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 Medication News
What is the influenza?
Influenza (flu) is a serious disease caused by the influenza virus. Annually, influenza kills approximately 36,000 people and hospitalizes more than 100,000. The virus spreads from person to person, generally in the air as a result of coughs, sneezes or talking. When inhaled, the virus attaches in the nose, throat and lung and begins to multiply. The virus causes more severe illness in the elderly and young children.
There is no real treatment for the influenza virus once it is contracted. Treatment is directed at alleviating the symptoms. It is currently recommended that individuals at high risk to contract the virus or in whom illness is likely to be life threatening receive a vaccine. All Health Alliance associates are eligible to receive the flu vaccine at no charge.
Importantly, all health care workers should be vaccinated and be able to identify the high-risk group of patients who should also receive a vaccine.
Who should receive the influenza vaccine?
Why get vaccinated?
What is the Health Alliance’s plan for vaccinating associates?
What is the history behind influenza and vaccines?
Do I have to get a shot to receive the flu vaccine?
Can flu vaccine be given at the same time as other vaccines?
When should I get the influenza vaccine?
How do you diagnosis and test for the flu?
Who should talk with a doctor before getting influenza vaccine?
Are there antibiotics for the flu?
What are the risks associated with the influenza vaccine?
What do I do in case of a moderate or severe reaction?
How do I learn more?
Who should get influenza vaccine?
People six months of age and older who are at risk for contracting a serious case of influenza or influenza complications, and people in close contact with them (including all household members) should be vaccinated.
An annual flu shot is recommended for:
- Everyone 50 years of age or older
- Residents of long-term care facilities housing persons with chronic medical conditions
- Anyone who has a long-term health problem such as:
- Heart disease
- Lung disease
- Asthma
- Kidney disease
- Metabolic disease (such as diabetes)
- Anemia, and other blood disorders
- Anyone with a weakened immune system due to:
- HIV/AIDS or another disease that affects the immune system
- Long-term treatment with drugs such as steroids
- Cancer treatment with X-rays or drugs
- Anyone six months to 18 years of age on long-term aspirin treatment (who could develop Reye Syndrome if they catch influenza). Click here to learn more about Reye Syndrome
- Pregnant women who will be past the third month of pregnancy during the flu season , which is usually November – March, but past March in some years
- Physicians, nurses, family members or anyone else coming in close contact with people at risk of serious influenza
An annual flu shot is also encouraged for:
- Healthy children 6 – 23 months of age, and their household contacts and out-of-home caretakers
- Household contacts and out-of-home caretakers of infants less than 6 months of age
- People who provide essential community services
- People at high risk for flu complications who travel to the Southern hemisphere between April and September, or who travel to the tropics or in organized tourist groups at any time
- People living in dormitories or under other crowded conditions, to prevent outbreaks
- Anyone who wants to reduce their chance of catching influenza
Why get vaccinated?
Most people are ill with influenza for only a few days. However, the aches, fevers and cold symptoms caused by the flu can be intolerable. For these individuals, the influenza vaccine can reduce the severity and symptoms of the flu. For high-risk individuals, the flu can cause severe illness, hospitalization and death. Influenza causes an average of 36,000 deaths each year in the U.S. The elderly, people with host defense problems and the young are more susceptible to the severe complications of the disease. In these individuals, influenza vaccination can save lives.
What is the Health Alliance’s plan for vaccinating associates?
All Health Alliance associates are eligible to receive a free influenza vaccination. The dates and location for vaccination can be found at (insert link on main page) The Health Alliance is trying to increase the number of associates who are vaccinated to reduce the incidence and spread of flu among staff and patients. This is a good thing. Take the time to get vaccinated this year! Help identify others that should!
What is the history behind influenza and vaccines?
There are many different strains of influenza. Different strains seem to peak in different years. Influenza viruses can also change, altering the body’s ability to detect them. There are three major types of influenza, types A, B, and C. Influenza types A or B viruses cause epidemics of disease almost every winter. In the United States, these winter influenza epidemics can cause illness in 10 to 20 percent of people and are associated with an average of 36,000 deaths and 114,000 hospitalizations per year. Getting a flu shot can prevent or reduce the severity of illness from types A and B influenza. Influenza type C infections cause a mild respiratory illness and are not thought to cause epidemics. The flu shot does not protect against type C influenza.
Because the influenza viruses change often, the vaccine is reformulated each year. Injection of the vaccine into the body produces a response from the immune system. The body produces specialized cells that produce antibodies (specialized proteins that attach to and kill the virus). The antibodies are specific for a particular strain of virus. Protection develops about two weeks after getting the vaccination and may last up to a year. Some people who get flu vaccine may still get flu, but they will usually get a milder case than those who did not get the vaccine.
Do I have to get a shot to receive the flu vaccine?
Beginning this year, two different forms of vaccine administration are available. This includes the traditional injectable form and a newly marketed intranasal form. The most widely available vaccine is the injectable form. The injectable form, sometimes called the “flu shot,” is an inactivated (killed) influenza vaccine that has been used for many years. Most of the information correlated with the success of the influenza vaccine comes from studies using this form of vaccination. The most widely utilized and least expensive administration is the injection.
