It's time again to get yearly flu vaccine El Paso Times, TX - An estimated 36000 people die from the flu each year. To help reduce these numbers, the public is asked to observe National Influenza Vaccination Week ...
Ask the Expert about flu WalesOnline, United Kingdom - A Influenza ? flu ? is a disease of the lungs and upper airways. Symptoms include fever, general muscle aches and pains, sneezing and the feeling of general ...
New record set in mass dispensing exercise Heber Springs Sun-Times, AR - 44 minutes ago The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) set a new record for its Mass Dispensing Flu Exercise and immunized 123172 Arkansans against influenza last week. ...
Dieters beware! Check your immunity Times of India, India - Dieters or individuals who intake calorie-restricted diets during flu season are more susceptible to influenza, says a new study. ...
Some Pets Escape Threat of Flu, Others At-Risk Zootoo.com, NJ - Nov 29, 2008 Delanvarre says he treats around five to 10 ferrets a week and is starting to see an increase in influenza cases. When diagnosing a ferret with the flu, ...
Pitt initiative may set model by foiling flu Monessen Valley Independent, PA - Nov 29, 2008 Last year, she allowed a Pittsburgh Influenza Prevention Program officer to test her daughter, Alice, 8, for the flu when she was home sick with a sore ...
Editorial: Parents, set a good example and get a flu shot Post-Bulletin, MN - 30 minutes ago If you get the flu, you'll probably be back at full steam after a few days of discomfort. But if you have children, we urge you to consider rolling up your...
Sound-off: Does the flu shot work? OnMilwaukee.com, Milwaukee - By OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writers Although it's recommended that adults and children at least six months old get flu shots every year to prevent influenza, ...
Don?t let flu season catch you off guard Atlanta Journal Constitution, USA - Nov 27, 2008 The days grow shorter, the temperature drops, footballs fly ?- and the flu strikes. Influenza is so common that it?s easy to dismiss this seasonal ...
CMC offers tips to prevent RSV infection Register-Herald, OH - With flu season just around the corner, many parents may overlook the possibility of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as a possible infection in their ...
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Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: flu + 0.20 + 2,310 Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/5/2008)
No compensation yet for Bird Flu victims The Statesman, India - MALDA, Aug 5: The Malda district administration at present is not in a position to compensate a sum of Rs 500 to each bird flu victim who handed over ...
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1:55 pm- FDA Approves Flu Vaccine KARK, Little Rock - While flu season is still months away, preparations are happening now. Today FDA officials announced the approval of this year's seasonal flu vaccine. ...
Protecting nation's most vulnerable from next flu pandemic Media Newswire (press release), NY - The research, Nu?o said, provides a road map for flu prevention and protection of residents in these facilities. Currently, the majority of nursing care ...
GPs refuse to treat bird flu patients NEWS.com.au, Australia - Aug 4, 2008 By Tory Shephard BIRD flu will hit Australia but some GPs will refuse to treat patients - preferring to keep themselves and their families safe, ...
Mikrometermessungen von Doppelsternen. VII - WD Heintz - Astronomy & Astrophysics Supplement Series, 1970 - adsabs.harvard.edu ... 328.8 276.0 340.2 229.7 298.4 0.51 0.42 1.26 0.20 0.55 0.76 ... o~; 186 A 1333 ~ 1196AB ~
1196 AC ~ 1197 flu 1123 ~ 1205 A ... 631 A 2142 A 2564 Cou 19?2310 ~ 1426 AB ...
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Slaying the flu: Influenza season is coming, and vaccination is your best defense
Raise the barricades — flu season is charging our way.
Fortunately, we have the time and the means to prepare our defense. Influenza vaccine will be available at some local clinics by around Oct. 15 for high-risk groups such as the elderly, and through November and December for everyone else.
And because the main flu season runs from January to early April, we have plenty of time to get ourselves immunized, say public-health officials. Protection takes effect about two weeks after you're vaccinated.
Doing so is particularly important, officials say, for the over-65 crowd and for anyone, adult or child, with a chronic condition such as diabetes, asthma, heart disease or HIV, who can be especially hard-hit by the flu
Where to get flu shots Public Health — Seattle & King County: The nine public-health clinics throughout Seattle and King County will begin giving flu shots Nov. 5. For locations and hours, call 206-296-4600. www.metrokc.gov/health. Early priority will go to at-risk groups.
Private health providers. Vaccine will be available through some doctors, clinics and stores beginning mid-October. Priority will go to at-risk individuals through October. Ask your doctor about availability.
Cost: $18 at public-health clinics in Seattle and King County; varies at private providers. Medicare pays for the vaccine for those covered by it.
For most people, flu means a few days to two weeks of misery with such symptoms as fever, headache, muscle aches, sore throat, cough, weakness and fatigue. But for those in high-risk groups, influenza can lead to pneumonia or even death. State health officials urge high-risk individuals to also get a pneumococcal vaccination if they've never had one.
With our nation under unusual stress following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, you might wonder if all of us — not only the high-risk folks — will be more susceptible to the flu or colds this season, since it's widely thought that our immune defenses suffer under stress.
Local authorities don't dismiss that idea but say hard proof is lacking and that it would be difficult to link any increase in the flu or colds to worry about terrorism.
"It's a very interesting question," said Dr. Ann Kimball, a professor of health services and epidemiology at the University of Washington. "Stress is hard to measure. I believe most (of the evidence) is anecdotal." Yet some UW research does suggest that stressed animals suffer more illness, she said.
In any case, it wouldn't hurt to take extra-good care of yourself, get plenty of sleep and eat healthfully during flu and cold season, said Dr. Margaret Dimond, a UW professor of behavioral nursing.
However, flu shots are the best defense against influenza, experts agree. (There's no vaccine for colds.) Studies of healthy young adults have shown the vaccine to be 70 to 90 percent effective in preventing illness, says the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In at-risk groups, "the vaccine is often less effective in preventing influenza infection but is still very effective in reducing the severity of illness and the risk of serious complications and death," says a CDC report.
This year's vaccine will arrive in stages because of delays in production, but officials say you'll still be able to be immunized well before the peak flu season hits.
A portion of the vaccine will be available locally by mid-October, and the remainder will arrive throughout the rest of October, November and December, said a spokesman for Public Health — Seattle & King County.
For that reason, health officials are asking doctors, clinics and other providers to give priority to at-risk patients this month. The health department's clinics won't start giving vaccinations until Nov. 5.
Only three pharmaceutical companies, instead of four, as before, are making this year's supply of vaccine, partly explaining the staggered arrival. However, delays are nothing new in the world of flu vaccines because of the special — even odd — complications involved in making them.
Each year, late in the flu season, experts from the federal government, universities and drug companies meet to plot out the next season's flu-vaccine needs. Their chief decision: which three — the technical limit — of the many strains of flu to include in the vaccine, a decision that varies from year to year. They base their decision on flu-surveillance records nationwide and worldwide.
They also decide how many doses of vaccine will be needed. This year's total: 79.7 million.
Next comes a step that might surprise many: cultivation of the vaccine inside chicken eggs, into which a vaccine culture is individually injected. But first, the drug companies must order millions of eggs, and chicken farmers must produce them.
Different flu strains can be fussy growers, further extending the production time.
Meanwhile, work continues on developing a flu vaccine in the form of a nasal spray. A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel in July decided not to approve the product FluMist, saying it wanted to see more safety evidence.
The company, Aviron, based in California, said it would continue to supply data on FluMist's safety to the FDA, but would not be able to have the product to market in time for the upcoming flu season.
