State Residents Avoiding Vaccine
Clinics Like The Flu
November 6, 2002
By GARRET CONDON, Courant Staff
Writer
It's quiet on the flu-shot front.
Too quiet, says Ann Levison, director of lung-health programs at the American
Lung Association of Connecticut, who reports that attendance at flu-shot clinics
around the state is lower than usual.
In recent years, manufacturing snafus and distribution errors created short
supplies that, in turn, generated headlines. This year there is plenty of
vaccine but, as a result, less film at 11.
"It's lower than last year and the year before because there was a lot of
publicity about vaccine shortages and vaccine delays," said Levison. "We're
worried that people aren't going to [get vaccinated], and 20,000 to 40,000
Americans die each year because they don't get a flu shot."
The sluggish response to the annual public-health ritual comes at a time when
federal officials are trying to increase the percentage of Americans who get a
flu shot. Long-standing recommendations call for the shot for people 65 and
older, those with chronic illness and caretakers of high-risk individuals. Two
years ago, the advisory panel that sets flu-shot guidelines recommended that
healthy people 50 and older get a shot.
This year, the committee said that inoculation of children between the ages of 6
months and 23 months is "encouraged when feasible" and added healthy kids to
children with chronic illnesses like asthma who have long been encouraged to get
a flu shot. Many of the young children hospitalized with serious respiratory
illness in the winter have influenza.
Local pediatric practices report only moderate interest among parents of healthy
kids, with telephone calls following in the wake of media reports.
"I can't say we've had a large number of calls," said Susan Cossette, head nurse
in the Bloomfield office of Children's Medical Group, a pediatric practice. Joan
Guntulis, nurse manager at Somerset Pediatrics in Glastonbury, said a surge of
interest followed a news broadcast about a month ago, but that most parents
haven't asked to have their children vaccinated.
Although most flu-shot clinics don't offer vaccinations to toddlers, many health
insurers cover the shots if they're deemed necessary by a doctor. This includes
the state's Medicaid program, CIGNA HealthCare, HealthNet of the Northeast Inc.
and Aetna (assuming the patient has preventive services as part of his or her
health plan). Out-of-pocket costs for a child's shot can range from $20 to $40
for kids under 3 and $40 to $60 for those over 3. For kids under 9 getting their
first flu shot, two doses must be given a month apart.
Some doctors are perplexed about what they should recommend, according to Dr.
Juan C. Salazar, assistant professor of medicine at University of Connecticut
Health Center and director of the pediatric and youth HIV program at Connecticut
Children's Medical Center in Hartford. He said many of his colleagues have been
puzzled by the lukewarm nature of the federal flu-shot advice.
"There was very poor preparation for this season, and the language is
confusing," he said. "Are we supposed to be doing this or are we not supposed to
be doing this? There is still a lot of reluctance to follow something that is so
vague."
Salazar said that he believed the federal encouragement would eventually become
a full recommendation and that a similar recommendation would be issued by the
American Academy of Pediatrics. (The academy currently "encourages" the
vaccination of children between 6 months and 24 months.) Ultimately, he said,
the flu shot probably would be added to the list of vaccinations required for
children by the state.
For now, people of all ages who are contemplating getting flu shots have plenty
of vaccine and time. Influenza usually doesn't hit Connecticut full force until
after the winter holidays, so even December is not too late to get a shot.
Beginning last year, public-health officials have urged a staged approach to
administering vaccine. Those at highest risk for flu were to be vaccinated in
October. Everyone else is now eligible to roll up his or her sleeves.
Antiviral drugs can provide some protection for people who cannot be vaccinated
or fail to do so. However, a flu shot is the cheapest and most effective way to
prevent the flu.
"We always tell people that a flu shot is cheaper than getting the flu or being
in the hospital," said Levison.
For information on flu shot clinics in your area, call the American Lung
Association of Connecticut Flu Hotline at 888-NO-TO-FLU (888-668-6358) weekdays
from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND
MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION
PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS
OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR
LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND
COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH
YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.
"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"
