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September 22, 2010

CDHD Ready to Provide Flu Vaccine to Children

The Central District Health Department (CDHD) is ready to take appointments for seasonal flu vaccine for children. Doses for children of all ages are available including the nasal spray.

CDHD has all formulations of the flu vaccine, including the preservative-free injectable vaccine.

To make an appointment for your child, call the CDHD office nearest you.

Ada County residents can call 327-7450

Boise County residents can call 327-7450

Valley County residents can call 634-7194

Elmore County residents can call 587-4407

While the vaccine is free, administration fees apply and depend on the family’s insurance. Please bring insurance information to your appointment.

CDHD does not offer adult vaccination services, including the flu vaccine. Adults should consult their health care providers or go to one of the many commercial flu vaccine outlets.

The flu is unpredictable, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that anywhere from 5% to 20% of the population gets the flu each season. More than 200,000 Americans are hospitalized from flu-related complications, including 20,000 children under the age of 5. On average 36,000 Americans die of flu-associated illnesses each year.

For the first time the CDC is recommending that everyone over the age of 6 months get vaccinated against the flu. But it is especially important for those in the following groups to get vaccinated because they are at high risk of serious flu complications or because they live with or care for people at high risk of developing flu-related complications:

• Pregnant women
• Children younger than 5, but especially those younger than 2
• People 65 years of age and older
• People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions including asthma, heart disease, weakened immune systems and the morbidly obese
• People who live in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities
• Health care workers

Each year the CDC works in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO) to determine which strains of the flu will be included in the vaccine. This year’s vaccine contains three strains of virus:

• An A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)–like virus,
• An A/Perth/16/2009 (H3N2)–like virus,
• And a B/Brisbane/60/2008–like virus.

The A/California strain is the same H1N1 virus that caused the 2009 flu pandemic. Even if you got the H1N1 flu vaccine last year, the CDC is still recommending vaccination this year as immunity tends to wane over time, and last year’s H1N1 vaccine didn’t protect against the other two strains of virus contained in this year’s seasonal flu vaccine.

For more information about the flu and vaccinations visit the CDHD website.