New this year, is a live intranasal influenza vaccine (trade-name FluMist®). FluMist is an attenuated (weakened) live vaccine. It is sprayed into the nostrils rather than injected into the muscle. FluMist® is not indicated for immunization of individuals less than five years of age, or 50 years of age and older or individuals with chronic disease. Click here for more detail on the indications and limitations of FluMist®.
FluMist® is not available at the Health Alliance.
Can flu vaccine be given at the same time as other vaccines?
Flu vaccine may be given at the same time as other vaccines, (i.e. pneumococcal vaccine).
When should I get the influenza vaccine ?
The best time to get the flu vaccine is in October or November. The flu season usually peaks anywhere from January through March. Getting the vaccine even into late December can still be beneficial in most cases.
Most people require only one flu vaccination each year. However, children through eight years of age getting influenza vaccine for the first time should get two doses of the vaccine. For the live, influenza vaccine, these doses should be 6 – 10 weeks apart. These children should get their first dose in October or earlier.
People who should be vaccinated beginning in September or October are:
- Those 65 years of age or older
- Those at high risk from flu and its complications
- Household contacts of these groups
- Health care workers
- Children under nine getting the flu shot for the first time.
How do you diagnose and test for the flu?
Typical influenza (flu) symptoms include fever, body aches, tiredness, cough and sometimes a sore throat and runny nose. However, these can be symptoms of many diseases, and it can be difficult to tell if you have the flu or another illness by looking at the symptoms alone. You can be tested for flu. Most of these tests involve having your throat or nose swabbed. This means that the infected area will be wiped with an absorbent material that is then sent to a laboratory for analysis. This type of test is used in the first three to four days of your illness. Flu tests are not 100 percent accurate. Because the tests are sometimes incorrectly negative or incorrectly positive, they should not be used routinely. Your doctor can determine if you need to be tested for flu; these tests are most useful when a doctor needs the results to help with diagnosis and treatment decisions. For example, if there is an outbreak of a respiratory (breathing) illness, the flu tests can help doctors tell if the illness affecting the population is actually the flu or something else.
For more detailed clinical information about flu tests, please visit the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID) Web site.
Who should talk with a doctor before getting influenza vaccine?
Talk with a doctor before getting a flu shot if you:
- Ever had a serious allergic reaction to eggs or to a previous dose of influenza vaccine
- Have a history of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS)
- Have active cold symptoms at the time of your scheduled vaccination
- If you have a fever or are severely ill at the time the shot is scheduled, (you should probably wait until you recover before getting influenza vaccine. Talk to your doctor or nurse about whether to reschedule the vaccination).
Are there antibiotics for the flu?
If you get the "flu," antibiotics will not help. Antibiotics treat bacterial infections, not viral infections. Viruses cause both the common cold and influenza. However, recently there have been some improvements in the availability of anti-viral drugs for treating the flu. One such agent for treatment of the flu is Tamiflu®. Data suggests that for patients in whom the flu is diagnosed early and Tamiflu® is administered within the first 48 hours of symptoms, the duration of the flu can be reduced by a few days. Because of these limitations, Tamiflu® has only limited utilization. Tamiflu® is available on the Health Alliance Kroger formulary.
What are the risks from the influenza vaccine?
A vaccine, like any medicine, is capable of causing serious problems, such as severe allergic reactions. The risk of a vaccine causing serious harm or death is extremely small. Serious problems from flu vaccine are very rare. The viruses in the injectable vaccine have been killed, so you cannot get influenza from the vaccine. FluMist®, Influenza Virus Vaccine Live, Intranasal, is a live, weakened vaccine that uses a modified form of the influenza virus. This virus is designed to stimulate a protective immune response in the body, similar to the response your body would have after being exposed to the influenza virus. Importantly, the modified virus in FluMist® is designed to stimulate your body's immune response without causing classic influenza disease.
- Mild risks: (If these problems occur, they usually begin soon after the shot and last one to two days.
- Soreness
- Redness or swelling where the shot was given
- Fever
- Aches
- Severe risks:
- Life-threatening allergic reactions are very rare. If they do occur, it is within a few minutes to a few hours after the shot.
- In 1976, swine flu vaccine was associated with a severe paralytic illness called Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). Influenza vaccines since then have not been clearly linked to GBS. However, if there is a risk of GBS from current influenza vaccines, it is estimated at one or two cases per million people vaccinated…much less than the risk of severe influenza, which can be prevented by vaccination.
What do I do in case of a moderate or severe reaction?
What to look for:
- Any unusual condition, such as a high fever or behavior changes may occur. Signs of a serious allergic reaction can include difficulty breathing, hoarseness or wheezing, hives, paleness, weakness, a fast heartbeat or dizziness.
What to do:
- Call a doctor or get to a doctor right away.
- Tell your doctor what happened, the date and time it happened, and when the vaccination was given.
- Ask your doctor, nurse, or health department to report the reaction by filing a Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) form, or call VAERS yourself at 1-800-822-7967, or visit their Web site at http://www.vaers.org/.
How do I learn more?
- Ask your immunization provider. They can give you the vaccine package insert or suggest other sources of information.
- Call your local or state health department.
- Contact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
Information compiled by:
Kristine Seibert, Pharm.D. Candidate
University of Cincinnati College of Pharmacy
September 2003
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