
-those aged 6–23 months
-those with select chronic health conditions (e.g., heart disease, asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, cancer, renal disease and anemia)
-people of any age who live in a long-term care facility
-pregnant women
-people who provide care to people with the health conditions listed above should also get the flu shot to prevent the spread of influenza.

Healthy people between the ages of two and 64 years also benefit from receiving the vaccine.

I think there are enough good reasons for us to go and get a flu shot. If you haven’t had one then talk to your doctor and get one. Plan for a healthy winter.

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Annual Flu Shot

“Yes, it’s time again, it‘s time for your annual flu shot,” said a friend in an e-mail. So I made an appointment to see my family doctor and got my flu shot last week. And my family has been through the same process.

This annual ritual is very important. As a health care provider I get my flu shot free. The same privilege is granted to adults and children with serious health problems. People who live them also get free vaccination. Those who are 65 and over are vaccinated without any charge as well. And children six months to 23 months and their families are vaccinated free.

As you may know, there is a reason why these groups of people are vaccinated free of charge. They live or work in an environment where people are sick, are vulnerable to the flu virus and their capacity to fight the virus is not great. They need to be protected. So if you are in one of these four groups or if you know somebody who is in one of these four groups but hasn’t had a flu shot then encourage them to do so. You will be performing a big service.

It is very important to prevent influenza, which is a major cause of outpatient visits, antibiotic use, hospitalization and death, particularly among those older than 65.

Studies have shown that elderly people residing in nursing homes, influenza vaccination can be 50 to 60 per cent effective in preventing admission to hospital and preventing pneumonia and 80 per cent effective in preventing death. Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends that both staff and residents of long-term care facilities be vaccinated against influenza.

Among healthy adults, such as the staff of long-term care facilities, vaccination may be 70 to 90 per cent effective in preventing influenza, and it reduces absenteeism from work. Furthermore, the studies say, vaccination of staff reduces the mortality rate among residents of long-term care facilities. No wonder annual influenza vaccination is recommended for both staff and residents of long-term care facilities.

More than 20,000 residents of Palliser Health Region were vaccinated last year. That is a good number but we have a population of around 100,000. What about the rest of the population? What sort of barriers do they face? Is cost of the vaccine a barrier?

In Canada, the publicly funded vaccination programs to prevent influenza are risk-based rather than based on universal immunization. Alberta, the richest province in Canada, should be able to fund universal vaccination programs for all Albertans. But the government’s priorities are some where else. Only Ontario and Yukon fund universal influenza vaccination programs. This allows physicians to recommend vaccination for all their patients. This is important because the effectiveness of influenza vaccine is strongest in healthy people, among whom cases of influenza are reduced by up to 70 per cent.

Studies have shown that the universal influenza immunization program in Ontario has been associated with higher coverage for people with high-risk chronic conditions than has occurred in other provinces. This suggests that universal immunization may increase vaccine delivery to high-risk groups. So universal immunization programs appear to be good for healthy individuals as well as for people with high-risk chronic conditions. A win-win situation. Hopefully, one day Albertans will be in the same win-win situation.

In the mean time, make sure you get your flu vaccine today! I have had mine. Make sure you have yours.

Start reading the preview of my book A Doctor's Journey for free on Amazon. Available on Kindle for $2.99!

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Influenza (Flu)

Flu and pneumonia can be serious illnesses.

“Influenza (flu) is a highly contagious acute respiratory disease of global importance,” says an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The editorial says that vaccination is currently the most effective measure to reduce the impact of influenza. But it is not easy to formulate a vaccine for a constantly changing virus. For the last 50 years, World Health Organization has monitored the appearance and spread of new variants of the virus worldwide that may cause the next epidemic. This usually results in producing well-matched vaccines.

How does the vaccination work?

It works by exposing an individual to modified form of influenza virus in order to generate an immune response.

For many years, attempt has been made to prevent and control influenza by vaccinating people over 65, those with chronic medical conditions (heart disease, lung problems, diabetes, kidney disease etc.), medical care providers and others who might transmit the virus to those at risk.

This effort has considerably reduced deaths from this disease. The flu epidemic of 1918 killed 21 million people worldwide. The epidemics come every two years but we have better tools now to save lives.

There is also some comfort in the news that research has produced new ways of dealing with this challenging problem – by way of producing oral antiviral agents. There are few in the market and the newest one – Relenza – has been approved by Health Canada and should be in the drug stores soon.

This takes us to another related disease – pneumonia.

“Invasive pneumococcal disease can be deadly,” says Dr. Ross Pennie, Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. In an editorial in the Canadian Family Physician, Dr. Pennie says that fewer than 5 percent of the population at increased risk of pneumonia has received the pneumococcal vaccine.

Alberta Health says that the pneumococcal vaccine is now available – free of charge – to all Albertans over the age of 65 through community health clinics and physicians’ offices. The vaccine can prevent serious infections caused by the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae.

The organism can cause pneumonia, meningitis, and sinusitis. About 400 people die each year in Alberta from pneumococcal infection.

Among those at greatest risk for the disease are seniors, people living in a nursing home or other long term care facility, or those over two years of age who have medical conditions that may affect their body’s ability to fight diseases, says Alberta Health.

These conditions are: people who have had their spleen removed, who have diabetes, lymphoma, chronic diseases of the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. The current vaccine is ineffective for children younger than 2 years.

“In most cases, one pneumococcal vaccination is all a person will ever need,” says Dr. Karen Grimsrud, deputy provincial health officer.

Over the years, flu and pneumonia has taken many lives in nursing homes and seniors living at home. Remember, help is here. It is free. So, if you are not sure whether you need to take these vaccines then speak to your doctor or a public health nurse. Do it soon.

Have a healthy winter!

Start reading the preview of my book A Doctor's Journey for free on Amazon. Available on Kindle for $2.99!