Thursday, October 29, 2009
Get your darn flu shot!
The press conference I attended today at the Infectious Disease Society of America's annual meeting had a clear message and it was pretty much a more polite version of this post's title.
Researchers presented data showing that flu vaccination of pregnant women (seasonal, not pandemic, by the way) makes their babies less likely to be premature, small or admitted to the hospital for flu early in their lives. So, such vaccinations would solve the problem of not having a vaccination for newborns and achieve the cost-effectiveness of protecting two people with one shot. The scientists expressed hope that their findings would increase the currently "dismal" rates of expectant-mother vaccination. "If they're not doing it for themselves, maybe they'll do it for their babies," said Marietta Vasquez, MD.
I wouldn't count on it, based on the results presented about vaccination attitudes among hospital workers. The one-hospital survey found that plenty of health care workers, and even some physicians, believe that flu vaccines aren't safe and could give you the flu. In addition, many of them were not aware that one can transmit the flu without having symptoms. Depressing.
On the bright side, even though vaccine expert Paul Offit, MD, termed his part of the press conference a "mini-rant," he actually had some positive news to offer. "The pendulum is starting to swing the other way," he said. Concerns from parents of immunocompromised kids and the refusal by some docs to see unvaccinated children, among other factors, are putting the anti-vaccine troops on the defense, he thinks.
Labels: infectious disease
posted by Stacey Butterfield at
5:04 PM
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3 Comments:
I don't think I could trust my Dr. if s/he didn't get a flu shot and encourage us to get them too.
I think they should be asking each person that comes into their office after the current vaccine becomes availible and give it right then with the patient's consent. I like having them given in school to school children and staff too.
Stacey, what do you think about safety issues for H1N1? I'm not worried about it causing the flu, but about other safety worries. Still on the fence if I'll get it or not.
(The "regular" flu shot - no problem - got it!)
I'm not an expert on the safety issues, but I plan on getting both flu vaccines, if only I can find a convenient time and place to do so. One of the speakers at the IDSA meeting mentioned that the best thing docs could do to increase uptake of the vaccine is to make it more convenient for busy patients. I agree.
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