“Cha-may weeya
Medicine Talk
Siletz
Community
Health
Clinic
What Everyone Should Know About the Flu and the Flu Vaccine
What is the Flu?
Prevention
•
The flu is a contagious respiratory
illness caused by influenza viruses. It can
cause mild to severe illness and at times
can lead to death. The best way to pre
vent it is to get a flu vaccine each fall.
Every year in the United States,
on average:
The single best way to prevent the
flu is to get a flu vaccine each fall. There
are two types of vaccines:
•
•
•
•
•
•
5 percent to 20 percent of the popu
lation gets the flu
More than 200,000 people are hos
pitalized from flu complications
36,000 people die from the flu
•
Some people are at high risk for
serious flu complications, such as older
people, young children, and people with
certain health conditions.
The “flu shot”-an inactivated vac
cine (containing killed virus) that
is given with a needle. The flu shot
is approved for use in people older
than 6 months, including healthy
people and people with chronic
medical conditions.
The nasal-spray flu vaccine - a vac
cine made with live, weakened flu
viruses that does not cause the flu
(sometimes called LAIV for “live
attenuated influenza vaccine”).
LAIV is approved for use in healthy
people 5 to 49 years old who are
not pregnant.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fever (usually high)
Headache
Extreme tiredness
Dry cough
Sore throat
Runny or stuffy nose
Muscle aches
Gastro-intestinal symptoms, such
as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea,
are much more common in children
than adults
Some complications caused by the
flu include bacterial pneumonia, dehy
dration, and worsening of chronic medi
cal conditions, such as congestive heart
failure, asthma, or diabetes. Children may
get sinus problems and ear infections.
•
•
When to Get Vaccinated
Who Should Get
Vaccinated
How It Spreads
The flu spreads in respiratory drop
lets caused by coughing and sneezing.
It usually spreads from person to person,
although occasionally a person may be
come infected by touching something
with the virus on it and then touching
their mouth or nose.
Adults may be able to infect others
beginning one day before getting symp
toms and up to seven days after getting
sick. This means that you can give
someone the flu before you know you
are sick as well as while you are sick.
The following priority groups (up
dated Oct. 5,2004) for vaccination with
inactivated influenza vaccine this sea
son are considered to be of equal im
portance and include:
•
•
•
•
All children age 6 to 23 months
Adults age 65 and older
Persons age 2 to 64 with underly
ing chronic medical conditions
All women who will be pregnant
during the influenza season
1.
•
Persons in priority groups identi
fied above should be encouraged to
search locally for vaccine if their
regular health care provider does
not have vaccine available.
Intra-nasally administered, live at
tenuated influenza vaccine, if avail
able, should be encouraged for
healthy persons who are age 5 to
49 and are not pregnant, including
health care workers (except those
who care for severely immuno
compromised patients in special
care units) and persons caring for
children up to 6 months old.
Certain children up to age 9 require
two doses of vaccine if they have
not previously been vaccinated. All
children at high risk for complica
tions from influenza, including
those age 6 to 23 months, who
present for vaccination should be
vaccinated with a first or second
dose, depending on vaccination sta
tus. Doses should not be held in
reserve, however, to ensure that two
doses are available. Instead, avail
able vaccine should be used to vac
cinate persons in priority groups on
a first-come, first-served basis.
certain when they will get here.
What You Can Do
Stop the spread of germs that make
you and others sick. Serious respiratory
illnesses like influenza, respiratory syn
cytial virus (RSV), whooping cough,
Please note that the state of Or
egon has imposed a $500 fine
if a clinic gives a flu shot to
someone not on the list.
3.
The clinic will not carry the
FluMist.
and severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS) are spread by:
•
•
Coughing or sneezing
Unclean hands
To help stop the spread of germs,
you should:
•
•
•
Vaccination of persons in non
priority groups: Persons who are not
included in one of the priority groups
described above should be informed
about the urgent vaccine supply situation
and asked to forego or defer vaccination.
Our flu shots are still not here
and with the shortages, it’s not
Other Vaccination
Recommendations
About two weeks after vaccination,
antibodies that provide protection
against influenza virus infection de
velop in the body.
October or November is the best
time to get vaccinated, but you still can
get vaccinated in December and later.
Flu season can begin as early as Octo
ber and last as late as May.
New information released Oct. 5,
2004: Half of the flu supply destined
for the U.S. was halted because of con
tamination. No one has received vac
cine from this manufacturer. This has,
however, created a severe shortage of
vaccine. Therefore, the current recom
mendation is for voluntary rationing.
Siletz Clinic
Flu Shots
2.
Symptoms, Complications
Symptoms of the flu include:
Residents of nursing homes and
long-term care facilities
Children age 6 months to 18 years
on chronic aspirin therapy
Health care workers involved in
direct patient care
Out-of-home caregivers and house
hold contacts of children up to 6
months old
•
Cover your mouth and nose with a
tissue when you cough or sneeze.
If you don’t have a tissue, cough or
sneeze into your upper sleeve, not
your hands.
Put your used tissue in the waste
basket.
Clean your hands after coughing or
sneezing by:
•
•
Washing with soap and water; or
Cleaning with alcohol-based hand
cleaner.
Note: You may be asked to put on a
surgical mask to protect others.
November 2004
•
Siletz News
•
19