CC Future Mobility Nov 2023 V2

Opinion: Flu shots advised for those at greatest risk—the elderly

by | Oct 3, 2018 | Opinion

Drug stores have had signs heralding the 2018-19 Flu Season for weeks. Meanwhile, if you’ve visited your doctor recently, he or she has most likely reminded you to get your flu shots in a timely fashion this year.

However, notes the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC], there continues to be widespread reluctance, based on indifference and fear, among Americans to be immunized against the flu. Most years only about half of those who should seek protection get a flu shot. As a result, too many at risk individuals, including elderly Americans, succumb to influenza and too many of them die.

Last year’s flu season was exceptionally long. It lasted from October 1, 2017 and continued until nearly the end of April 2018 and caused some 30,453 laboratory-confirmed hospitalizations of flu victims, most of whom were 65 years old or older, according to the Centers for Disease Control [CDC].  

So, why don’t more of us embrace the flu vaccine as an established preventive measure?

AMAC suggests that the “myths” about the flu shot may have something to do with it. Perhaps the most senseless misconception people might have is that they need not be vaccinated every year to be protected. The most important reason for getting a shot every year is the simple fact that in the course of a year the vaccine loses its effectiveness. In addition, the makeup of the flu virus, itself, changes each year so a new vaccine needs to be produced annually. And, that is why the CDC strongly recommends that, ideally, everyone, six months old and older should be immunized at the onset of flu season.

AMAC is particularly focused on encouraging America’s seniors to get a flu shot pointing out that 58% of all those who had to be hospitalized due to influenza last year were over 65 years of age. In fact, the CDC even underscores the need for older Americans to be vaccinated because they are at higher risk of developing serious complications from flu. There’s even a special version of the vaccine especially designed for seniors. It’s a high-dose vaccine that contains four times the amount of antigen contained in a regular shot.

The CDC says that the high-dose vaccine was tested in a massive clinical trial in which there were 30,000 participants. The trial proved the effectiveness of the high-dose version of the vaccine among the 65-plus set. Those seniors who received the high dose vaccine “had 24 percent fewer influenza infections as compared to those who received the standard dose flu vaccine.”

Most physicians will tell you that if you are among the skeptics when it comes to flu shots, you need to focus on the facts, not the myths. And, if the truth about the flu be told, it will be told by the Centers for Disease Control, which says get a flu shot as early as you can in the season because it is not just the best way to help protect you.

 

For more like this, see the Oct. 3 issue or subscribe online.

 

 

By the Association of Mature American Citizens

CC Future Mobility Nov 2023 V2

0 Comments

Order photos

Related News

Abbott: Battle continues over vouchers

Abbott: Battle continues over vouchers

As time runs out next week on the fourth special session, Gov. Greg Abbott said he will continue to fight for school choice, despite the Texas House once again decisively rejecting it when 21 Republicans largely from rural districts joined Democrats in stripping it...

read more
Counter measures

Counter measures

If you look at what’s missing from this great land, it’s, a barstool on which to sit, good home cookin’, and a counter on which to eat it. The diners of yesterday need a revival. By John Moore For more on this story see the November 22, 2023 print, or...

read more
Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home

The ownership we feel for places we have lived seems absolute. Any house we’ve called home was ours. No one else’s. Even if several others lived in it before or after we did. Such was the case of the house on Beech Street where my family lived in the 60s and early 70s...

read more
Harvesting Texas Traditions

Harvesting Texas Traditions

As the cool breeze of autumn begins to sweep through the Lone Star State, there’s a particular charm that sets Texas apart during this time of year. Beyond the sprawling landscapes and bustling cities, Texas boasts a remarkable connection between fall festivities and...

read more
Pay phones, rotary phones: pieces of the past

Pay phones, rotary phones: pieces of the past

The Jetsons got a lot right. Flying cars are now a reality. Zoom meetings. Robot vacuum cleaners. And video phones. One thing that was absent from that cartoon show was something that’s been around for well over 100 years. Something we still use today, and I think...

read more
Take the fall

Take the fall

One of my most vivid memories of fall happened during junior high. I was standing in the end zone prior to the start of a game. I could barely feel my fingers and toes. It was October, but it was unusually cold (Al Gore had yet to invent global warming). My shoulder...

read more
Food for thought

Food for thought

They were called, “Victory Gardens.” And they were one of the weapons US citizens used to help win World War II. With the bad guys throwing everything at us that they could, in return, we were throwing everything at them that we could. By John Moore To Login to read...

read more
Change the way you think

Change the way you think

Most seasons, when my son was playing little league baseball, I would coach his team. One season I couldn’t coach and so he got thrown into the draft with all the other kids.  It was a disaster.  The coach he got was terrible. He argued with the parents, he...

read more
CC Future Mobility Nov 2023 V2