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It's flu
vaccine
time and
seniors
need
revved-up
shots
By
LAURAN
NEERGAARD
apnews.com
Doctors
have a
message
for
vaccine-weary
Americans:
Don’t
skip
your flu
shot
this
fall --
and
seniors,
ask for
a
special
extra-strength
kind.
After
flu hit
historically
low
levels
during
the
COVID-19
pandemic,
it may
be
poised
for a
comeback.
The main
clue: A
nasty
flu
season
just
ended in
Australia.
While
there’s
no way
to
predict
if the
U.S.
will be
as
hard-hit,
“last
year we
were
going
into flu
season
not
knowing
if flu
was
around
or not.
This
year we
know flu
is
back,”
said
influenza
specialist
Richard
Webby of
St. Jude
Children’s
Research
Hospital
in
Memphis.
Annual
flu
shots
are
recommended
starting
with
6-month-old
babies.
Flu is
most
dangerous
for
people
65 and
older,
young
children,
pregnant
women
and
people
with
certain
health
problems
including
heart
and lung
diseases.
Here’s
what to
know:
REVVED-UP
SHOTS
FOR
SENIORS
As
people
get
older,
their
immune
system
doesn’t
respond
as
strongly
to
standard
flu
vaccination.
This
year,
people
65 or
older
are
urged to
get a
special
kind for
extra
protection.
There
are
three
choices.
Fluzone
High-Dose
and
Flublok
each
contain
higher
doses of
the main
anti-flu
ingredient.
The
other
option
is Fluad
Adjuvanted,
which
has a
regular
dosage
but
contains
a
special
ingredient
that
helps
boost
people’s
immune
response.
Seniors
can ask
what
kind
their
doctor
carries.
But most
flu
vaccinations
are
given in
pharmacies
and some
drugstore
websites,
such as
CVS,
automatically
direct
people
to
locations
offering
senior
doses if
their
birth
date
shows
they
qualify.
Webby
advised
making
sure
older
relatives
and
friends
know
about
the
senior
shots,
in case
they’re
not told
when
they
seek
vaccination.
“They
should
at least
ask, ‘Do
you have
the
shots
that are
better
for
me?’”
Webby
said.
“The
bottom
line is
they do
work
better”
for this
age
group.
If a
location
is out
of
senior-targeted
doses,
it’s
better
to get a
standard
flu shot
than to
skip
vaccination,
according
to the
Centers
for
Disease
Control
and
Prevention.
All flu
vaccines
in the
U.S. --
including
types
for
people
younger
than 65
-- are
“quadrivalent,”
meaning
they
guard
against
four
different
flu
strains.
Younger
people
have
choices,
too,
including
shots
for
those
with egg
allergies
and a
nasal
spray
version
called
FluMist.
Flu shot
time,
seniors
need
revved-up
shots
WHY FLU
EXPERTS
ARE ON
ALERT
Australia
just
experienced
its
worst
flu
season
in five
years
and what
happens
in
Southern
Hemisphere
winters
often
foreshadows
what
Northern
countries
can
expect,
said Dr.
Andrew
Pekosz
of the
Johns
Hopkins
Bloomberg
School
of
Public
Health.
And
people
have
largely
abandoned
masking
and
distancing
precautions
that
earlier
in the
pandemic
also
helped
prevent
the
spread
of other
respiratory
bugs
like the
flu.
“This
poses a
risk
especially
to young
children
who may
not have
had much
if any
previous
exposure
to
influenza
viruses
prior to
this
season,”
Pekosz
added.
“This
year we
will
have a
true
influenza
season
like we
saw
before
the
pandemic,”
said Dr.
Jason
Newland,
a
pediatric
infectious
disease
specialist
at
Washington
University
in St.
Louis.
He said
children’s
hospitals
already
are
seeing
an
unusual
early
spike in
other
respiratory
infections
including
RSV, or
respiratory
syncytial
virus,
and
worries
flu
likewise
will
strike
earlier
than
usual —
like it
did in
Australia.
The CDC
advises
a flu
vaccine
by the
end of
October
but says
they can
be given
any time
during
flu
season.
It takes
about
two
weeks
for
protection
to set
in.
The U.S.
expects
173
million
to 183
million
doses
this
year.
And yes,
you can
get a
flu shot
and an
updated
COVID-19
booster
at the
same
time —
one in
each arm
to
lessen
soreness.
FLU
SHOTS OF
THE
FUTURE
The
companies
that
make the
two most
widely
used
COVID-19
vaccines
now are
testing
flu
shots
made
with the
same
technology.
One
reason:
When
influenza
mutates,
the
recipes
of
so-called
mRNA
vaccines
could be
updated
more
quickly
than
today’s
flu
shots,
most of
which
are made
by
growing
influenza
virus in
chicken
eggs.
Pfizer
and its
partner
BioNTech
are
recruiting
25,000
healthy
U.S.
adults
to
receive
either
its
experimental
influenza
shot or
a
regular
kind, to
see how
effective
the new
approach
proves
this flu
season.
Rival
Moderna
tested
its
version
in about
6,000
people
in
Australia,
Argentina
and
other
countries
during
the
Southern
Hemisphere’s
flu
season
and is
awaiting
results.
___
The
Associated
Press
Health
and
Science
Department
receives
support
from the
Howard
Hughes
Medical
Institute’s
Department
of
Science
Education.
The AP
is
solely
responsible
for all
content.
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