Last Thursday
the New York Times published an article from the Associated Press explaining
how important it is to receive a flu shot this season. Scientists look to the
Southern Hemisphere to speculate our flu season’s outcomes, and Australia has
already experienced a severe flu season. This year we are bracing for strains
including H3N2, which has already been seen in the United States. Often, the particular influenza strains that propagate in the
Southern Hemisphere will spread to North America, however this is not a certain
prediction of our season’s trajectory.
WHO flu advisers met on Thursday, recommending updates to
future vaccines for the Southern Hemisphere to strengthen H3N2 protection by changing two of three components for
trivalent vaccines for the Southern Hemisphere's 2018 flu season. (more) Currently,
H3N2 and influenza B are the predominant seasonal flu strains. Australia is
still reporting high flu levels, led by H3N2 and significant number of deaths
in the elderly population. Australia's Department of Health says that while
overall the 2017 vaccines were a "relatively good" match, they were
less effective than usual, especially for protecting seniors against H3N2
infection. (more)
In the New York Times
article, public health officials reminded us that even if someone is infected
despite vaccination, they usually have a milder symptoms than if they did not
receive a flu shot. The former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price held the annual flu
awareness event on Thursday, where he received his flu shot in the news
conference, urging everyone to receive their influenza vaccine. (video) I found it very concerning that last year
only about 47% of the population received a flu vaccine. According to
the CDC, everybody starting at 6 months of age needs to receive their vaccine,
especially people over age 65, young children, pregnant women and people with
certain health conditions who are more at risk. People who receive flu shots
have a 40-60% lower chance of getting seriously ill than the unvaccinated- so
please, don’t forget to get your flu shot!
-
Hannah Hales
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