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According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), you should get the flu
vaccine if you or someone you live with falls into one or more of the
following categories:
- You are
50 years of age or older.
- You have
diabetes.
- Your
have immune system disorders.
- You will
be more than three months pregnant during flu season.
- You have
a severe form of anemia.
- You live
in a nursing home or other chronic are housing facility.
- You have
chronic diseases of the heart, lung or kidneys (including children with
asthma).
- In
addition, health care workers and volunteers who work with patients in the
those groups should get the vaccine. Children and teenagers (6
months to 18 years) should be immunized if they are receiving long-term
aspirin treatment, because they can be at risk for developing Reye's
syndrome from a flu infection.
- If you fall into one of the
high-risk groups outlined above, the importance of getting an annual flu
shot cannot be overstated.
-
If you are not in any of the above groups then you do not have to have a
flu vaccination.
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Getting a flu vaccination though can benefit anyone add doctors.
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"I would say that anyone who is interested in protecting themselves
against the flu should get the vaccine. It's the best way to prevent
the flu," says Jim Campbell, M.D., a specialist in pediatric
infectious diseases at the University of Maryland Center for Vaccine
Development and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of
Maryland School of Medicine.
- "With
the flu shot you keep yourself protected. It's an insurance
policy,” agrees Robert Edelman, M.D., associate director for clinical
research at the University of Maryland Center for Vaccine Development and
professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Maryland School
of Medicine.
- But if
you are not in one of the groups outlined, getting the flu will, in most
cases, be an inconvenience but will not endanger your life.
- Each
year 10% to 20% of the population gets hit with the influenza virus and,
according to the
National
Center
for Health Statistics, approximately 192 million days will be spent in bed
because of the flu.
- The
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that in the
U.S.
, more than 114,000 people are hospitalized and more than 36,000 die from
the flu and its complications every year.
- Obviously,
most people do not die from getting the flu so ask your doctor if you
really need a flu vaccination before going crazy trying to get one.
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