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Latasha Haynes was 34 when she nearly died of the flu last year. What started with a little cough and tiredness ended with two blood transfusions and a diagnosis of congestive heart failure a few weeks later. The flu had damaged the muscles of his heart and the skeletal tissue around them. She survived, but barely, and it took her months to recover.
Haynes, who runs a photography business in Tacoma, Washington, caught the flu in January 2017 and was one of the estimated 30.9 million people who got the flu during the 2016-17 season. She was among the 14.5 million people who saw a doctor because of the virus, and of the approximately 600,000 people hospitalized with influenza, 50,000 of whom, like Haynes, were adults under 50 years old.
The last influenza season was even more deadly than the 2016-2017 season. In a recent report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the flu has killed an estimated 80,000 Americans during the 2017-2018 season, the highest number in decades. In recent years, death estimates ranged from 12,000 to 56,000, according to the CDC. This compares with about 40,000 annual deaths due to road accidents.
Yet, while nine out of ten people in the United States use their seatbelts, less than half of them get a flu shot – the most important way to protect people over six months old. against serious cases of the disease, according to the CDC.
One of the main reasons given by people for not getting the flu shot is that they do not think it's necessary. A study by Rand Corp. on unvaccinated adults revealed that about one in four of those surveyed said they had not been vaccinated against influenza because they did not think they needed it.
This was the case for Haynes. Before getting sick, she had never received a flu shot.
"This was just not at the top of the list," Haynes said. "I'm in good health, I'm young, why would I need a flu shot, if I have the flu, I'll be able to fight it." So big problem, it was my attitude about it.
This type of thinking does not, however, consider the deadly death of an influenza in healthy people, said Flor Muñoz, an expert in infectious diseases in children, at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.
"Healthy people can have serious consequences of the flu," Muñoz said, citing a 2018 study by Pediatrics that revealed that half of the children who died of the flu did not suffer from any flu. underlying medical problem.
Another reason why people do not get vaccinated is because they are more concerned about the vaccine than about the flu itself. Kari O'Driscoll, a mother of two in Washington State, said she was not getting a flu shot because she and her children were healthy and did not think they would suffer from the flu. 'adverse effects on their health.
"I weighed this risk (of flu) against the idea of injecting them every year with something that may or may not give them immunity … and it did not seem worth it," wrote O 'Driscoll in an email.
Science, however, supports safety and the need for vaccinations.
"We are more afraid of risks when they are human-born than when they are natural," said David Ropeik, risk perception and risk communication consultant. "(But) they are natural substances. They are. They are made in a laboratory, so what? … The water is put in a bottle in a factory; it's always a natural thing. "
For those concerned about safety or side effects, Muñoz assures them that influenza vaccines are subject to extensive safety testing and are subject to "very high standards." And for those who fear that the flu shot will give them the flu, they do not, according to the CDC. They consist of inactivated or dead viruses and proteins, not living viruses, making it impossible to transmit the influenza virus.
In terms of efficacy, Muñoz admits that the flu vaccine is not perfect. Last year, the flu vaccine leaked a lot of ink, which many thought was a disappointing rate of effectiveness. According to CDC estimates, the vaccine was about 40% effective in preventing the flu, about the same as the previous season.
However, focusing on this single figure is a short-term vision because it includes all strains and all ages, Muñoz said. The influenza vaccine protects some influenza viruses more than others, and works better in some groups of people.
"The ability to respond well to the vaccine, to develop good immunity and to protect it, is better in healthy people because everything is working properly," she said. But as we vaccinate a greater proportion of people living in extremes – the very old, the young and the very sick – the effectiveness of the vaccine that makes the headlines disproportionately represents these groups.
According to Muñoz, it would be better to focus on the protection of the vaccine against the disease, but also against hospitalization and death. If a person vaccinated gets the flu, they are less likely to have a serious case that can lead to pneumonia, brain swelling, multi-organ failure or other serious complications from the virus.
The flu can also trigger a heart attack and studies have shown that being vaccinated against the flu can help prevent heart attacks and strokes while taking medication for high blood pressure and cholesterol.
This vaccine effectiveness rate of 40% in 2016-2017 not only prevented about 5.3 million cases of influenza, according to the CDC, but also about 2.6 million medical visits and 84,700 hospitalizations .
According to the CDC, about 80% of children who die of the flu are not vaccinated and the vaccination can help reduce by 65% the risk of death of an infected child. That's why the American Academy of Pediatrics urged parents in early September to vaccinate their children "as soon as it is available."
Even with the record of 180 deaths last season in children with influenza, it is unclear whether parents will consider the advice of the organization. Less than 60% of children – and only about one third of adults under 50 – have been vaccinated against influenza during the 2016-2017 season.
But this year, Haynes will be among the vaccinated. She is 20 weeks pregnant and her life is not the only one she wants to protect.
"I have the impression that a flu shot is an insurance," she said. "It's not a guarantee of not catching the flu, but I think it's an extra layer of protection. That if I get sick, I know I've done my part to put up something to help me fight. "
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