Tips to avoid getting the flu, latest on vaccine’s effectiveness this season

The flu vaccine is still considered the first line of defense against the disease. Additionally, healthcare officials advise people practice the”4 C’s” which have proven to be effective in preventing the spread of the flu virus.

1. CLEAN – Wash your hands often. Scrub your hands for at least 30 seconds with soap and water, or use an alcohol-based hand cleaner.

2. COVER – Cover your cough. Use a tissue to cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze. Don’t have a tissue? The crook of your elbow will do.
3. CONTAIN – Contain germs by steering clear of others who are sick. If you do get sick, stay home until you’re well again, so you don’t spread more germs.
4. CALL – Call or see your doctor if you or your child has a fever of greater than 100 degrees.

In addition to this advice, the City of El Paso Health Department’s Immunization program is also offering flu vaccines to children ages six months to 18-years-old who are covered by Medicaid (ALL Texas Medicaid plans accepted), are underinsured, or do not have health insurance, and who meet eligibility requirements. The cost is $10.00. The Department stocks only a limited amount of adult vaccine and the cost is $40.00. Clients are urged to contact the clinic of their choice to verify availability of both the children’s and adult vaccines prior to their visit. Residents may also consult with their primary care provider or a local retail outlet of their choice in order to obtain the adult vaccine. For more information contact the appointments desk at (915) 212-6555.

El Paso’s health department’s epidemiology program reports 909 cases of the flu so far this season compared to 542 cases reported at this time last year.

Health officials point out that the beginning of any flu season varies from year to year, and this flu season began in earnest, weeks earlier than last flu season.

The flu season can last from October to May but it generally peaks during January or February.

“We continue to see a significant increase in the number of cases we record on a weekly basis,” said Fernando Gonzalez, Lead Epidemiologist. “We need to make sure that our seniors, children, and those with chronic health conditions protect themselves.”

Flu Vaccine Not Working Well

This year’s flu vaccine is doing a pretty crummy job. It’s only 23 percent effective, which is one of the worst performances in the last decade, according to a government study released Thursday.

The poor showing is primarily because the vaccine doesn’t include the bug that is making most people sick, health officials say. In the last decade, flu vaccines at their best were 50 to 60 percent effective.

“This is an uncommon year,” said Dr. Alicia Fry, a flu vaccine expert at the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who was involved in the study.

The findings are not surprising, though. In early December, CDC officials warned the vaccine probably wouldn’t work very well because it isn’t well matched to a strain that’s been spreading widely.

Each year, the flu vaccine is reformulated, based on experts’ best guess at which three or four strains will be the biggest problem. Those decisions are usually made in February, months before the flu season, to give companies that make flu shots and nasal spray vaccine enough time to make enough doses.

But this year’s formula didn’t include the strain of H3N2 virus that ended up causing about two-thirds of the illnesses this winter. And that strain tends to cause more hospitalizations and deaths, particularly in the elderly, making this a particularly bad winter to have a problem with the flu vaccine.

Indeed, the flu season is shaping up to a bad one. Health officials are comparing it to the nasty flu season two winters ago, and this one may prove to be worse. Hospitalization rates in people 65 and older are higher than they were at the same point in the 2012-2013 season, according to CDC data.

The results from the preliminary study weren’t large enough to show how the vaccine is working in each age group, although flu vaccines traditionally don’t work as well in elderly people.

The study involved 2,321 people in five states – Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin and Washington – who had respiratory illnesses from November to early January. The researchers said vaccinated people had a 23 percent lower chance of winding up at the doctor with the flu.

The CDC began regularly tracking the effectiveness of the flu vaccine during the 2004-2005 season, but the results for the first few years were from smaller studies and are considered less reliable. Effectiveness has ranged from 47 percent to 60 percent in the last half-dozen years, when studies involved larger numbers of patients.

It’s only in those last several years that “we really understand what’s really going on” with the flu vaccines, said Dr. Arnold Monto, a University of Michigan flu expert and another author of the study.

CDC officials say people should still get a flu shot this year. Recently, the flu season in the U.S. has peaked in January or February, but people can continue to get sick for months. And they could get infected by the flu strains that were included in this year’s version.

The vaccine’s disappointing performance affected the family of a woman who worked on the flu study at the Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin. Kelly Mathews, of Wisconsin Rapids, said she makes sure her three sons get flu shots each year – especially after they got very sick in 2009, when swine flu was raging and vaccine was scarce.

But her 7-year-old son, Corbyn Lemper, developed a lasting cough and was diagnosed with the flu just before New Year’s. Mathews said the flu shot might have at least kept him from becoming really sick.

“It’s better to get it,” she said.