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Updated January 3, 2010
Influenza Vaccines for 2009-2010
Influenza (flu) season in the United States starts in the fall and peaks from November to January. An average of 36,000 people die from influenza-related illnesses in the United States each year. Every year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) arranges for the manufacture and distribution of vaccines for the strains of flu expected to be most prevalent during the upcoming flu season.
There are two vaccines for influenza this season. As usual, there is a vaccine for the seasonal flu. Additionally, this year, there is a vaccine for a new strain of influenza which was first identified in Mexico in 2009. The World Health Organization has labeled this virus the pandemic H1N1/09 virus. The CDC is calling it the novel H1N1 flu. It has also been referred to as the swine flu (although it is not the same virus that caused an outbreak of swine flu in 1976.)
Seasonal flu is most likely to cause severe illness or death in very young people, very old people, and people with serious chronic health problems. The CDC recommends that the following groups get the seasonal flu vaccine:
- Children aged 6 months until their 19th birthday (especially those less than 5 years old),
- Pregnant women,
- People 50 years of age and older,
- People of any age with certain chronic health conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease),
- People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities,
- Household contacts of person at high risk for complications from influenza,
- Household contacts and out of home caregivers of children less than 6 months of age, and
- Health care workers.
Due to a shortage in supply, our office has not been able to obtain any of the seasonal flu vaccines this year.
The H1N1/09 flu is more likely to affect younger people. The people most frequently infected are less than 25 years old. The CDC is has recommended that the following groups have first priority in getting the H1N1/09 flu vaccine:
- Pregnant women
- People who live with or provide care for infants less than 6 months old
- People aged 6 months to 24 years
- People aged 25 to 64 years with serious chronic health conditions
- Health care workers
The supply of vaccine is now sufficient to make vaccines available for other patients who wish to receive it. Our office has H1N1/09 flu vaccines available for our patients.
For the latest information see the H1N1/09 web pages of the CDC , the Florida Department of Health , and Seminole County Health Department
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