Get flu shot, surgeon general urges

He says people have ‘social responsibility’ to do so

WASHINGTON – After about 80,000 flu deaths in the USA last season, Surgeon General Jerome Adams urged Americans on Thursday to get vaccinated this year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone ages 6 months and older receive a flu shot or nasal spray. Federal health officials said it’s particularly important for people who are vulnerable to complications, such as children, pregnant women, older adults and people with chronic health conditions.

Adams said people have a “social responsibility” to get vaccinated to protect themselves and their communities.

“That herd immunity is so, so very important,” he said at a news conference. “That community immunity is what we want to take home today;

80,000 deaths last year, and they all got the flu from someone else.”

The flu death toll in the USA last year was the highest in four decades, according to the CDC. Americans made about

900,000 hospital visits. Cases increased in November and peaked in January and February.

As measured by doctor and hospital visits, last year’s season was the most severe since the pandemic in 2009, according to the CDC.

Vaccine makers determine the composition of the vaccine each year. Its effectiveness varies.

“Some effectiveness is better than no effectiveness,” Adams said.

Vaccination doesn’t guarantee a person will avoid contracting the flu, but research shows that people who are vaccinated are less likely to experience severe complications.

A CDC study in 2017 showed that vaccination reduced flu deaths among children with high-risk medical conditions by half and among healthy children by about two-thirds.

Last year, 180 children died from the flu.

Adults who get the vaccine are less likely to suffer complications that require hospitalization.

Vaccination rates among children declined 1.1 percent during the flu season of 2017-18. Nearly 58 percent of children were vaccinated, well short of the federal goal of 80 percent.

Vaccination coverage dropped at a slightly faster rate among children ages 6 months to 4 years, an age group susceptible to serious illness and hospitalization.

The timing and severity of the flu season varies each year, depending on the strains that circulate. Some seasons are mild. The flu pandemic in 1918 killed an about 675,000 Americans and sickened one-third of the world.

Vaccine manufacturers expect to make 163 million to 168 million doses available to the public. People can get vaccines at doctors’ offices, chain pharmacies, community health centers, employer vaccine drives and elsewhere.

Affordable Care Act insurance plans cover the cost of vaccines as preventive care, as do public insurance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

Two versions of the standard vaccine are available this year. The “trivalent” vaccine protects against two strains of influenza A and one strain of influenza B. The quadrivalent protects against two influenza A and two influenza B strains.

Another option is a nasal spray, called FluMist, for people ages 2 to 49.

Officials did not recommend the nasal spray the past two years because of low effectiveness. Studies and data provided by the vaccine maker convinced federal officials that it should again be an option for consumers.

The nasal spray is not recommended for pregnant women.

Federal health officials said two stronger vaccines are available for adults ages 65 and older: a high-dose shot about four times as strong as a conventional vaccine or a shot made with an adjuvant that creates a stronger immune response.

These more robust vaccines are more likely to produce side effects, including pain, redness or swelling, headache, muscle ache and malaise, according to the CDC.

Older adults and people with chronic illness could be more vulnerable to other health problems while recovering from the flu.

In addition to getting a shot, Adams recommended that people take other steps to avoid getting or spreading the flu: frequent hand washing, coughing into a tissue or arm and staying at home from work or school when sick.

“That so very herd important. immunity That is so,

community immunity is

what we want to take home

today; 80,000 deaths last

year, and they all got the flu

from someone else.”

Surgeon General Jerome Adams