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Latest Flu News - Updated 11/19/09
Marshfield Clinic Eau Claire Center to Host Two H1N1 Vaccination Clinics on November 24
Marshfield Clinic Eau Claire Center, 2116 Craig Road, will be hosting two H1N1 influenza vaccination clinics on Tuesday, November 24 for people who are in the target group listed below.
One clinic is for children, while the other vaccination clinic is for adults and other family members who fall within the target group.
The adult and family H1N1 influenza vaccination clinic will take place from 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. Tuesday, November 24.
The pediatric H1N1 influenza vaccination clinic is from 4:30 – 7 p.m. on the same date.
Target groups
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has defined the groups of at-risk people who can receive vaccination based on vaccine availability. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services distributes vaccine throughout Wisconsin and expands the high risk groups to include more people when more vaccine is available.
As of 11/19/09, the current high risk groups will receive vaccinations before those at lower risk. These groups include:
- Pregnant women
- People who live with or care for infants less than 6 months old (examples: parents, siblings, daycare providers)
- Children 6 months through 4 years of age
- Children and adolescents 5 through 18 years of age who have chronic health conditions that put them at higher risk for influenza-related complications
- Adults ages 19-64 years who have chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.
- Health care and emergency medical services personnel who have direct patient care contact
When the higher-risk groups are vaccinated, then others will be vaccinated.
***END UPDATE***
Dr. Ed Belongia discusses H1N1 flu
Dr. Ed Belongia discusses H1N1 influenza in this two-part podcast.
Part 1
Part 2
***END UPDATE***
Young people at risk from 2009 H1N1 flu
The CDC in the first of their two weekly H1N1 flu briefings said that young people continue to be hit especially hard by the 2009 H1N1 virus.
More than half of the hospitalizations from 2009 H1N1 flu reported by 27 states from September 1 through October 10 were people age 24 and younger.
About 23 percent of the deaths reported from 28 states during this period were in this age group.
In addition, about 90 percent of the hospitalizations and deaths from the 2009 H1N1 flu are in people age 64 and younger.
With seasonal flu, health care providers usually see the reverse – 60 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of deaths from seasonal flu are in people age 65 and older.
Read the full report at Flu.gov.
***END UPDATE***
*** UPDATE: 10/16/2009***
Pregnant Women and the Flu: Five things you need to know
Pregnant women, even ones who are healthy, can have medical complications from the seasonal and H1N1 (swine) flu.
If you are pregnant, use these five tips to prepare for the flu season from Flu.gov, which provides one-stop access to U.S. Government avian and pandemic flu information.
***END UPDATE***
*** UPDATE: 10/14/2009***
Why people with diabetes should be concerned about the flu
One of the complications caused by the flu (seasonal or H1N1) is developing pneumonia.
According to the CDC, people with diabetes are more likely to die as the result of flu complications than the general population.
Yet more than 50 percent of the people with diabetes do not get the flu vaccination.
Pneumococcal disease kills more people in the United States each year than all other vaccine-preventable diseases combined, and people with diabetes are at greater risk, according to the CDC.
Pneumococcal disease is caused by a common bacterium, the pneumococcus, which can attack different parts of the body.
When bacteria invade the lungs, they cause the most common form of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia; when bacteria invade the bloodstream, they cause bacteremia; and when they invade the covering of the brain, they cause meningitis, according to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.
People with diabetes or other medical complications should contact their health care provider about the flu and pneumococcal vaccinations.
We have more information on diabetes to help you manage this disease.
***END UPDATE***
***UPDATE: 10/06/2009***
Flu Fact: Why People Age 65 and Over Are Not High Priority for H1N1 Vaccinations
Why aren't people 65 and older recommended to get early doses of 2009 H1N1 vaccine?
There are two main reasons why people age 65 and older are not included in the groups recommended to get the initial doses of 2009 H1N1 vaccine:
1. People age 65 and older are least likely to get sick with this virus, and,
2. There will be limited amounts of vaccine available at first, so the first doses are recommended to go to those who are most likely to get infected and become very ill.
People age 65 and older are still urged to get a seasonal flu vaccination as soon as possible.
Read the full article from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
***END UPDATE***
Flu season is coming early this year.
The annual seasonal flu season usually begins in late fall, however this year the novel influenza A H1N1 (swine flu) virus is active now.
The annual seasonal flu and the H1N1 flu are two different, but similar diseases that develop from two different flu viruses.
Each year, complications from the seasonal flu put about 200,000 people in the hospital and result in some 36,000 deaths.
This year, H1N1 flu is active worldwide and could become a major public health problem.
You can contract both the seasonal flu and the H1N1 flu.
Your best defense against the seasonal flu is an annual vaccination. If you received a flu shot last season, it will not protect you from this year’s virus.
The sooner you receive your seasonal vaccination, the better protected you will be according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
*** UPDATE: 11/13/2009***
A vaccine for H1N1 flu is now available to people in the groups that are considered ‘high risk.’ The vaccine will be available to others after the high risk people are protected.
***END UPDATE***
The CDC has identified two separate groups of people who are at high risk for contracting seasonal flu and H1N1 flu and developing serious complications.
The CDC recommends that everyone receive both vaccinations with a few exceptions.
Marshfield Clinic offers seasonal flu shot clinics throughout central and northern Wisconsin. When the vaccine for H1N1 flu is available, Marshfield Clinic will offer those shots also.
