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By Maggie Fox
Only 37% of Americans were vaccinated against the flu last season, one of the deadliest in recent decades, said Thursday a health official.
The Centers for Control and Prevention of Diseases released Thursday their latest estimates of the influenza season. They show that a serious flu epidemic has hit while fewer Americans have been vaccinated.
"Immunization coverage among adults was 37.1%, a decrease of 6.2 percentage points from the previous influenza season," the CDC said in its latest report.
The result: more than 79,000 people died, nearly one million were hospitalized and 48 million became ill. Influenza deaths in adults are estimated, but the CDC counts every child who dies of the flu. Last season, 183 children died of the flu, according to the final figures.
Most have not been vaccinated.
"Imagine that you are the parent of a child who has died of flu and that his child has not been vaccinated," said Dr. William Schaffner, Medical Director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.
And many deaths have occurred in younger adults. "About 10,300 deaths occurred among working-age adults (aged 18 to 64), an age group that often has a low vaccination against the flu," said the CDC.
The CDC found that 30 million people aged 18 to 64 had contracted the flu last season. Nearly 12 million children 17 and under became ill.
Has the flu vaccine worked?
Influenza vaccines are known to be less effective in preventing infection, but last year's influenza vaccine reduced the risk of infection by about 40%.
But early estimates incorrectly suggested that it was even less effective, and polls showed that many people were jumping their flu shots because they did not think they would work.
"In the very beginning of last year's vaccination season, there were widespread reports that the vaccine used in Australia was only 10% effective, and I think that, of course, it has put off a lot of people, "said Schaffner.
And studies have also shown that while influenza vaccines do not completely protect against infection, they reduce the severity of the disease and greatly reduce the risk of death.
"We are not giving enough credit to the vaccine," said Schaffner. "It has the ability to make the disease less severe than you are living.You are less likely to have the complications of pneumonia and to be forced to go to the hospital. and you are less likely to die. "
Anti-vaccine rhetoric has also not helped, said the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
"The widespread false science undermines trust in the public health system," said Michael Fraser, CEO of ASTHO, in a statement.
"It is clear that the anti-vaccination movement is benefiting from the current climate of mistrust of the government and the tendency to believe political rather than scientific statements to question the safety of vaccines."
Maggie FoxMaggie Fox is the senior editor of NBC News and TODAY, where she writes major news on health policy, science, medical treatments and diseases.
She has been editor-in-chief of health technology and technology at the National Journal and senior editor of health and science for Reuters in Washington, DC and London.
Maggie has won awards from the Society of Business Editors and Writers, the National Immunization Program, the Overseas Press Club, and other organizations. She has made scholarships at Harvard Medical School, the National Institutes of Health, and the University of Maryland.
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