The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Encourages High Risk Individuals to Get Their Flu Vaccine Shots Early On.

KDHE public health advisory strongly urges vulnerable individuals to get their Flu Vaccination shots early on -especially considering it takes at least two weeks to build up immunity after from the time one gets a flu shot.

The following are considered to high-risk or vulnerable individuals:

• Infants
• Pregnant women
• Young children up to two years of age
• Seniors citizens -65 years and older
• Residents of long-term care facilities
• Individuals suffering from asthma, blood disorders, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disorders, neuromuscular diseases, spinal cord injuries, and weakened immune systems
• Healthcare personnel who directly interact with patient
• Care providers involved in caring for infants/children less than 6 months old
• First responders

The aforementioned Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) advisory is in line with what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been recommending for quite some time now. Currently CDC reports seems to suggest there would be no shortage of flu shots this year. However, being so early in the flu season this year, it is highly advisable that the segment of our population that would be more vulnerable to flu virus this season gets vaccinated early on.

The flu vaccine for 2005 flu season targets multiple flu strains including: [A/New Caledonia/20/99 (H1N1)-like and B/Shanghai/361/2002-like] and one new flu virus strain [A/California/7/2004 (H3N2-like)].

Considering that well over 36,000 lives are lost due to flu every year in the U.S. alone -mostly involving people such as the high risk individuals listed above -it is certainly highly advisable that such vulnerable individuals get their Flu shots early on.

Source: Kansas Department of Health and Environment Public Advisory on 2005 Flu Vaccination, and various other published Flu/Influenza reports.