In 2009, a shortage of influenza vaccines, particularly for the H1N1 strain, led to considerable public consternation over a complicated supply chain managed by government health officials and private drug manufacturers.
This year, the message from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals is simpler: There is just a single flu vaccine, it’s readily available nationwide and the time to get it is now. The CDC is recommending the vaccine for everyone older than 6 months.
“There should be no complications this year at all,” Dr. Takeisha Charles Davis, medical director for the state Office of Public Health, said Thursday as she joined other health officials and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu on Thursday at the Daughters of Charity clinic on Carrollton Avenue to highlight the availability of vaccines.
Researchers produced one flu vaccination this year in time for manufacturers to produce an adequate supply in time for the start of flu season, allowing health care providers — hospitals, pharmacies, public clinics and private practices — to order directly from manufacturers. Last year, providers had to register with the state Department of Health and Hospitals, which coordinated with the CDC to apportion the limited supply based on high-risk populations.
The vaccine comes in two forms: an injection of the inactive virus and a nasal spray that contains a weakened form of the live virus. The spray is intended only for healthy persons between the ages of 2 and 49; it also excludes pregnant women. There can be some side effects, including mild flu symptoms. The success rate depends on a person’s age and health and the varieties of the influenza virus that spread throughout the flu season, which began in September and runs through the winter.
Landrieu got a flu shot after brief remarks that emphasized the value of preventive health care. “When we have preventive care like this, the number of people who need acute care goes down dramatically,” he said.
The severity of the influenza season varies from year to year and can produce surprises like the H1N1 strain that surfaced in the spring of 2009 and yielded the first flu pandemic in four decades. Since 1976, annual deaths from influenza in the United States have ranged from 3,000 to 49,000, averaging about 36,000. Most of the deaths occur in patients who are younger than 2 years old or adults who are at least 65 years old and have other medical complications.
The CDC’s panel of vaccination experts earlier this year voted to expand vaccination recommendations to virtually the entire population, but Davis said high-risk groups remain especially important. They include: pregnant women; children younger than 5 years old; anyone 50 years of age or older; anyone with chronic medical conditions; residents of nursing homes or other long-term care facilities; and persons, particularly health professionals, child care workers and parents of infants, who come in regular contact with high-risk populations.
Besides the youngest infants, those who should not be vaccinated include anyone with a severe allergy to chicken eggs; people who have had previous allergic reactions to an influenza vaccination; and anyone who has developed Guillain-Barre syndrome within six weeks of the would-be vaccination date. Persons with an illness accompanied by fever should wait until recovery before being vaccinated.
Davis said hand sanitation is among the most effective defenses against contracting and spreading the flu, and she urged those who are stricken to remain at home at least 24 hours after any fever has subsided without the aid of drugs.
Bill Barrow can be reached at email@example.com or 504.826.3452.