OT:Read this before you get a flu shot

[Guest guest]

Read this before you get a flu shot

By Clachar

CNN - USA

Health.com

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/10/31/flu.hm.flu.shot/

(Health.com) -- Nobody wants to get the flu this year. The dreaded,

head-pounding, body-aching, feverish, nauseating, cough-fest packs

equal parts misery and inconvenience.

Only about a third of Americans get the flu vaccine each year.

But nobody wants to get a shot that might be unnecessary or

ineffective, either. So, while some experts worry aloud about a 1918-

like flu pandemic, most of us -- well aware of the risks of getting

the virus, from being sneezed on at the office to living with a

toddler -- are not lining up to get the shot. In fact, only a third

of us even bother.

The truth is, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention and most mainstream docs are pushing the flu vaccine, the

latest science suggests it just doesn't work very well. So, should

you or shouldn't you? Here, the answers to your flu-shot questions.

How effective is the shot?

The flu shot is only as good as the educated guesses of a group of

vaccine researchers across the globe. Every February, they try to

predict which flu viruses will work their evil during the next fall

and winter. Their three top choices are put into the vaccine. The

CDC claims that vaccine will be 70 to 90 percent effective against

just those strains of flu.

" We hope that these smart scientists who get together with the

vaccine producers make the right call, " says immunologist Dr. Randy

Horwitz, medical director of the University of Arizona's School for

Integrative Medicine. But sometimes they don't, partly because the

virus mutates from year to year. In 2003-2004, the CDC admitted that

it completely missed the virulent Fujian flu strain that hit hard

that winter.

In the 2005-2006 season, in which the CDC said the match between the

vaccine and the virus was good, a strain not included in the vaccine

hospitalized 31 children in Houston. Also, two recent studies found

that the shot may be less effective for people with weaker immune

systems, so its effectiveness can depend on how well your body

responds to the vaccine.

Will it make me sick?

Even if it doesn't work, it can't hurt to get the shot, right? For

most people that may be true. Millions of vaccinations are

administered each year, but since 1991, only about 26,000 adverse

events have been reported to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting

System (VAERS). Most of those were fever, rash, headaches, hives,

or, very rarely, seizures. The most common side effect is swelling

at the injection site on your arm.

And any bad reactions, thought to be your immune system's way of

gearing up after the exposure to dead virus particles in the

vaccine, typically ease after a few days. (Manufacturers are

required to verify that each batch of vaccine used for injections

contains no live flu viruses. But people with egg allergies

shouldn't get the shot because the vaccine is manufactured using

eggs.)

Still, some researchers aren't comfortable with the safety data. Dr.

Tom Jefferson, coordinator of the Vaccines Field for the Cochrane

Collaborative, an international group of researchers, reported last

year in the British Medical Journal that he had found only six

limited studies on safety after reviewing 206 studies on the

vaccine. That, he says, is a surprisingly small number considering

the widespread use of the vaccine and its mixed bag of ingredients.

Osteopathic doctor Sherri Tenpenny, author of " Vaccines -- The

Risks, the Benefits, the Choices: A Resource Guide for Parents, "

cautions that only small populations and short-term info are used to

measure safety. Adverse-events reporting, for instance, is done for

only 2 to 14 days after an injection and it's voluntary.

Here's another concern: Except for about 8 million doses, the flu

vaccine contains a preservative, thimerosal, that is 49 percent

mercury, a known neurotoxin. While the latest research seems to

disprove any link between thimerosal vaccines and autism in

children, the debate still rages, and several states have prohibited

the use of thimerosal in children's vaccines. Yet supplies of

mercury-free flu vaccine are limited due to manufacturing capacity.

If you want to avoid thimerosal, you may have to make a special

request to your health-care provider in advance.

Is the nasal vaccine better than the typical shot?

Hard to say, but the latest news on FluMist may leave you skeptical.

Earlier this year the manufacturer, MedImmune, had trouble getting

an OK to market the vaccine for kids under 5. The U.S. Food and Drug

Administration found ongoing problems at the company's plant in

Great Britain -- bacterial and fungal contamination as well as the

use of a disinfectant banned by the European Union. Eventually, the

company fixed the problems and, in September, received approval for

the under-5 set.

Unlike the shot, this vaccine contains live but weakened viruses.

When inhaled, these viruses can survive in the nose and throat long

enough to trigger the immune reaction that fights off flu, but will

be killed by the higher temperatures in your lower respiratory

tract. The CDC does not believe these viruses can mutate into a form

that can survive. The nasal vaccine is only approved for healthy

children ages 2 to 17 and adults ages 18 to 49 who aren't pregnant.

(Pregnant women and people with chronic conditions can get the

shot.) The nasal vaccine does not have any thimerosal. Federal

guidelines on who should -- and shouldn't -- get vaccinated »

Who really needs a shot?

The flu kills. Each year nearly 40,000 people in the United States

die from flu complications like pneumonia and heart failure. And

more than 200,000 are hospitalized due to flu. The people at highest

risk have lowered defenses: children ages 6 months to 5 years,

pregnant women, people older than 50, and anyone with a chronic

condition like asthma, diabetes, and heart or blood disorders. The

CDC recommends they all get vaccinated.

But what if you're healthy and are not in a high-risk group? Should

you get vaccinated as a charitable act to help prevent spreading the

flu to those who're less healthy? Or to prevent a few weeks of

potential misery? If you live or work with high-risk people, maybe

you'll decide that the shot is worth it.

You can also gauge your other lifestyle risks. We all know that

spending a lot of time in busy public places -- like the subway or a

gym -- boosts your risk of catching the flu. Anyone walking around

with the virus can breathe it in your direction. And kids in day

care or school are more likely to be exposed to the flu than anyone

else. Just the simple act of living with them heightens your risk.

Is there a shot shortage?

You may remember the panic over vaccine shortages in 2004, when a

major flu-vaccine manufacturer, Chiron, was unable to deliver 50

million doses of the vaccine due to bacterial contamination. Some

experts speculate that the shortage encouraged people to stay away

from the vaccine in the following years.

But Curtis , spokesperson for the CDC, says a shortage is

unlikely this year. Manufacturers are promising a record number of

doses (132 million), although they won't all be available at once.

When's the best time of year to get vaccinated?

Now, before the flu season really kicks in from December to March,

experts say. It takes about two weeks after vaccination for your

body to build up enough antibodies to protect you.

Aren't I more likely to catch a cold than the flu?

For sure. There are more than 200 cold viruses, they mutate a lot,

and virtually everybody comes down with one from time to time.

Although the worst colds might feel like the flu, lots of people say

they have the flu when they really don't. Two years ago, only 13

percent of people who were tested after reporting flu-like illnesses

actually had the real thing.

Should I really worry about a flu epidemic?

Nobody really knows. The 1918 pandemic seemed to start like any old

flu season, but within a few months the virus had mutated into a

monster that killed healthy adults within a day. Like most flus, it

may have originated in birds. That's why experts worry that today's

avian flu may turn into a global epidemic. But, unlike the 1918

strain, it hasn't spread readily from person to person. And while

the regular flu shot won't protect you against avian flu (it's a

different strain of the virus), consider this: Researchers are

finding that millions of people have been infected with avian flu

without suffering serious complications.