I wanted to share this article with you about vaccines and the elderly. Its very informative and contains a lot of info so I will put a link to the site at the end of the article so you can go to the article site and read more.
Vaccinations and the Elderly
Looking for regular updates as to where influenza is circulating including the latest information on the swine flu? Check www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly (5/7/10)- According to Andrin Oswald, a spokesman for Novartis AG's vaccine division, about half of the 15 governments that ordered H1N1 swine-flu vaccine ended up canceling part of their orders, and some are still negotiating with the company in connection with the purchase price that they paid for the vaccine.
At the height of the panic in October, the governments of multiple countries were inundating the company with calls requesting immediate delivery of the vaccine. When it became apparent that the epidemic was not as virulent as was originally feared it would be, many of these same countries called to cancel the orders.
France canceled part of its original order from Novartis, and said it would pay the company only 16% of the agreed upon price for the vaccine. The United States purchased the equivalent of 229 million doses from 5 different manufacturers, and so far it is estimated that only about 91 doses of the vaccine were administered to patients in this country.
(3/31/10)- The following data is extracted from the above site:
Influenza Season Week 11 ending March 20, 2010. All data are preliminary and may change as more reports are received
During week 11 (March 14-20, 2010), influenza activity remained at approximately the same levels as last week in the U.S139 (4.6%) specimens tested by U.S. World Health Organization (WHO) and National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS) collaborating laboratories and reported to CDC/Influenza Division were positive for influenza
Approximately 99% of all subtyped influenza A viruses reported to CDC were 2009 influenza A (H1N1) viruses. The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I) was below the epidemic threshold
One influenza-associated pediatric death was reported and was associated with an influenza A virus for which the subtype was undetermined. The proportion of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness (ILI) was 1.8%, which is below the national baseline of 2.3%.
Three of 10 regions (Regions 4, 7, and 9) reported ILI at or above region-specific baseline levels. No states reported widespread influenza activity. Three states reported regional influenza activity. Puerto Rico and eight states reported local influenza activity. The District of Columbia, Guam and 31 states reported sporadic influenza activity. Eight states reported no influenza activity, and the U.S. Virgin Islands did not report.
(3/18/10)- Now that we are well into March, it does not look like the normal third wave of the flu season is going to hit this year. Seasonal flu activity has been unusually low this winter, suggesting that the H1N1 swine flu strain '"crowded out" the usual seasonal H1N1 and H2N2 strains.
There has been very little reported numbesr of the influenza B strain seen in the U.S this year.
The CDC estimated that between 42 million to 86 million people were infected with the swine flu since its emergence in April 2009. Please keep in mind that even if we use the 86 million number, it will mean that more than half of the vaccine that has been produced and paid for by the government will have to be thrown away at the end of the flu season.
(3/12/10)- Flu activity in Week 8 (week-ending February 27th) decreased significantly year-over-year but increased versus last week. Positive reports of the influenza virus in Week 8 were 6.4% down from 21.2% during the same week ending date last year, and up 200 basis points versus last week.
No states reported widespread flu activity, four states reported regional flu activity, four states reported local flu activity, 34 states reported sporadic flu activity, and four states reported no flu activity.
(2/18/10)- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) latest estimate is that about 11,700 Americans have died from the swine flu since its emergence in April until mid-January.
It also estimated that about 257,000 people have been hospitalized, at a countless cost to the medical system. It went on to further estimate that about 70 million Americans were vaccinated, leaving over 100 million doses of the vaccine as having not been used.
Most of the hospitalizations and deaths have been among those aged 18 to 64.
Luckily enough, the outbreak of seasonal flu has been relatively mild this flu season.
(1/21/10)- According to the latest count from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about 11,000 Americans have died of swine flu in this recent epidemic.
Because the second wave peaked in late October, the number is unlikely to rise much unless there is a third wave later this winter.
The World Health Organization estimated that as of January 3 there were 12,799 deaths worldwide. WHO counts only lab-confirmed swine flu cases in its estimate, which is different than the estimate from the CDC. Thus the number of deaths worldwide is likely to be much higher than the number given by WHO.
