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Nov 6, 2008 10:50 pm US/Central
Good Question: Why Should We Get The Flu Shot?
(WCCO)
It's the time of year where visiting nurses set up shop in our workplaces and flu shots are offered at the grocery store. But how does the influenza vaccine make all of us better?
"If you get enough folks vaccinated in the herd, then those who don't get vaccinated won't have exposure to the illness," said Dr. Ed Ehlinger, Director of Boynton Health Services at the University of Minnesota.
It was Ehrlinger's idea to try to break the world record for flu shots given in a single day. On October 28, 2008, University staffers issued 11,538 shots at four campus locations.
"We're concerned because there are 39,000 people who die of influenza in the United States each year. That's a huge impact on our society," said Ehlinger.
According to Ehlinger, the theory behind the effort to increase flu vaccine usage is called "herd immunity." The more people vaccinated, the more likely that the virus won't spread rapidly and cause a pandemic.
"But you can't protect the herd unless you protect the individual," said Ehlinger. "Some of the studies show the best way to protect elderly is by vaccinating school kids. So kids don't take influenza into community and spread it to their family who then visit the nursing homes."
In years past, the public health focus on flu shots has been directed to the high risk categories: the elderly and very young. But that is changing.
"It's the school children," said Ehlinger. "They're the ones spreading it out through the rest of society."
"If we have good access to vaccine, I believe the recommendation will be coming out shortly that everyone should get immunized," he added.
Right now 40 to 50 percent of college kids get vaccinated against influenza, according to Ehlinger. He'd like to see that be closer to 80 percent.
He said the fear that people will get the flu from the vaccine is misguided, as the vaccine is made up of dead virus. However, you can still get the flu, even if you've been vaccinated.
"No vaccine is 100 percent effective… but it is 80 percent or more effective," said Ehlinger.
"If everyone were vaccinated, we'd probably cut the numbers [of deaths] dramatically. We'd probably cut it by two-thirds," estimated Ehlinger.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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