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The Flu (Shot) and You
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Comments (3)The other day I realized that summer was over when I noticed my local drugstore’s windows piled high with holiday merchandise. Yes, it’s that time again. The weather is changing and the days are getting shorter. Leaves are turning red and orange and falling, accumulating in annoying blankets on the front lawn. And, lest we forget, the onslaught of TV announcements urging us to get our flu shots has begun. Since a wave of unreliable studies on the efficacy of the flu vaccine and its shortage in 2005, we’ve faced another conundrum. Just how risky is the flu, and how effective is the vaccine?
- Not effective in preventing flu-like illness
- Not effective in preventing pneumonia
- 26% effective in preventing hospital admission for flu and pneumonia
Older Americans might do best to keep their risk in perspective. But shots are free from Medicare, which recommends that the best time to vaccinate is between October and mid-November. I personally have never taken the vaccine and I consider myself lucky to have been fairly healthy. But I’m glad that the vaccine has been available to my older relatives when they needed it.
Best wishes for a flu-free fall!
Posted in: Assisted Living, Nursing Care, Senior Care News, Skilled Nursing
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How important is the timing? I’m out of the country until December.
Older adults and people with chronic illnesses may still benefit from the flu vaccine even after mid-November. Pneumococcal shots can be given with the flu shot or at any time of year.
[…] Assuming you made it through the holidays without contracting the flu from Aunt Bea or Cousin Alex, I’m here to remind you that you’re not quite out of the woods. That said, your conscientious efforts to remain healthy and avoid viruses this season—perhaps by receiving a flu shot—need not be in vain! Enter noroviruses, a nasty little group of viruses that can cause the highly loathed stomach flu, or, more scientifically speaking, acute gastroenteritis. Norovirus illness is not related to the flu, or influenza, and is therefore immune to the flu shot. And forget antibiotics, as they only work to battle bacteria—not viruses. There is no cure; just prevention. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it’s estimated that in a typical year in the US, 23 million people are infected with some type of norovirus, some 50,000 of whom are hospitalized, and 300 of whom die. Norovirus cases are more dangerous in skilled nursing homes and hospitals, where elderly patients in frail health can become extremely ill. In fact, the virus has struck many nursing homes throughout the country in the past several months. Last week a nursing home administrator turned away a Gilbert Guide surveyor (on assignment to update facility information for our Bay Area edition) as several of her residents were sick with a norovirus and under quarantine. The symptoms of norovirus are similar to that of the stomach flu, typically resulting in a one or two-day bout of diarrhea and vomiting, usually accompanied by headache, fever, muscle aches and fatigue. In addition, the virus is extremely contagious, spreading easily from food or liquid that has been handled by someone carrying the bug. People with a norovirus are contagious “from the moment they begin feeling ill to at least three days after recovery” according to the CDC. But the virus may remain in the gastrointestinal tract up to three weeks after illness! […]