(1/5/10)- Cases of H1N1 flu confirmed by laboratory testing have been reported in more than 208 countries and overseas territories, according to the latest report from the World Health Organization, and at least 12,200 people have died from the disease.
Positive reports of the flu virus in Week 50 (week ending December 19th) were 6.9%, up +340 bps from 3.5% during the same week last year, and flat versus Week 49.
Seven states reported widespread flu activity during the week, 18 states reported regional flu activity, 13 states reported local flu activity, 11 states reported sporadic flu activity, and one state reported no flu activity.
(12/23/09)- Federal officials now estimate that there are about 100 million doses of swine flu vaccine available. Most cities are releasing the vaccine to medical professionals, while telling them to vaccinate anyone who wants to get the shot.
Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the second wave of the flu was ebbing, and that there was "no way to know if there will be a third."
If a third wave hits, it is expected to rear its ugly head in January.
(12/16/09)- Federal health officials claimed that almost 10,000 people had died of swine flu since April, and that 213,000 people had been sick enough to be hospitalized because of it.
Although we are coming through a quiet period now in connection with the epidemic, health officials anticipate that the third wave of the pandemic will take place in January, as happened in the 1917 and 1957 pandemics.
Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the CDC, said about 85 million doses of swine flu vaccine were now available, with some states now reporting an oversupply of the vaccine, so that everyone, not only high-risk individuals are eligible to receive the shot.
(12/2/09)- The latest report on flu activity indicated that only 32 states, mostly in the Northeast and the West, had "widespread" flu activity, down from the peak of 48 in late October.
Doctors' visits for flu declined for the fourth week in a row. Hospitalizations dropped for the third straight week, and for the first time, there appeared to be a clear drop in weekly deaths. Campus flu activity continues to decline also.
Health experts at the CDC have tentatively predicted that a new but smaller January wave could emerge.
(11/15/09)- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced last Thursday that an estimated 22 million Americans have been sickened with swine flu since April and that about 3,900 had died from it. Most cases have been mild with only 98,000 having been hospitalized by it.
Flu season in the U.S. usually lasts through May. About 43 million doses of the vaccine have been made available to the states since October.
In a typical regular flu season, there are about 200,000 hospitalizations, and 36,000 deaths. The elderly are the most prone age group for fatalities from the regular flu.
The elderly have however only accounted for 440 deaths, out of two million illnesses, and about 9,000 hospitalizations from the swine flu.
Most of the deaths, about 2,900, have been among people between the ages of 19 and 64 years of age. According to the CDC figures, there have been 12 million cases of swine flu in this age group, and 53,000 hospitalizations
The latest CDC figures show that 540 have occurred in children younger than 18, while about 8 million of them have come down with the disease, and 36,000 have been hospitalized as a result of the swine flu.
A total of 250 million doses of swine flu vaccine have been ordered by the U. S. government and this includes doses that will be shipped to third world countries too poor to pay for the vaccine themselves.
(11/6/09)- According to David Daigle, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) there have been 85 million Americans who have received the seasonal flu shot so far this year, compared to the 61 million who had received their shot last year.
Last year 113 million doses of the seasonal flu vaccine were produced, and about 103 million Americans took the shot, which was a record in both categories. About 10 million doses of the vaccine had to be thrown away, since the vaccine can not be saved and carried over to the next year.
About 90 million doses of the seasonal flu shot have been shipped out, with total production expected to come to about 114 million doses.
In New York, children and teenagers have gotten 258,000 doses, twice the number given at this same time as last year. New York City's public health clinics have already vaccinated more people this year than they did all of last year.
The FDA has approved the vaccines made by Sanofi-Pasteur, a unit of Sanofi-Aventis SA, Novartis AG, CSL Ltd and AstraZeneca PLC's Medimune unit (nasal spray). GlaxoSmithKline, PLC is still awaiting approval for its "swine flu" vaccine batches. Sanofi is the only one of these companies that has a plant in the U.S. that manufactures the vaccine.
The U.S. government has paid for all the expected 200 million doses of swine flu vaccines, about 89% of each year's seasonal vaccines made for the private sector.
Because of shortages of the seasonal flu vaccine cropping up all over the country, many health facilities have had to delay administering the shots to the public.
