2011–12 Influenza Vaccine and Vaccination Information
2011-12 Flu Clinic Information
Western Wake Pediatrics, PA will hold two Saturday morning flu clinics on 09/24/2011 and 10/01/2011. Appointments are required. Please call our office at 919-859-9991 and press option 2 and Joan or Betsy will be happy to assist you.
Also within the month of October, weedkay flu clinic appointments are avialable for our clients. Please call to schedule your child's flu vaccine appointment today.
Vaccine Recommendation
Who should get vaccinated this season?
Everyone 6 months and older should get a flu vaccine each year. This recommendation has been in place since February 24, 2010 when CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted for “universal” flu vaccination in the U.S. to expand protection against the flu to more people. While everyone should get a flu vaccine each flu season, it’s especially important that certain people get vaccinated either because they are at high risk of having serious flu–related complications or because they live with or care for people at high risk for developing flu–related complications.
- Pregnant women
- Children younger than 5, but especially children younger than 2 years old
- People 50 years of age and older
- People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions
- People who live in nursing homes and other long–term care facilities
- People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu, including:
- Health care workers
- Household contacts of persons at high risk for complications from the flu
- Household contacts and out of home caregivers of children less than 6 months of age (these children are too young to be vaccinated)
2011-2012 Flu Vaccine Formulation
What viruses do flu vaccines protect against?
Flu vaccines are designed to protect against the three influenza viruses that experts predict will be the most common during the upcoming season. Each season, this includes an influenza B virus, an influenza A (H1N1) virus and an influenza A (H3N2) virus. (These are the three virus subtypes that are circulating most commonly among people today.)
What viruses will the 2011-2012 vaccine protect against?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that the United State's 2011–2012 seasonal influenza vaccine contain the following three vaccine viruses:
- an A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)-like virus;
- an A/Perth/16/2009 (H3N2)-like virus; and
- a B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus.
The 2011–12 influenza vaccine can protect you from getting sick from these three viruses, or it can make your illness milder if you get a related but different influenza virus strain. The viruses in this season’s vaccine are the same viruses that were selected for the 2010-2011 influenza vaccine for the United States..
Why did the vaccine composition remain the same?
The viruses selected for the vaccine remained the same because they continued to be the main viruses causing human illness worldwide.
Annual Vaccination When Vaccine Viruses Remain Unchanged
Why do I need a flu vaccine every year?
CDC recommends an influenza (flu) vaccine every year as the first and best way to protect against getting the flu. By 2 weeks after vaccination, the body develops antibodies to protect against the viruses in the vaccine. Those antibodies help protect us from influenza viruses if we come in contact with them later. However multiple studies conducted over different seasons and across vaccine types and influenza virus subtypes have shown that the body’s immunity to influenza viruses (acquired either through natural infection or vaccination) declines over time. The decline in antibodies is influenced by several factors, including a person’s age, the antigen used in the vaccine, and the person's general health (for example, certain chronic health conditions may have an impact on immunity). While specific data on the duration of immunity from the 2010-2011 influenza vaccine is not available, CDC experts believe that immunity from vaccination (or infection) last season will have decreased by now in most people. It is not possible to say whether this reduced immunity would still be sufficient to prevent infection in 2011-2012 and therefore it is recommended that everyone 6 months of age and older get vaccinated this season, regardless of whether they were vaccinated last season.
If I got a vaccine in 2010-2011, why do I need to get another one this season if the vaccine formulation didn’t change?
Your body’s level of immunity from a vaccine received last season is expected to have declined. You may not have enough immunity to be protected from getting sick this season. You should be vaccinated again to raise your immune levels against the three viruses that research indicates are likely to circulate again this season.
How often are the viruses in the influenza vaccine changed?
Most seasons, viruses in the influenza vaccine are changed to keep up with the influenza viruses as they evolve. It’s uncommon that the same three vaccine virus strains are the same from one season to the next, but this has happened before. Since 1969, the viruses selected for inclusion in the influenza vaccine have remained the same eight times (including the 2011-2012 season). Each time, CDC has stressed the importance of getting vaccinated each season.
Has CDC always recommended vaccination each year, regardless of vaccine virus strain changes?
Yes. CDC recommends an annual influenza vaccine as the first and best way to protect against influenza. This recommendation is (and has been) the same even during years when the vaccine composition (the viruses the vaccine protects against) remains unchanged from the previous season.
Timing of Vaccination
When should I get the 2011-2012 influenza vaccine?
CDC recommends that people get vaccinated against influenza as soon as vaccine becomes available in their community, but vaccination can take place at any time throughout the influenza season. Influenza seasons are unpredictable, and can begin as early as October. And, it takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against influenza virus infection. Therefore, CDC recommends people be vaccinated as soon as vaccine becomes available to ensure that as many people as possible are protected before influenza season begins.
I have heard of people who don’t get vaccinated against influenza in September or October because they want it to “last” through the entire influenza season. Should people wait until later in the influenza season to be vaccinated?
CDC recommends that influenza vaccination begin as soon as vaccine becomes available in the community and continue throughout the flu season. It takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against influenza, and influenza seasons can begin as early as October. Therefore, CDC recommends that vaccination begin as soon as vaccine becomes available to ensure that as many people as possible are protected before flu season begins.
FIGURE 1. Influenza vaccine dosing algorithm for children aged 6 months through 8 years --- Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), 2011--12 influenza season
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6033a3.htm
For additional information:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-flu.pdf
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-flulive.pdf
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/flu_vaccine_updates.htm
|
What's
New?