2013 Flu shots offer lots of options
College of Pharmacy
College of Pharmacy
Bennett Campus Center
Three-strain vaccine: $20.
Vaccines can be provided for children as young as 4 years old.
Health information and screening booths will be on-site for patients to explore while waiting the required 15 minutes on-site.
The Centers for Disease Control recommends an annual flu vaccine as the first and most important step in protecting against flu viruses. Everyone 6 months of age and older should get a flu vaccine as soon as this season’s vaccines are available, especially those who are at high risk of serious flu complications including young children, people 65 years and older, pregnant women and those with chronic health conditions.
Vaccination is also important for health care workers, and other people who live with or care for high-risk people to keep from spreading flu to this group. A flu vaccine is needed every year because flu viruses are constantly changing. It’s not unusual for new flu viruses to appear each year. Manufacturers formulate the vaccine each year to keep up with the flu viruses as they change. It takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against influenza virus infection. In the meantime, you are still at risk for getting the flu. That’s why it’s better to get vaccinated early in the fall, before the flu season really gets under way.
There are multiple options for patients wanting to get protected against the flu virus. The most common type of protection is the inactivated flu vaccine. This vaccine is available by injection and will protect against three or four different influenza viruses. It is the least expensive of all of the influenza vaccine options and widely available in pharmacies, doctor’s offices and the student health clinic.
For those patients who prefer an option without a needle, there is a live, attenuated (weakened) vaccine available as a nasal spray. Since this vaccine is a live vaccine it should only be given to non-pregnant patients’ ages 2 to 49 years. Patients who are severely immunosuppressed or are taking immunosuppressant medications should not take this vaccine since there is a theoretical risk of transmission of the live attenuated vaccine virus.
For patients 65 years of age and older a “high-dose” flu vaccine is available. This option is good for older patients since their bodies typically do not mount as large of an immune response as younger patients.
There are a few people who should not get the flu vaccine. Most flu vaccines are created using egg products, so patients that have a severe allergy to eggs or any other component to the vaccine should avoid the vaccine. Also patients who have a history of Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a severe paralyzing illness, should not get the vaccine. If a person has a fever and is not feeling well they should also avoid getting the vaccine until their fever has subsided.
For more information on the flu vaccine or other vaccines go to www.cdc.gov/vaccines/ or talk to your local pharmacist or doctor.