US health agency urges early vaccinations to fight the flu this season

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The flu was everywhere last year. A Centers for Disease Control doctor said the influenza season was one of the deadliest.

So, the CDC urges people to act now, just before the start of the 2018-19 influenza season, and get vaccinated. This advice applies even to people who have delayed the previous flu season by a few months and have been vaccinated earlier this year.

Some age groups of some vaccines have been lowered and some vaccines have been reformulated to better prevent the circulation of viruses.

Having a vaccine does not mean you will not get the flu, but if you get sick, it could be less serious, experts say.

A 2007 CDC study found that vaccination against influenza significantly reduced the risk of death from influenza. The study analyzed data from four influenza seasons from 2010 to 2014 and found that "influenza vaccination halved, or 51%, the risk of death associated with influenza in children with high risk and nearly two-thirds 65 percent in healthy children.

According to the CDC, vaccines to fight the flu can also protect women during and after pregnancy and protect a baby after childbirth.

The importance of taking the flu seriously is particularly relevant given the severity of the recent season. Vaccines are available in pharmacies and most doctors' offices.

"The 2017-2018 season was the first season to be classified as being of a high severity in all age groups," said the CDC. Influenza activity increased in November, "reached a period of intense activity during the months of January and February and remained high until the end of March," said the CDC .

Adult deaths from influenza are not nationally notifiable, according to the CDC, but children's cases are counted. On 25 August, the number of child deaths attributed to influenza was 180, the highest since the death of 171 people during the particularly severe 2012-2013 influenza season.

Of the 180 children who died during the past year, 80% were not vaccinated during the season, the CDC said.

In addition, the duration of cases at the national level or above was 19 weeks, "making the 2017-2018 season one of the longest in recent years," said the CDC.

According to the CDC, influenza viruses are most common in the fall and winter. Influenza activity starts to increase in October and November. Peak flu occurs between December and February, but the season can last until May.

"It's not possible to predict what this flu season will be like," says the CDC. "Although the flu is spreading every year, the timing, severity and duration of the season vary from year to year." one season to another. "

But the CDC reports that there are several novelties this season. Among them:

• Influenza vaccines have been updated to better match circulating viruses. Component B / Victoria has been modified and the influenza A (H3N2) component has been updated.
• For the 2018-19 season, nasal spray flu vaccine – or live attenuated influenza vaccine or LAIV, often a preferred option for young children who hate injections – is recommended for children 2 years of age and older. The vaccine is also approved for use in non-pregnant women until the age of 49, unless a doctor prevents its use based on medical history.
• All LAIV vaccines will be quadrivalent, designed to protect against four different influenza viruses: two influenza A viruses and two influenza B viruses. Most regular-dose egg-based influenza vaccines will be quadrivalent. "All recombinant vaccines will be quadrivalent. No trivalent recombinant vaccine will be available this season, "said the CDC.
• The influenza vaccine grown in cells will be quadrivalent. For this vaccine, influenza A (H3N2) and B reference viruses will be derived from cells and influenza A (H1N1) virus will be derived from eggs.
• The intradermal influenza vaccine, an injection injected into the skin instead of the muscle using a needle smaller than the regular influenza vaccine and requiring less antigen to be as effective as the regular influenza vaccine, will not be available this season.
• The age recommendation for Fluarix Equivalent, which uses a mammalian culture rather than chicken embryos, has been changed from 3 years and older to 6 months and older.
• The age recommendation for Afluria Quadrivalent, an inactivated influenza vaccine, has been changed from 18 years of age and older to 5 years of age and older.

According to the CDC, "influenza vaccines protect against the three or four viruses that research suggests will be the most common".