Flumist Influenza Vaccine

It's the Best Week to Protect Yourself from the Flu

Karen McClorey Hackett — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 23:06:42 +0000

Reviewer:

As the flu season picks up, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today announced National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) will be observed December 2-6, 2024, a reminder for most everyone that there’s still time to get a flu shot this season.

National Influenza Vaccination Week is a national awareness week highlighting the importance of influenza vaccination for yourself and others.

A recent study concluded that the risk of secondary influenza infection among unvaccinated household members is approximately 15% to 20% after a person infected with the influenza virus introduces it into households.

The CDC says vaccination is essential for people at higher risk of developing serious flu complications, including pregnant women and young children.

Millions of children get sick with the flu yearly, and thousands are hospitalized.

During the 2023-24 flu season, 206 children died from influenza.

Since flu viruses are constantly changing and protection from vaccination decreases over time, getting a flu vaccine every year is the best way to reduce your risk from any influenza virus. A flu vaccine is the only vaccine that protects against flu and has been shown to reduce the risk of flu illness, hospitalization, and death.

This season, access to flu shots is as close as a community pharmacy, with over 92 million vaccines already distributed this year.

Together, we can use NIVW as a nationwide call to get more people vaccinated against the flu, the more people are protected from the flu, wrote the CDC.

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Over 200 pediatric influenza related fatalities last season

Reference:

CDC - National Influenza Vaccination Week

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Tuesday, December 3, 2024 - 06:30

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US CDC December 2, 2024

Flu Shots Help Stop Spreading Influenza at Home

Karen McClorey Hackett — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 22:17:51 +0000

Reviewer:

Robert Carlson, MD

With Thanksgiving gatherings planned for late this week, a new study suggests that everyone should get their annual flu shots.

A recent study concluded that the risk of secondary influenza among unvaccinated household contacts is approximately 15% to 20% after a person infected with the influenza virus introduces it into households.

This prospective case-ascertained household transmission study was conducted at two sites during three consecutive influenza seasons with daily data collection and respiratory specimens following the introduction of infections in the households; researchers observed a substantial risk of subsequent influenza virus infection among household contacts.

According to this JAMA Network Original Investigation, published on November 21, 2024, the secondary infection risk of influenza infection among household contacts was 18.8% (95% confidence interval, 15.9% to 22.0%).

And the estimated vaccine effectiveness (VE) of flu shots for preventing secondary infections among household contacts was 21% (95% CI, 1.4% to 36.7%).

The estimates of VE against any influenza virus infection in the present study were lower than those generated from surveillance of medically attended illness.

The U.S. CDC influenza VE network estimated that vaccines' overall effectiveness in preventing medically attended influenza was 38%, 29%, and 39% in 2017 to 2018, 2018 to 2019, and 2019 to 2020 flu seasons, respectively.

This study's observations of relatively modest VE against infection could suggest that vaccines confer different degrees of protection against infection than more severe outcomes or that VE is lower in close contact environments like households.

Vaccines can confer higher protection against severe outcomes like hospitalization than against outpatient visits. They may confer better protection against severe outcomes during years of close antigenic match between the circulating virus and the vaccine strain.

As of late November 2024, various flu shots have been approved for this year's flu season.

From an availability perspective, the CDC reported over 92 million flu shots had been distributed in the U.S., targeting the 2024-2025 flu season. These vaccines are generally available at health clinics and pharmacies throughout the U.S.

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Influenza vaccination prevents secondary infections

Reference:

Estimated Effectiveness of Influenza Vaccines in Preventing Secondary Infections in Households

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Tuesday, November 26, 2024 - 05:45

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from Pixabay

Hajj Pilgrim Vaccine Certification Capability Expanded

Donald Hackett — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 17:12:30 +0000

Reviewer:

Robert Carlson, MD

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) announced a new milestone digital health collaboration today to expand the Hajj health card initiative to support the roughly 3 million pilgrims who undertake the holy pilgrimage every year.

The card empowers pilgrims to provide authorized health providers access to accurate, up-to-date patient summary information and obtain personalized quality care.

For Hajj 1445, mandatory vaccinations included COVID-19, Influenza, and Meningococcal.

The Hajj health card is built on the WHO Global Digital Health Certification Network (GDHCN) public key infrastructure. It securely summarizes critical health information, such as medication needs, allergies, immunization status, and pre-existing conditions.

The GDHCN launched in 2023 and now includes over 80 WHO Member States that have established systems to verify the authenticity of health information between each other, leveraging a new global ISO standard.

The GDHCN's digital capabilities include verifying vaccinations, the International Patient Summary, vaccination certificates within and across borders, and certification of public health professionals through the WHO Academy.

The WHO and Saudi Arabia also agreed to collaborate further to improve and expand upon the successful pilot program for the Hajj health card. The expertise and support from the Saudi government and their digital implementing partner, LEAN, will enable increased data security and essential technical support to additional countries joining the Hajj health card program.

"This exciting partnership between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the WHO to expand the Hajj health card initiative enhances the safety and well-being of millions of pilgrims," said Dr. Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, in a press release on October 21, 2024.

In June 2023, the WHO endorsed the European Union digital certification system, which has been issued to over 2 billion people across 51 countries.

As of October 2024, the U.S. CDC recommends people visiting the KSA speak with a travel vaccines expert regarding options such as yellow fever, polio, and malaria.

Sub Title:

Hajj health card initiative to support three million pilgrims

References:

WHO global network expands digital health certification for Hajj pilgrims

Hajj Vaccinations 1445

CDC Travel Health Notice - KSA 2024

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Tuesday, October 22, 2024 - 05:30

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WHO October 2024