President Barack Obama has declared the swine flu a national emergency. In doing so, the administration can waive or modify certain federal requirements involving Medicare, Medicaid and health-privacy rules to speed treatment.
There were 1.8 million to 5.7 million cases of swine flu in the country during the swine flu's early spring wave in this country, which resulted in 9,000 to 21,000 people being hospitalized, and up to 800 died as a result from April to July, when it largely faded out, according to estimates from the CDC and the Harvard School of Public Health and published online in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
(10/27/09)- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that it now expects that only 28 million to 30 million doses of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine will be delivered by the end of October, instead of the 40 million doses that it had expected to be available by the end of the month.
The delay in the delivery has been caused by the fact that the vaccine is taking longer to produce than had been originally projected. This delay in delivery is of course making it much more difficult for health-care providers to schedule appointments for these shots.
Of the 11.4 million doses of the swine flu available as of the middle of the month, state health officials had placed orders for 8 million dosages
One of the concerns of opponents of the swine flu vaccine is that it contains thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative that in turn leads to autism. All H1N1 nasal spray vaccines are free of thimerosal. The federal government has ordered a total of 251 million doses of the swine flu vaccine, from 5 different vaccine manufacturers.
75.3 million doses have been ordered from Sanofi-Aventis SA, but it has not yet told the company how many doses it wants of the vaccine to be multi-dose, which must contain a preservative. A spokesman for the company said that all the pediatric doses that the company is making are packaged in syringes and are thimerosal-free.
AstraZeneca PLC has received orders for about 40 million doses of its nasal spray vaccine, which is licensed for people from 2 years of age to 49 years of age, and those dosages are all thimerosal free.
While adjuvants will be used in many H1N1 shots given throughout the world, they will not be used in dosage administered in the U.S.
(10/24/09)- A CBS news poll indicated that only 46% of the U.S. population was willing to take the flu shot. On the other hand about 60% indicated that they were going to have their children get the shot.
About 82 million of the expected 114 million doses of the seasonal flu vaccine has been distributed so far.
Forty-three children have died from swine flu since August 30th. Nineteen of the 43 were teenagers, 16 were ages 5 to 11 years, and the rest were under the age of 5
Flu caused by the H1N1 virus is now widespread in 46 states, and flu like symptoms account for 6.1% of all doctor visits.
(10/17/09)- According to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 76 children have died from the H1N1 swine flu since the virus was discovered in April.
This is a higher rate than pediatric deaths caused by the seasonal flu.
Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC, said that by comparison, 46 to 88 children died each year during the past three influenza seasons.
While most of the children had underlying medical conditions, Ms Schuchat said 20% to 30% did not.
(10/11/09)- Only about 21% of children ages 5 to 17 received the regular flu shots last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, compared with 41% of infants, 32% of adults at risk of complications and67% of the elderly.
The data came from a telephone survey of 414,000 households.
Last year was the first in which federal officials had recommended that everyone ages 5 to 17 receive the flu shots, and that recommendation was made only after doctors had ordered their fall shipments, so the vaccine ran short.
This year however, data compiled by the CDC indicated that as many people had received their shot by the end of September as would have received it by the 3rd week of October in a normal year.
Tamiflu, the nasal spray vaccine has been the first of the vaccination dosages received by most health professionals who are administering the shots. Studies have shown that Tamiflu is not as effective as the injectible versions of the shot.
The National Institute of Health has awarded $60 million in grants to discover new adjuvants, immune boosters that can be added to vaccines to make then more effective.
The only adjuvant approved for use in the United States is alum, an aluminum salt. Adjuvant usage however has resulted in more negative side effects such as sore arms and higher fevers.
(10/8/09)- Consumer Reports released poll showing that half of all parents surveyed said they were worried about the flu, but only 35% would definitely have their children vaccinated. About half were undecided, and of those, many said they feared that the vaccine was new and untested.
Sixty-nine percent of the parents who were undecided or opposed to shots said they "wanted their children to build up their natural immunity."
(9/30/09)- Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the first doses of the swine flu vaccine should reach doctors by October 6th. Initially, about 6 million doses will be available by that date, and by mid-October there should be about 40 million doses available.
