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Still Sick in America: Is the Flu Shot as Great as We Think?

It’s official – full blown flu season is here. It seems like everyone is coughing and sneezing. Flu season hit earlier this year than years past, especially in the Northwest United States. It’s good we all ran out and got our flu shots, right? Millions of Americans feel safer knowing they’ve been vaccinated – but will it help?

A recent study released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) put an interesting spin on the effectiveness of the most recent flu vaccine. Although the CDC warns that the study is not completely conclusive, some data suggest that the influenza vaccine of 2003 may not be as effective as they once had hoped. According to the CDC, 25% of influenza viruses found so far are of the Panama strain of Influenza, which is found in the current flu shot. Unfortunately, 75% of recent cases are of the Fujian strain of Influenza A, which is not included in the immunization.

The study is the first conducted by the CDC during a flu season and is just one of several research studies to evaluate the effectiveness of the flu shot. The study was conducted among healthcare workers at a hospital in Denver, Colorado. The results suggested that the influenza vaccine showed low effectiveness against “influenza-like illness”. In the study, 3000 healthcare workers were surveyed on their health. Only those employees who had been vaccinated were evaluated. The results suggest that the vaccinated employees were almost as likely to become ill will with flu like symptoms as those employees who were not vaccinated. The researchers were unable to test whether the sick employees actually had the flu because many had not been tested during their illness.

The CDC is quick to add that this does not mean that the vaccine is ineffective in the fight against secondary illnesses caused by influenza and that several more studies will be done at the end of flu season that will be more inclusive and will evaluate more flu season factors.

It’s still too early to know why the vaccine is not proving effective in preventing flu like symptoms or it’s effectiveness as a whole but until then the flu epidemic continues to spread. Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee has actually needed to move to a SARS protocol to handle the abundance of sick patients presenting signs of “flu-like” illness. Hospital administrators even considered opening a special ward for sick patients.

This flu season does seem to be more severe than season’s past. Maybe it’s because we had such an early onset of flu patients this year. In any case, the CDC still stands behind the vaccine and it’s effectiveness for preventing serious illness and death and plans to release more detailed research this spring.

You should know the facts: On average, 36,000 people in the United States die each year and 114,000 are hospitalized from the flu. According to the American Lung Association, by the last week of December 2003, 122 deaths in the United States were a result of pneumonia and influenza, which is considered above epidemic levels.

It’s not to late to get vaccinated. Flu season typically peaks between December and March. Your body only needs about 2 weeks after inoculation to create antibodies for protection – you and your patients still have time.

For more information related to dosage and administration of the flu vaccine, log on to www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals