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Opinions on encouraging flu shots
differ
BY TERRI T. JOHNSON
THE OBSERVER-REPORTER
ttjohnso@observer-reporter.com
Influenza doesn't just target the elderly and infirm. This flu
season, federal health officials are suggesting young children receive
an inoculation to help prevent flu.
Flu shot facts
© Flu vaccines are made from killed influenza viruses that cannot
give you the flu.
© The worst side effect is a sore arm. The risk of a rare
allergic reaction is far less than the risk of severe complications
from flu. If you are allergic to eggs, are very ill with a high
fever, or have had a severe reaction to the vaccine in the past,
rethink getting the shot. Consult your physician.
© No vaccine is 100 percent effective. If you get a flu shot but
still get the flu, you are likely to be far less sick than you would
have been without the protection.
© Viruses causing flu change often and because of this, the
vaccine is updated each year.
© Protection develops about two weeks after the shot and may last
up to a year.
© The vaccine is effective only against illnesses caused by
influenza viruses and not against other causes of fever and colds.
© Infants under the age of 6 months, cannot receive the vaccine
but can contract the flu.
© The best time to get a flu shot is October and November.
However, it is not too late to have the shot in December or even
later.
SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control |
But one local pediatrician is not as enthusiastic.
Dr. Edward L. Foley of Pediatric Associates of Washington has always
administered the vaccine to his high-risk patients - those with chronic
asthma or other breathing problems, and those who have difficulty
fighting infections, like diabetics.
But Foley's not pushing the vaccine for his otherwise healthy young
patients.
The key word is encourage, not recommend, Foley said. If an official
board, such as the Academy of Pediatrics recommends the immunization,
then insurance companies and government agencies must pay for the
vaccine, he said. An encouragement does not require reimbursement, and
the patient must pay.
And the benefits of a flu shot for a healthy child are minimal, Foley
said.
"The vaccine in only good for the strain around in one year," Foley
said.
If the young patient has never had a flu shot before, two doses must
be administered, a month apart.
Influenza, Foley said, does not involve vomiting or diarrhea. Those
are caused by a stomach virus, which is not diminished by a flu shot.
Foley also questioned statistics being quoted that as many children
under age 2 are being admitted to the hospital with the flu as the
elderly.
In his 26 years of practice, Foley said he can't remember one patient
being hospitalized because of the flu.
Young patients can more easily fight off the effects of flu. It's the
elderly and those with chronic health problems who have a tougher time
recovering.
"Flu season is a winter-type period that is dominant from late
October or early November until the spring," said Andrew C. Allison,
director of emergency medical services at Monongahela Valley Hospital.
Flu can lead to pneumonia and those at high risk may receive the
pneumococcal vaccine at the same time as a flu shot.
Each year about 114,000 people are hospitalized nationwide and about
20,000 people die because of the flu, according to Centers for Disease
Control in Atlanta.
Allison said that, unlike last year, there should be no shortage of
flu vaccine this year. But it is still advised that those at highest
risk should receive their shots first.
Dr. David Fuchs, medical director of emergency services at Washington
Hospital, will get a flu shot as he has for the last 15 years.
"One year I didn't get it and I got a bad case of the flu É I will be
getting it. We're at fairly high risk, seeing all the patients who come
in with the flu," Fuchs said.
"If you want a flu shot, it's not going to hurt you and may, indeed,
help prevent a problem," Fuchs said. "But it's not recommended for a
normal, healthy young person."
Fuchs said, if you do get the flu, bed rest and Tylenol - not
aspirin, especially for children - are the normal course of treatment.
But if there is a high fever, a severe headache or green or yellow
sputum, it's time to consult a physician, Fuchs said.
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