Flu Vaccination
Flu vaccination is the primary method for preventing flu and its severe complications among all age groups. Because rates of serious illness and death from flu viruses are highest among people age 65 years or older, children less than 2 years old, and people of any age who have medical conditions that place them at increased risk of complications from flu, it is important that these individuals receive their flu vaccinations first. As indicated in the 2006 Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) report, the following priority groups for annual flu vaccination are being recommended for the following:
People at high risk for flu-related complications and severe disease, including:
children age 6-59 months
pregnant women
people age 50 years and older
people of any age with certain chronic medical conditions
People who live with or care for those at high risk, including:
household contacts who have frequent contact with people at high risk and can transmit
influenza to those at high risk
Health department officials would like to emphasize that all health care workers should be vaccinated against the flu annually. Facilities that employ health care workers are strongly encouraged to provide vaccine to those workers in order to provide protection against flu and respiratory-related illness.
In the United States, epidemics of influenza (flu) typically occur during the winter months and have been associated with an average of 36,000 deaths per year in the United States.
As a service to the community, the staff of the Bullitt County Health Department will be going to several locations to administer the 2006-2007 flu vaccine. The first location will be the conference center at Paroquet Springs in Shepherdsville, Ky. The clinic will be held October 6, 2006 from 9 A.M. until 12 Noon. Additional clinics will follow. Watch for information in the local paper as to days and locations.
If you have Medicare HMO, please contact your primary care physician to get your flu vaccine. If you have a supplemental insurance with your Medicare, please bring both cards. If you have Medicaid, please bring your Medicaid and your Passport ID Cards with you. Parents/Guardians, of children up to age 18 who have health insurance, need to check with the insurance company to see if the flu vaccine is a covered service prior to bring their child/guardian to a B.C.H.D. flu clinic.
For more information on influenza or the availability of flu immunizations, please contact the Bullitt County Health Department at 955-7837 or visit the Kentucky Department for Public Health's flu Web site at http://www.chfs.ky.gov/dph/Influenza.htm