Become educated about the flu (and its benefits and risks) and the flu vaccine (and its benefits and risks). Make an informed decision after consulting multiple sources of information and discussing your questions with one or more health professionals.
What is the flu?
Influenza is a respiratory infection that produces fever, chills, sore throat, muscle aches and cough that lasts a week or more. The flu can be deadly for the elderly and those with compromised immune systems or who are suffering from diabetes, kidney dysfunction and heart disease. Each year, about 36,000 Americans, mostly in these high-risk groups, reportedly die from flu complications such as pneumonia.
Who is at increased risk for serious complications due to the flu?
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) lists the following persons as being at increased risk for complications from influenza:
- anyone 65 years of age or older
- nursing home residents or residents of other long-term care facilities
- anyone with chronic lung or heart disorders, chronic metabolic diseases (like diabetes), kidney dysfunction, or blood disorders
- anyone who is immune suppressed by medication (steroids, chemotherapy, etc) or by AIDS/HIV
- children or adolescents on long-term aspirin therapy due to possible risk of developing Reye syndrome
- women who will be in the second or third trimester of pregnancy during flu season
What is the flu vaccine?
The flu vaccine is prepared from the fluids of chick embryos inoculated with a specific type(s) of influenza virus. The strains of flu virus in the vaccine are inactivated with formaldehyde and preserved with thimerosal, which is a mercury derivative.
Every year, federal health agency officials try to guess which three flu strains are most likely to be prevalent in the United States the following year, to determine which strains will be included in next year’s flu vaccine. If they guess right, the vaccine is thought to be 70-90% effective in temporarily preventing the flu of the season in healthy persons less than 65 years old. For those over 65 years old, the efficacy rate drops to 30-40%, but the vaccine is thought to be 50-60% effective in preventing hospitalization and pneumonia and 80% effective in preventing death from the flu.
