The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that most people age 6 months and older, not just those who are at high risk, get a flu shot. This year one vaccine will protect against both the 2009 H1N1 virus and seasonal flu. Manufacturers have a plentiful supply this year, so no waiting is necessary.
The H1N1 virus is expected to reappear in the United States in the fall and winter. But so far, it does not appear to have changed to become more virulent or more transmissible. It's not too early to get a flu shot because even with elderly people, immunity typically lasts at least nine months, so a shot now should last through the season.
The following is a list of reasons and myths people may give for not getting a flu shot, from Dr. Mark Crislip, an infectious disease practitioner in Portland Oregon. See if you fall into any of these flu denial categories!
Myth #1: The vaccine gives me the flu. It is a killed vaccine. It cannot give you the influenza. It is impossible to get flu from the influenza vaccine.
Myth #2: I never get the flu, so I don't need the vaccine.
There is a first time for everything, and working in health care leaves you more chances for contacting people with flu virus
Myth # 3: Only old people get the flu. Influenza can infect anyone, and the groups who are more likely to die of influenza are the very young, the pregnant, and the elderly. Often those most at risk for dying from influenza are those least able, due to age or underlying diseases, to respond to the vaccine. You can help prevent the elderly in your communities, or your newborn baby from getting influenza by getting the vaccine, so you do not get flu and pass it on to them. Flu is highly contagious, with 20% to 50% of contacts with an index case getting the flu.
Myth # 4: I can prevent influenza or treat it by taking Echinacea, vitamin C or Airborne. None of these concoctions has any efficacy against influenza. They neither prevent nor treat influenza. And you can't "boost" your immune system either.
Myth #5: Flu isn't all that bad of a disease. Part of the problem with the term flu is that it is used both as a generic term for many viral illnesses with a fever and is also used for a severe viral pneumonia. Medical people are just as inaccurate about using the term as the general public. The influenza virus directly and indirectly kills 20,000 people and leads to the hospitalization of 200,000 in the U.S. each year. Influenza is a nasty lung illness. And what is stomach 'flu'? No such thing.
Myth # 6: I am not at risk for flu. If you breathe, you are at risk for influenza. Here are the groups of people who should not get the flu vaccine: infants under 6 months of age, people with severe adverse reactions to the vaccine, or severe allergy to chicken eggs, or people who developed Guillain-Barre syndrome within 6 weeks of getting a flu vaccine previously.
Myth # 7: The vaccine is worse than the disease. A sore deltoid for a day is a small price to pay to prevent two weeks of high fevers, severe muscles aches, and intractable cough.
Myth # 8: I had the vaccine last year, so I do not need it this year. Each year new strains of influenza circulate across the world. Last year's vaccine at best provides only partial protection. Every year you need a new shot.
Myth # 9: The vaccine costs too much. The vaccine costs less than a doctor's office visit, a trip to the ER, several doses of Tamiflu, or a week in the hospital.
Myth # 10: I received the vaccine and I got the flu anyway. The vaccine is not perfect and you may have indeed had the flu. More likely you had one of the many respiratory viruses people get each year and thought it was the flu. There are hundreds of potential causes of a respiratory infection; the vaccine only covers influenza.
Myth # 11: I don't believe in the flu vaccine.
What is there to believe in? Scientific research and data provide facts on vaccine efficacy.
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