Flu vaccination – make that decision

South Africans are urged to get vaccinated every year to prevent ill health and loss of productivity.

Why prevent flu?

Flu is a serious illness that can have severe symptoms and secondary complications that may lead to death. In 2015, the US reported more than 30 children dead after one of their worst flu seasons in history.

The general recovery period is three to four days of bed rest, and two or more weeks for full recovery. Flu is responsible for 10 to 12% of all absenteeism from the workplace worldwide, having a dire effect on a country’s economy.

You can get the flu simply by touching a surface like a telephone, keyboard or doorknob that has been contaminated by another person and then touching your nose or mouth. Breathing the air where a contagious person has been, for example in a lift, may also pass the flu on to you. It therefore makes good sense to prevent flu in the first place.

How to prevent flu

At work and in the home, do the following:

• • Wipe the phone and keyboard with disinfectant wipes before working at another person’s workstation

• • Keep the bathroom and kitchen clean

• • Wash the bedding regularly

• • Remove trash and garbage regularly, especially if someone in the family or office has become ill

• • Make sure that fresh air circulates in all rooms

• • Keep air conditioner filters clean

• • Avoid crowded places during the flu season

• • Work on strengthening your immune system by eating healthily and exercising regularly throughout the year.

The best and most effective way of preventing flu, however, is to get an annual flu vaccination. Get everyone in your family vaccinated so that you don’t pass the virus on to one another. Vaccination prevents flu in up to 70% of people and prevents hospitalisation in 80% of cases. The best time to get a flu vaccination is from March till the end of May, but it is never too late to get the injection.

What’s in the vaccination?

The flu vaccination contains inactivated (dead) viruses. The injection usually contains vaccine against the three most prevalent virus strains in a specific year, making it imperative that you get a vaccine every year. Traces of egg protein and thimerosal, used in the manufacturing process, are also present in the vaccine. In some vaccines, antibiotics and vitamins have been added.

An injection of 0.5 ml is usually given in the upper arm. Adults need one injection a year but children under nine years of age who are having the flu vaccine for the first time may need two injections, one month apart.

Possible side-effects

The vaccine is injected into the body to stimulate the normal immune system to produce antibodies that are directed against the flu virus. Vaccinating against flu is safe (because the viruses in the vaccine have been inactivated); you cannot get flu from the flu vaccine. However, it takes about two weeks before enough antibodies have formed. Therefore, take care not to contract flu or other upper respiratory infections during this period.

As with any other medicine, the vaccine may cause severe allergic reactions, but these are very rare. If the following symptoms develop within a few minutes to a few hours after vaccination, you may be allergic to the vaccine and should consult a doctor: breathing problems, hoarseness or wheezing, hives, paleness, weakness, a fast heartbeat or dizziness. While most people do not have any reactions to thimerosal used in the vaccine, it has been known to cause a local, delayed type of hypersensitive reaction in some. It is, however, more likely that people who are allergic to eggs will show an allergic reaction due to the egg protein used as the growth medium.

Vaccination with the “swine flu” vaccine in 1976 was associated with getting Guillian-Barré syndrome (GBS). The symptoms are fever, nerve damage and muscle weakness. Studies have shown that the chance of getting GBS as a result of the flu vaccine is very slim, approximately one in one million.

Who should be vaccinated against flu?

• • Anyone wishing to reduce the chance of becoming ill with the flu, including travellers

• • Adults of 65 years and older. Their immune systems may not be as effective as those in younger people and they are more at risk of developing serious complications from the virus

• • Those over six months of age who suffer from medical conditions such as chronic lung (asthma) or heart diseases, diabetes, immune system problems or chronic kidney failure

• • Residents, caregivers and workers in nursing homes, chronic care and rehabilitation centres, medical personnel in hospitals and clinics and anyone who may infect high-risk people such as babies and the elderly

• • Anyone working with the public (e.g. teachers, church workers, sales people) and anyone providing essential community services

• • Women in their second or third trimester of pregnancy during the flu season

• • Persons six months to 18 years of age on long-term aspirin therapy (to reduce the risk of Reye syndrome)

• • Healthy children from six to 23 months of age

• • People working or living in crowded conditions (e.g. dormitories)

• • Athletes, sportsmen and sportswomen to prevent the risk of inflammation of the heart muscle.

Who shouldn’t be vaccinated against flu?

Before having the flu vaccination, check with your doctor if you:

• • Are pregnant, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy (as a safety precaution only − there is no evidence of any risk to the foetus)

• • Are allergic to eggs (the virus of the vaccine is cultured in egg protein)

• • Are sensitive to thimerosol (contained in the vaccine but also in mercurochrome, methiolate, contact lens solution, etc)

• • Have Guillian-Barré syndrome

• • Have an acute fever, or recently had an illness with a high fever

• • Have a history of hypersensitivity to the flu vaccine.

 

Sources
Flu alert: get the flu shot delivered at home. 2015. Retrieved from: http://www.health24.com
South Africans warned of severe flu strains. 2015. Retrieved from: http://www.health24.com/

 

Revised by: M van Os