Shot of Prevention

This article was originally printed as a guest post on BlogHer, Dec. 7, 2010, under the title, Why Everyone Should Get A Flu Shot, in honor of National Influenza Vaccination Week. 

By Christine Vara

Last year at this time, the H1N1 virus, also referred to as the “swine flu,” had us all rather panicked. People were anxious to get vaccinated against the flu then. But what about now?

My guess is that the media attention given to the H1N1 epidemic last year left a skeptical public uncertain about the impact of the flu, and the safety and effectiveness of flu shots in general.

Regrettably, H1N1 made itself personally known to my family last year when my own 9-year-old daughter, Marissa, received a positive diagnosis. Unfortunately, she contracted H1N1 before a vaccine became available. I’ll admit that my husband and I were very concerned.  In the back of our minds, we knew that she could easily become a tragic statistic, and the feeling was one of helplessness.

We did our best to quarantine her in order to keep the virus from spreading to our other four children. We tried to make her as comfortable as possible in her room, and gave her a walkie-talkie to call us with when she needed something. My husband even downloaded a week’s worth of Brady Bunch, Partridge Family and Happy Days reruns to keep her entertained. Her sisters slipped get well cards under her door and we served her meals on special trays that only my husband or I would handle and deliver.

After a week or so, my daughter recovered and resumed life as usual. It sure is interesting how a brief brush with an unpredictable disease can change your perspective. The unspoken fear that we faced last year has faded into a childhood memory for Marissa. Surprisingly, it appears that public memory has been short-lived as well — which troubles me as a mom of five active kids.

Due to the heightened concern from last year’sH1N1 outbreak, I would have guessed that more people would be inclined to get flu shots this year. Unfortunately, it appears that a significant portion of the public is more concerned about potential side effects of the vaccine than with the consequences of falling ill with influenza.

A survey of 1,500 adults, recently conducted by The Consumer Reports National Research Center, indicated that 30 percent of those surveyed will skip the flu shot this year, citing concerns about side effects, exaggerated epidemic messages, and a desire to build up their own immune systems.

Another recent Time article indicates that this sentiment is echoed among many parents. The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) questioned more than 600 mothers of kids ages 6 to 18, and revealed that 80 percent of mothers said their attitude toward vaccination was not swayed by last year’s H1N1 scare and one-third were opting to forgo flu vaccination for their children, citing fear of side effects as their main concern.

What the public may fail to understand is that seasonal flu vaccines are extremely safe. Consider the fact that flu vaccines are administered year after year to a large percentage of the population. Because of this, they are some of the most widely used and well tested immunizations being administered today and their safety record is proven.

So what is all the worry about? Some minimal discomfort and minor side effects? 

Unfortunately, many of the common worries are actually based on unfounded myths.

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By Belinda Duvall

Fall is here again bringing crisp air, beautiful fall leaves, and family events. It is also the one year anniversary of my son, Luke, almost losing his life to influenza. This anniversary brings a new found concern to my family-the flu season. People rushed to get their flu vaccinations last year and were upset by the delay and shortage. I have come in contact with people who aren’t sure if they will even get their flu vaccination this year. I have heard many reasons-“Don’t like shots”, “it’s not important”, “the flu is not around”, and “I have never gotten the flu before”. I am saddened and frustrated by people’s short memory. While this flu season may not be bringing the same attention, or the same frustrations and concerns as last, the dangers of the flu have not changed.

I will never forget the very long night we spent in our local hospital before Luke was ventilated and Med flighted to Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Luke asked me several times, while gasping and desperate to breathe, if there was anything we could have done differently that would have changed his situation. His question haunted me for days.   I felt I had failed as a mother and missed something.  Days later, with tears in my eyes, I mustered up the courage to ask a nurse his question to me.   Read more…

By Amy Pisani

H1N1 is back in the news as the Southeast is again reporting cases.  It seems no coincidence that the states reporting the lowest vaccination rates against H1N1 (Georgia only reported a 21% vaccination rate) are now suffering from outbreaks once again (yes I know it is also likely due to weather patterns, but it is shameful that the people who live in the Centers for Disease Control’s home state take diseases the least serious!). New England reported the highest rates of vaccination, with Rhode Island at the top of the pack (39% of the population was immunized), while the South reports the lowest coverage. 

Vaccines remain unused and will be destroyed if they reach their expiration dates.  With that in mind it would seem prudent to get vaccinated if you haven’t done so yet. While next year’s seasonal flu vaccine will include the H1N1 strain, it seems the virus does not plan to stay on the vaccine development timeline!

On a lighter note, here is a video whose humor truly gets to the point.  I’m voting it the best H1N1 video of the year!

By Amy Pisani

It seems like we’ve been hearing less about H1N1 recently, but it’s important to be mindful of the uncertainty of this virus, and to continue to protect ourselves through vaccination. Experts are not willing to close the book on H1N1 just yet. According to today’s Washington Post, “Influenza transmission waxes and wanes, and outbreaks of novel pandemic strains occur in particularly unpredictable waves that depend on such variables as human behavior, atmospheric conditions and even competition from other microbes. That places them among the bigger mysteries of epidemiology, the science of disease outbreaks.”

