Main nationwide specialists warned of a probably extreme influenza (flu) season forward on the 2022 Nationwide Basis for Infectious Ailments (NFID) Influenza/Pneumococcal Illness Information Convention, emphasizing the vital significance of annual flu vaccination for everybody age 6 months and older. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, and different panelists targeted on the significance of vaccination towards flu and pneumococcal illness, notably amongst older adults and people with persistent well being situations who’re at larger danger for associated issues.
Walensky supplied vaccine protection information from the 2021-2022 US flu season, and NFID President Patricia (Patsy) A. Stinchfield, RN, MS, CPNP, shared outcomes from a brand new NFID nationwide survey of US adults on vaccination attitudes and behaviors, together with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussions underscored the necessity to get an annual flu vaccine and to remain updated on all really helpful vaccinations, together with these for pneumococcal illness and COVID-19.
The NFID nationwide survey discovered that solely 49% of US adults plan to get a flu vaccine throughout the 2022-2023 flu season. Amongst adults age 65 years and older, and people with an underlying persistent well being situation who’re at larger danger for pneumococcal illness, lower than a 3rd (29%) report that they’ve been suggested to get vaccinated towards pneumococcal illness. As well as, solely 32% of US adults are extraordinarily/very assured concerning the security of receiving flu and COVID-19 vaccines on the identical time—underlining the significance of healthcare professionals speaking to their sufferers concerning the security of vaccine coadministration.
Along with Walensky and Stinchfield, professional panelists included: Tamika C. Auguste, MD, ACOG fellow and chair of Girls’s and Infants’ Providers at MedStar Washington Hospital Heart; NFID Medical Director William Schaffner, MD; and Jeb S. Teichman, MD, retired pediatrician and healthcare govt who misplaced his 29-year-old unvaccinated son Brent to flu in 2019. Alicia M. Fry, MD, MPH, chief of the CDC Epidemiology and Prevention Department, Influenza Division, was readily available to supply further experience.
Flu is not only a foul chilly. In actual fact, the phrases ‘simply’ and ‘flu’ shouldn’t be in the identical sentence.
NFID President Patricia (Patsy) A. Stinchfield, RN, MS, CPNP
Highlights of the intensive nationwide media protection embrace the next:
Solely 49% of US Adults Plan to Get Flu Vaccine Amid Risk of Extreme Season, Survey Finds: Whereas 69% of US adults agree flu vaccination is the very best safety measure towards flu-related deaths, solely 49% are planning on getting vaccinated this season, a brand new NFID survey discovered. Supply: Becker’s Hospital Evaluate
Nervous about Risk of a Powerful Flu Season, Officers Urge Vaccinations: “Flu has the potential to hit us onerous this yr,” stated Dr. William Schaffner, NFID medical director. “On a constructive notice, we have now extra preventive behaviors in our toolbox than we did earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re extra accustomed to sporting masks and staying residence when sick.” Supply: Boston Globe
Well being Officers Warn Extreme Flu Season is Coming, Urge Vaccinations: Lower than half of US adults plan to get a flu vaccine this yr and only a third really feel protected getting a flu vaccine and COVID-19 vaccine on the identical time, in response to an NFID survey. Supply: CBS Night Information
Well being Officers Urge Flu Vaccination, However Few Adults Plan to Get Vaccinated: “Flu season can also be a good time to be sure you are updated on pneumococcal vaccination as a result of pneumococcal illness is usually a critical complication of flu,” stated NFID President Patricia A. Stinchfield, RN, MS, CPNP. Supply: Contagion Reside
CDC Warns of Potential Extreme Flu Season Forward: Australia is experiencing its worst flu season in 5 years, and that doesn’t bode properly for the USA, federal well being officers warned. “‘We don’t know precisely what to anticipate this flu season, however we do know the easiest way to forestall flu is to get vaccinated every year, ideally earlier than flu exercise begins in your group,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky stated throughout a media briefing on the upcoming flu season … “Even when the flu vaccine is just not an ideal match, it supplies some safety towards extreme illness and issues of influenza,” stated NFID Medical Director Dr. William Schaffner. “The flu vaccine is protected throughout being pregnant and can even assist defend the newborn,” stated Dr. Tamika Auguste. Supply: HealthDay
CDC Needs You to Get a Flu Vaccine Earlier than What May Be a Unhealthy Flu Season: NFID and CDC are urging folks to get flu vaccines. Each teams say the flu is prone to come again after a two-year hiatus, and it might be a foul yr. Supply: NPR
Consultants Categorical Concern About Decrease Charges of Flu, Pneumococcal Vaccination: Regardless of anticipating a stronger flu season in 2022 and 2023, new survey outcomes from the Nationwide Basis for Infectious Ailments (NFID) present that simply 49% of adults in the USA plan to get their flu vaccine this season. All through the briefing, the entire panelists emphasised the significance of vaccination efforts and stated that clinicians ought to strongly urge all eligible sufferers to obtain their flu vaccines. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, additionally introduced new preferential suggestions for people aged 65 years and older, who ought to ideally obtain 1 of three accessible larger dose, adjuvanted flu vaccines, which information have proven might be simpler on this inhabitants. Nevertheless, she added that if these are unavailable, older adults ought to nonetheless obtain any age-appropriate flu vaccine. Supply: Pharmacy Instances
Dying of Son Reinforces Flu Vaccination Message: Brent had no well being situations to place him at larger danger for issues of the flu. Brent deliberate to get a flu vaccine however had not achieved it but. “In his obituary, we requested that in lieu of flowers or donations, folks go get their flu vaccine,” his father stated. “I’m right here right this moment to place a face on influenza,” Jeb Teichman, MD, stated at a information briefing on stopping flu and pneumococcal illness, sponsored by NFID. Supply: WebMD
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