Almost all of the first doses that will be available will be the FluMist nasal spray version, which has some limits on who may use it. FluMist is not recommended for infants under 2, adults over 49, pregnant women or anyone with underlying health problems.
All swine flu vaccine has been paid for by the federal government, which is also paying for its distribution and providing syringes and other items with it. This should help to keep the cost of getting the shot to a minimal level.
A study of the effectiveness of the rapid flu tests used in many doctor's offices found that they missed many of the cases of swine flu by giving false-negative readings.
One dose of the H1N1 vaccine should offer protection against the new virus in children ages 10 to 17, while younger children, especially those getting the flu shot for the first time, will need to get two dosages of the shot at least 21 days apart. This is the same timetable for receiving the regular flu shot also.
In a study conducted at the University of Michigan school of public health, the injectible version of the flu shot was found to be more effective than was the nasal spray version of the vaccine.
(9/22/09)- Further results from the clinical trials of the swine flu vaccine are showing that only one dose of the vaccine, not two will be needed to provide adequate protection against the disease.
The first vaccine dose is intended to "prime" a person's immune system so that it can recognize a new type of virus, while the second dose helps the immune system produce enough antibodies to fight against the virus.
The FDA has approved the vaccines made by a unit of Sanofi-Aventis SA, Novartis AG, CSL Ltd and AstraZeneca PLC's Medimune unit (nasal spray). GlaxoSmithKline, PLC is still awaiting approval for its "swine flu" vaccine batches.
The nasal spray vaccine made by Medimune contains a weakened live virus, while injections contain killed and fragmented virus. About 3.4 million doses of swine flu vaccine are expected to be available by early October.
There are an estimated 159 million Americans who are in what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls the "high risk" group. This group consists of pregnant women, people less than 24 years of age, people with high-risk medical conditions and health-care workers.
The 195 million swine flu vaccine doses that have been purchased by the U.S. government will flow into 90,000 distribution centers throughout the country starting sometime in the middle of October. The local state health department will allocate the distribution of the vaccine to the individual medical facilities that will administer the vaccine.
There is now widespread flu activity in 21 states, up from 11 a week ago, and virtually all the samples tested are of the swine flu variety. It is estimated that about 54 million regular flu vaccine doses have already been distributed and are available now to be used to help prevent the onslaught of the regular flu.
(9/18/09)- Even though swine flu (H1N1) seems to be garnering the most media attention, the U.S. is now bracing for the traditional flu season as well. According to Dennis Garcia, associate medical director of health and wellness services at Washington State University, "It's (swine flu) mild-the seasonal flu lasts 10 to 14 days, and this (swine flu) is lasting three to five days."
Health officials are also closely monitoring the emergence of a new variant of a long-circulating seasonal flu strain, called H3N2, which is associated with more hospitalizations and deaths among the elderly than other strains.
A single shot of the swine flu vaccine, developed by an Australian drug maker CSL Ltd., and tested in 240 healthy adults in that country has proven to be effective without having the subjects being given a 2nd shot.
(9/10/09)- Nationwide, there are an estimated 15.9 million college students, at more than 4,000 two-year and four-year institutions. A tracking system has been set up by the American College Health Association, which will post weekly flu case data and cumulative figures on its Web site.
From August 22 to 28, 1,640 cases were reported in 165 colleges. So far, most cases have been relatively mild, with only one student hospitalized.
"The good news is that so far, everything that we've seen, both here and abroad, shows that the virus has not mutated to become more deadly, " said Dr.Thomas Frieden, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "That means that although it may affect lots of people, most people will not be severely ill."
As of August 8, 36 children (2 months to 17 years old) died in the United States of the swine flu, but 67% of those who died had high-risk medical conditions, predominantly neuro-development disorders, such as epilepsy or cerebral palsy. As of that date the death count among all ages in this country is 477 confirmed swine flu cases.
Worldwide, the swine flu has been confirmed to have infected more than 209,438 people, and at least 2,185 have died, according to the World Health Organization.
The Institute of Medicine recommended that health care workers treating people with swine flu protect themselves from infection by wearing a type of specially fitted mask called an N95 respirator, which is tighter and better able to seal out viruses than the more common types of surgical masks..