 The Posts David Brown explains that, “ The ‘Spanish flu’ of 1918 had four waves of greatly differing deadliness, spread over two years. The “Asian flu” of 1957, like the current H1N1 strain, had a late-spring and a fall wave — followed by a third in late winter of 1958. It then took a year off before peaking again in 1960. The ‘Hong Kong flu’ of 1968 had more than a year hiatus between its two waves, with the second infecting nearly as many people as the first.”

Read the full article, here.

Check out the following items from our friends at Families Fighting Flu. They have some excellent resources to offer!

Participate in the Families Fighting Flu Survey!

FFF created an online survey to help gauge parents’ behaviors and attitudes about flu vaccination this flu season in comparison to previous non-pandemic seasons. By completing the survey, parents of children aged 6 months to 18 years will have the opportunity to win a $250 American Express gift card. One winner will be randomly selected and notified via e-mail by March 31, 2010. We encourage you to participate and spread the news to all eligible parents! The survey is available here from February 18 through March 12. We look forward to sharing the results.

Families Fighting Flu: A Guide For Parents

For important information about influenza, check out the blog Families Fighting Flu: A Guide for Parents by Jon Abramson, M.D. and his daughter Rebecca. Dr. Abramson, a medical advisor and ex-officio board member of FFF has been working in the area of influenza since 1981. Dr. Abramson and his daughter created this blog to educate parents and address some of the misinformation about the flu and flu vaccination.

 Did you know that three human influenza pandemics occurred in the 20th century, each resulting in illness in approximately 20 to 30 percent of the world population? You can read more about pandemics in the latest chapter, Pandemic Influenza Due to the 2009 Novel H1N1 Virus.  

By Carol Baker, MD

[Ed note: Dr. Carol Baker has blogged for Shot of Prevention on the importance of flu vaccination before. We thought her piece in the Houston Chronicle was worth re-posting here as well.]

Originally ran in Houston Chronicle 

Ever since the new H1N1 virus started making people ill last spring, it has become harder for parents in my practice to shrug off influenza as “not much more than a cold.” We’ve seen what flu can do: close schools and camps; send sales of surgical masks and anti-bacterial gels through the roof; overburden hospital emergency rooms; cause death — not among the elderly but in children and pregnant women.

It troubles me to learn from a recent report that more than 80 percent of Texas children under age 10 who received their first H1N1 influenza dose have not yet received their second, and so are not fully protected.

A recent survey by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases found that the heightened attention on H1N1 influenza has indeed caused a spike in parents’ interest in influenza vaccination for their children. Sixty-two percent of mothers surveyed said they intended to have their children vaccinated this year for seasonal influenza, H1N1 or both; only 35 percent said their children had previously received annual influenza vaccination. This is certainly a meaningful increase, but one that still leaves a significant sector of parents not yet sure about the merits of influenza vaccination.

As a pediatrician, I believe the time has come for parents to make their vaccination decisions based on fact — rather than misperceptions fueled by “magical” or wishful thinking. NFID’s study revealed just how widespread these misperceptions are among mothers. Nearly two-thirds of respondents who had chosen not to annually vaccinate their children for influenza believe a healthy child doesn’t need a flu vaccine. Approximately 100 pediatric influenza deaths have occurred each year. Already more than 1,100 children, many previously healthy and some from Texas, have died of H1N1 influenza.

Nearly six in 10 mothers surveyed think other ways to skirt influenza are just as effective as vaccination, swearing by strategies like staying away from crowds, eating healthier, sleeping longer. The fact is, secondary prevention measures like hand and cough hygiene have their place, but the only sure way to prevent flu is through vaccination.

We also learned mothers sometimes forgo influenza vaccination for their kids because their pediatricians let them decide — a sense of autonomy they don’t get with required childhood vaccines. But this freedom of choice can be a double-edged sword if mothers lack the facts needed to make the proper choice to help keep their child healthy. Mothers aren’t aware that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend influenza vaccination annually for all children 6 months through 18 years of age.

Historically, influenza vaccination rates begin to drop after November — not even halfway into what is generally recognized as the annual influenza season. And that may be why children in Texas have not received their second dose. Second doses should be administered within four weeks of the first dose, but even getting the second dose a few weeks late ensures protection.

In this pandemic year, seven months of uninterrupted media coverage has placed influenza front and center in our consciousness. Fortunately, recent news from the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services relays that flu activity has decreased during the past few weeks, but it is possible another wave of H1N1 influenza can appear, so it is best to be protected.

If you have children, understand that in this pandemic year— and every year — vaccination is the most effective way to prevent a disease that annually hospitalizes approximately 20,000 kids. Realize that it’s impossible to predict which healthy child — or adult — could become influenza’s next victim. You have the choice. Choose wisely and protect your entire family’s health.

Dr. Baker is past president, National Foundation for Infectious Diseases; chair of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices; professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine; and executive director of the Center for Vaccine Awareness at Texas Children’s Hospital.