MU prepares for flu season with new CDC vaccinations
The CDC recommends that all students get vaccinated.
Published Sept. 21, 2010
This year’s flu season is set to begin in October, and this year marks the first time the U.S. Centers for Disease Control is recommending a flu vaccine for everyone over six months of age.
“We have experience with the safety of the flu vaccine and the ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immune Practices) felt that it was appropriate to recommend universal vaccination for everyone over the age of six months,” CDC spokesman Jeff Dimond said.
He said the CDC had previously prioritized certain population groups — pregnant women, children, those with compromised immune systems and respiratory issues and healthcare workers — for vaccination, but is now recommending vaccinations for all.
This year’s flu vaccine now protects against three types of influenza including H1N1, H3N2 and Influenza B.
“We have enough vaccine this year that we can offer it to everyone,” Dimond said. “We knew there would be a shortage early in the flu season (so) we prioritized. We don’t have that problem this year.”
Last year’s seasonal flu vaccine did not protect against H1N1, said Genalee Alexander, a spokeswoman for the Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services. Last year, there was a separate vaccine for H1N1.
“We’re pleased with the CDC's recommendation that everyone over six months of age be vaccinated,” Alexander said. “We are confident that we will have enough vaccine for everyone that comes in looking for it.”
Alexander said the county typically receives anywhere between 7,000 and 8,000 doses, but the amount varies each year.
She said the county ran out of flu vaccine last year but said last year was different than any other flu season they had seen in many years.
“There were people who have never gotten a flu shot and got it last year,” she said.
MU Student Health Center Director Susan Even said she hopes that more students will get the flu vaccine this year after last year’s H1N1 epidemic. Flu vaccines cost $25 for students.
“I know that when I’ve started offering it to the patients I’m seeing, a lot of the students are happy that they can get it now,” Even said.
She said the Student Health Center saw a large number of flu cases last year.
“If they didn’t have complications that required evaluation, we would recommend treatment over the phone,” she said. “We definitely had a high number of students last fall through December. It kind of tapered off in January and February. That is just (what the) pattern was because of H1N1 that was an epidemic across the country.”
Even said the Student Health Center would also have more flu vaccine on hand for this year.
“We’re already starting to offer it to students when they come into visits now,” she said. “The more students that get the flu vaccine, probably the greater the impact it will be preventing (it) to spread. It probably provides more protection for the whole community.”