Flu Vaccine: Who Needs it?
Many people think that flu is nothing more than a cold gone real bad. That is not the truth because unlike common cold, flu is a very serious illness.
In fact, there are some groups of people for whom flu can prove to be fatal. Physicians have confirmed that in recent times the number of flu cases being detected in clinics has gone up. In the face of this it has become clear that flu vaccination is a good thing and should be administered as early as possible.
For example, people over the age of 30 are able to move around and do not suffer much if they are administered the flu vaccine. This is in sharp contrast to younger people (over 30) who do not receive a vaccination and suffer from body pains, high fever, and are often bed ridden for more than a week. The worst part of flu is that you are unable to eat properly thus compounding your weakness.
Without flu vaccination, the patients are likely to feel very bad not only physically but emotional and mentally as well. This condition can last for up to two weeks leaving behind a much-weakened individual. It should be noted that during follow-up these patients were quick to ask as to when they could get their flu shot because no one would want to go through that nightmare experience again.
Seasonal flu can be a very devastating time for someone in good condition. For the elderly or the infirmed, flu can even cause death. There are several categories of people that need to be vaccinated against flu.
These include people in the health care industry, anyone over 50 years of age, children between 6 months and 5 years, pregnant women, and anyone who is residing long-term in a nursing home or other healthcare facility.
Children between 6 months and 18 years of age that are on aspirin therapy also need flu vaccine. Anyone suffering from a chronic condition such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and so on should also be vaccinated. Anyone suffering from immune system disorders or respiratory disorders also needs flu vaccine. The same applies to anyone living with any of the above category of individuals.
Note that the flu vaccine is not a guarantee that you will never catch flu. What the vaccine will do is to lower the problems that arise once you catch it. Flu patients tend to be bedridden and can lose on work time for weeks.
The vaccine can cut down this time to a couple of days. If you are afraid of needles then you can get the nasal spray form of the flu vaccine. A flu vaccine can lower the chances of getting flu by as much as 92%.
Do not use a flu vaccine on yourself if you have had a bad reaction to the same shot or spray earlier, if you have an allergy to eggs, or if you have had Guillain-Barre syndrome in the 6 weeks since your last flu shot.
Paul Cass
www.HealthAndBeautyInformation.comwww.ALifeAfterAStroke.com
AP - Swiss drugmaker Novartis has begun injecting its swine flu vaccine into people in the company's first human tests, a spokesman said Wednesday. The vaccine is being tested in a yearlong trial of 6,000 people of all ages in Britain, Germany and the United States, Novartis spokesman Eric Althoff told The Associated Press, adding that the vaccine will likely be on the market before the trial finishes.
