Health officials say nearly everyone should get the one-dose flu vaccine

Doctor or Business man

It's flu-shot season already, and for the first time, health authorities are urging nearly everyone to get vaccinated. There is even a new high-dose version for people 65 or older.What a difference a year makes: Crowds lined up for hours for scarce shots during last fall's swine-flu pandemic, when infections peaked well before enough vaccine could be produced.This year, a record vaccine supply is expected -- an all-in-one inoculation that now promises protection against that swine flu strain plus two other kinds of influenza. 

Shipments began so early that drugstores are offering vaccinations amid their back-to-school sales.And this year, there's no more stopping to check if you're on a high-risk list: A yearly dose is recommended for virtually everyone except babies younger than 6months -- the shot isn't approved for tots that young -- and people with severe allergies to the eggs used to brew it."Influenza is serious, and anyone, including healthy people, can get the flu and spread the flu," said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Flu vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and those around you."

And even people who got vaccinated against both seasonal and H1N1 flu last year are encouraged to get this shot, as it protects against a different strain of the H3N2 influenza family that has cropped up, as well as last year's swine flu, part of the H1N1 family, and a Type B strain.Every year a different flu vaccine is brewed to match the constantly changing flu strains that circle the globe.

Here are some questions and answers about the flu:

Q: Will I need just one shot?

A: Most people will, but any children under 9 getting their first flu vaccine will need two, a month apart, to prime their immune systems.

Q: Who's at high risk from flu?

A: Young children, anyone 50 or older, anyone with chronic medical conditions such as asthma or heart disease, pregnant women. Also, health workers and caregivers of infants can infect the vulnerable unless vaccinated.

Q: When should vaccination start?

A: Chain pharmacies already have started vaccinating; protection will last all winter. It takes about two weeks to kick in, and flu typically starts circulating around November.

Q: Who can use the nasal spray vaccine?

A: FluMist is for healthy people 2 to 49, no pregnancy or underlying health conditions.

Q: Why is there a new high-dose version for seniors?

A: Your immune system weakens with age, so it doesn't respond as actively to a flu shot. Sanofi Pasteur's Fluzone High-Dose quadruples the standard dose for people 65 and older. Scientists will track if that translates into less illness. Until that proof's in, it's OK to choose either option.

Q: Why should I bother since fewer people than usual died last year?

A: Last year's U.S. toll: about 12,000 deaths, 60 million illnesses and 265,000 

hospitalizations. New CDC statistics last week suggest flu strain mortality varies widely, from 3,000 in an exceptionally mild year to 49,000 in a recent really bad one -- and it's impossible to predict how bad each year will be. Local health authorities agreed with the recommendation, saying it could only help keep the virus at bay."This is an attempt to minimize the spread of influenza across all age groups, and control something we really can control," said Yvonne Madlock, director of the Health Department. 

Dr. Helen Morrow, the department's chief medical officer, said this wasn't as big a change as it might seem, since authorities have expanded the groups recommended for the vaccine over the years. "It's really an incremental change. It has been available for other groups, but they haven't pushed it for them. They have slowly expanded over the years who they're recommending it for," she said. Madlock and Morrow expect plenty of the vaccine to be available, unless some health scare similar to last year's swine flu arises.

"I don't think one simple announcement by the CDC is going to open the floodgates," Madlock said. "But if there's a big push, we may see a demand for children." Madlock said the Health Department usually provides between 12,000 and 15,000 vaccinations a year, with the private sector providing as many as 10 times that number.

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