Infants advised to get flu vaccine

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- It is time once again to be vaccinated against the flu and public health officials said Monday no delays in supply are expected this season and they have recommended infants should receive the medication this year.

William Schaffner, professor and chairman of Vanderbilt University's department of preventive medicine, told United Press International infants ranging in age from six months to two years should get vaccinated because "these children are particularly vulnerable to complications from influenza."

Schaffner is scheduled to appear in Washington next week with the newly appointed Surgeon General, Richard Carmona, and public health officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to encourage Americans to receive flu vaccine.

The officials also will recommend people over the age of 65 get the pneumococcal vaccine. This vaccine protects against pneumonia, a bacterial illness that can strike those who are susceptible to the flu. Schaffner noted about half of those over 65 have been vaccinated and the goal of the public health community is to get this number up to 90 percent.

Schaffner said the flu can have fatal consequences and is far more serious than the common cold. The CDC estimates millions of Americans get the flu each year and about 20,000 die from the illness, while another 114,000 require hospitalization.

Although there have been delays in providing the flu vaccine the past two years, officials said no delays are expected this year and ample supplies of the vaccine are now available.

"There are no anticipated shortages or delays of the influenza vaccine," Lenore Gelb, spokeswoman for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which oversees vaccine manufacturers, told UPI.

Three companies -- Aventis, Evans and Wyeth -- produce the influenza vaccine. Doug Petkus, spokesman for Wyeth, of Marietta, Pa., which produces the vaccine under the name Flushield, told UPI the company does not anticipate any delays or shortages and expects to exceed the 20 million doses they produced last year. Rob Burge, spokesman for Evans, of Madison, Wis., which calls its vaccine Fluvirin, said the company will produce an ample supply of vaccine this year and does not foresee any shortages.

Aventis, of Swiftwater, Pa., which calls its vaccine Fluzone, did not return phone calls from UPI by press time.

From the physicians' perspective, Schaffner said, "This year it would appear that the supply is abundant and is coming in on time as scheduled."

Schaffner said anybody over the age of 50 should receive the flu vaccine as this age-group is at a high-risk of developing complications from the flu. Others at high-risk include those with heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, kidney disease or those with weakened immune systems, which includes cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and people with HIV/AIDS.

People who commonly interact with the elderly or the other high-risk groups should also get vaccinated to lower the chance that they will infect these susceptible groups with the flu, Schaffner said, adding pregnant woman who will be in their last two trimesters of their pregnancy during the flu season -- generally from November to April -- should get the vaccine because recent data suggests they are just as likely as the elderly to suffer complications from the flu. "Pregnancy is not a contraindication for a flu shot," he said.

Parents and people around infants on a regular basis should also get the flu vaccine to avoid spreading the virus to children.

Schaffner stressed that the flu shot is "very, very safe." The main side effect is a sore arm, and a small percentage of people will develop a fever that generally disappears within a day.

People who are allergic to eggs should not get the vaccine because it is grown in eggs and it could cause a reaction, he said.