Vaccines can save lives

Every year as we approach flu season, we hear about the next possible impending flu epidemic. Will it be Swine Flu? Will it be Bird Flu? How many will survive? A few years ago, a new influenza strain emerged that originated in pigs and caused a higher than average number of complications and deaths. It was a scary flu-time because we did not know how it would play out and we knew that, as a new strain, few people would have any immunity to it. Here we are three years later, and now there is little talk of flu. As a result people are not hearing that this is already appearing to be an early flu season.  As of last week, 29 states were reporting widespread influenza activity, influenza-related hospitalizations are elevated and up to 18 pediatric deaths due to influenza have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All of this occurring ahead of the usual curve.

I am not saying we need to sound the alarm. I am saying, please let us not forget that it is flu season and we still need to be vigilant. I know we just came out of a very heated political season, then the holidays and now we are focused on 2013 goals; but it is flu season and the flu is here.

My first question: have you gotten your flu vaccine yet? If not, go get one! The CDC is reporting that many of the flu strains that are circulating this season are covered by the vaccine that is currently being offered. Every season, various international health organizations look at what strains of influenza have been circulating and the genetic information from those strains of virus go into the next year’s vaccine and what is circulating is consistent with what was included in this year’s vaccine.

What makes flu season such a hot topic every year is simply the number of people that it affects and the cost and possible number of deaths. The CDC estimates that approximately 200,000 people are hospitalized due to the flu each year, which is very costly. Although many people who develop the flu experience symptoms for about a week and then they recover, others can experience more severe complications such as pneumonia, dehydration, sinus and ear infections. Having influenza may also worsen chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, pulmonary disease and HIV/AIDS. The CDC estimates that the flu can lead to anywhere from 3,000 to 49,000 deaths annually in the U.S., although in the past decade the average has been about 36,000 deaths each year.

Here is what I find most interesting — there is so much controversy about getting the flu vaccine. Many people feel that the flu vaccine causes the flu. Let me clear this up, it does not cause the flu. What it may cause is a day or two of soreness or fever, but trust me, that is nothing compared to the flu. The reason for this is simply that as with any vaccine, the flu vaccine initiates an immune response from your body. The flu vaccine is designed to protect you if you are exposed to it by either preventing it all together or by lessening the length and severity of illness if you do become infected. This means that it could save your life.

Getting as many people vaccinated is a public health intervention that has proven highly effective with a number of infectious diseases throughout history, including such things as measles, mumps and rubella.  This is called herd immunity and is based on the premise that if a significant portion of the population has immunity to an infection, the risk is lower that a susceptible person will come in contact with an infectious person. Essentially, this is a mathematical equation, but it works.

I could tell you all kinds of things to try to get you to get vaccinated. I might ask if you can you afford a hospitalization due to pneumonia. I might ask if you have any small children or babies in your life and do you know how serious it can be if they get the flu. I might ask if you know how serious it can be if you spread the flu to an elderly family member, and remember, you are most infectious before you develop symptoms.

But what I want to ask is why so many people line up for vaccinations for Hepatitis B, for the vaccine to protect against bacterial meningitis, for the vaccine to protect against genital warts — and I cannot tell you how often people ask if we have a vaccine for herpes — and yet we get indignant about the flu vaccine.

It is not too late to get protection for this season. Ask your medical provider for the flu vaccine or you can call the Salt Lake Valley Health Department at 385-468-4225.