Gov. Health= no flu shots

[myelo]

Flu vaccines are not part of the childhood vaccine program. The main reason for the flu vaccine shortage is unpredictable demand and inability to stockpile vaccines from year to year to smooth out supply. Because flu strains change yearly, manufacturer must destroy unused doses at the end of the year, which eats into profits. For example, in the 10 years before last year, manufacturers typically destroyed 10 million unused doses of vaccines yearly. In other words, there were plenty of vaccines.

Last year though, early publicity predicting an especially severe flu seasons caused unexpectedly high demand. This year the loss of one manufacturer has cut into supplies and the publicity over a shortage seems to be creating an increase in demand, which nobody predicted.

[Kirin]

Some facts:

Epidemics of influenza typically occur during the winter months in temperate regions and have been responsible for an average of approximately 36,000 deaths/year in the United States during 1990--1999 (1). Influenza viruses also can cause pandemics, during which rates of illness and death from influenza-related complications can increase worldwide. Influenza viruses cause disease among all age groups (2--4). Rates of infection are highest among children, but rates of serious illness and death are highest among persons aged >65 years and persons of any age who have medical conditions that place them at increased risk for complications from influenza (2,5--7).

Vaccination with inactivated influenza vaccine is recommended for the following persons who are at increased risk for complications from influenza: Vaccination with inactivated influenza vaccine is recommended for the following persons who are at increased risk for complications from influenza:

persons aged >65 years;
residents of nursing homes and other chronic-care facilities that house persons of any age who have chronic medical conditions;
adults and children who have chronic disorders of the pulmonary or cardiovascular systems, including asthma;
adults and children who have required regular medical follow-up or hospitalization during the preceding year because of chronic metabolic diseases (including diabetes mellitus), renal dysfunction, hemoglobinopathies, or immunosuppression (including immunosuppression caused by medications or by human immunodeficiency virus [HIV]);
children and adolescents (aged 6 months--18 years) who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy and, therefore, might be at risk for experiencing Reye syndrome after influenza infection;
women who will be pregnant during the influenza season; and
children aged 6--23 months.

In 2000, approximately 73 million persons in the United States were included in one or more of these target groups, including 35 million persons aged >65 years, 12 million adults aged 50--64 years, 18 million adults aged 18--49 years, and 8 million children aged 6 months--17 years with one or more medical conditions that are associated with an increased risk for influenza-related complications (125).

... think of the others:
 

Persons who are clinically or subclinically infected can transmit influenza virus to persons at high risk for complications from influenza. Decreasing transmission of influenza from caregivers and household contacts to persons at high risk might reduce influenza-related deaths among persons at high risk. Evidence from two studies indicates that vaccination of health-care personnel is associated with decreased deaths among nursing home patients (119,120). Health-care workers should be vaccinated against influenza annually. Facilities that employ heath-care workers are strongly encouraged to provide vaccine to workers by using approaches that maximize immunization rates. This will protect health-care workers, their patients, and communities, and will improve prevention, patient safety, and reduce disease burden. Health-care workers' influenza immunization rates should be regularly measured and reported. Although rates of health-care worker vaccination are typically <40%, with moderate effort, organized campaigns can attain higher rates of vaccination among this population (118).

In addition to the groups for which annual influenza vaccination is recommended, physicians should administer influenza vaccine to any person who wishes to reduce the likelihood of becoming ill with influenza (the vaccine can be administered to children >6 months), depending on vaccine availability (see Influenza Vaccine Supply). Persons who provide essential community services should be considered for vaccination to minimize disruption of essential activities during influenza outbreaks. Students or other persons in institutional settings (e.g., those who reside in dormitories) should be encouraged to receive vaccine to minimize the disruption of routine activities during epidemics.

Source :Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Kirin]

As for Fishus simplification:

Both the inactivated and live, attenuated vaccines prepared for the 2004–05 season will include A/Fujian/411/2002 (H3N2)-like, A/New Caledonia/20/99 (H1N1)-like, and B/Shanghai/361/2002-like antigens. For the A/Fujian/411/2002 (H3N2)-like antigen, manufacturers may use the antigenically equivalent A/Wyoming/3/2003 (H3N2) virus, and for the B/Shanghai/361/2002-like antigen, manufacturers may use the antigenically equivalent B/Jilin/20/2003 virus or B/Jiangsu/10/2003 virus. These viruses will be used because of their growth properties and because they are representative of influenza viruses likely to circulate in the United States during the 2004–05 influenza season. Because circulating influenza A (H1N2) viruses are a reassortant of influenza A (H1N1) and (H3N2) viruses, antibody directed against influenza A (H1N1) and influenza (H3N2) vaccine strains will provide protection against circulating influenza A (H1N2) viruses. Influenza viruses for both the inactivated and live attenuated influenza vaccines are initially grown in embryonated hens' eggs. Thus, both vaccines might contain limited amounts of residual egg protein.

[Dowding]

Flu? I laught at it cos I am rocks.

[Shamus]

Originally posted by Scootter
Fair enough, and a nice sound bite, but answer me this, The government can pass laws to reform the greedy drug companies but how are the drug companies going to reform the greedy government?

hmmmm

Lobbyist's

shamus

[Gunslinger]

Just FYI


It is MANDATORY for US Military Active Duty to get Flu Shots.


I for one preferr not to because I really don't know/trust what they are putting in the things.

Plus I allways get super sick afterwords even though they say that's not supposed to happen.

[Nilsen]

Just read on the news that a norwegian woman age 40 died two days after taking a flu shot, and they are investigating to find out if it was related as they suspect.

[VOR]

Originally posted by Gunslinger
Just FYI


It is MANDATORY for US Military Active Duty to get Flu Shots.


I for one preferr not to because I really don't know/trust what they are putting in the things.

Plus I allways get super sick afterwords even though they say that's not supposed to happen.

I haven't had the flu in 10 years. As for that anthrax series, well, that's another story altogether.