Flu season is upon us and there is much discussion and concern regarding the flu vaccine, and the new H1N1 vaccine. I thought for the next few weeks, I'll talk about a question or two that you might have regarding the vaccine. If I don't answer your question, please email me or make an appointment and we can talk further about it.
1) What is the risk of dying from the flu vaccine?
-Each year about 30,000 to 50,000 persons die as a result of influenza viral infection! That's about 1.6 people out of every 10,000.
- 147 pediatric deaths have been reported so far in 2009!
2) Who should get vaccinated?
- Children aged 6 months up to their 19th birthday
- Pregnant women
- People 50 years of age and older
- People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions, including ASTHMA, COPD or EMPHYSEMA
- People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities
- People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu, including: Health care workers
- Household contacts of persons at high risk for complications from the flu
- Household contacts and out of home caregivers of children less than 6 months of age (these children are too young to be vaccinated)
Bottom line, there are many ways to safely be vaccinated!
If you'd like to talk further about this, you can call me for an appointment- 718-384-6933.
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