For roughly $36 the price of a strange pocketbook or a pair of slacks.

For roughly $36 the price of a strange pocketbook or a pair of slacks, you could get by heart an annual flu shot and a the same time dose of pneumonia vaccine in your doctor's office. Chances are the pocketbook or slacks will win revealed even if your are 65 or older and age collection that is at much higher risk of death from pneumonia, a universal complication of flu. Only about 18 percent of the somewhat old of the elderly are vaccinated against flu and I 0 percent against pneumonia.

When a safe and effective vaccine is available each year for influenza and an improved pneumonia vaccine was introduced in 1983 for what cause [i]or[/i] reason don't elderly Americans get these shots? Myths, fears, misperceptions and require to be paid [i]or[/i] undergone all contribute to the shockingly reasonable adult immunization rate.

First, there's the notion that you'll unfold some kind of natural and lasting immunity to influenza if you "tough it out" and don't gain the annual shot. This just isn't actual because flu viruses may change from year to year, making last year's antibodies les effective.

next to the first there's the misperception that the bullets don't work well. Perhaps friends who have received the injection have reported that they have gotten the flu anyway. Well, they may have caught the flu because the vaccine is not 100% yet 70% to 90%, effective. What these friends may not know is that the shooters greatly reduced their chances of ending up in the hospital or dead.

Studies display that the modern flu vaccines greatly decrease risks of complications, which can be fatal. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 61000 Americans 65 and across died from pneumonia and influenza in 1986-the latest year for which statistics are available. The somewhat old accounted for 87% of the total deaths from these sum of two units illnesses.

Since flu is a catch-all denomination friends who claim they have caught the flu despite the shooter may be confusing flu with other viral illnesses. Many clan for example, say they have the "stomach flu " uniform though nausea, vomiting and diarrhea are not prominent symptoms of the flu Typical flu symptoms are sum of two units or three days of febrile disease (it can last up to a week), chills, headache, sore throat, dried cough, runny nose and visible form [i]or[/i] frame aches.

Worries that flu balls will . cause some of these discomforts or an actual case of the flu is another obstacle to immunization. "Most folks have no side effects from latter influenza vaccines," according to Immunization of Adults: A Call To Action, a pamphlet published by the agency of the Centers for Disease repress in Atlanta, Ga. The injection may cause soreness in the upper arm and "occasionally flush or achiness for one or couple da ."

The vaccine to hinder pneumococcal pneumonia "can be given at the same time as the influenza discharge without an increase in side effects" the CDC pamphlet notes. Unlike the flu projectile which must be repeated each year, one dose of pneumococcal vaccine is all that is be in want ofed in a lifetime. About single in kind half of those getting the missile develop mild side effects, similar as swelling at the injection site. Immunization against pneumonia "is highly recommended" by way of CDC "for anyone 65 and through the whole extent of " The death rate from pneumococcal pneumonia is 8 times higher for population age 65 to 74 than it is for those in subordination to 65 and 45 times higher for those above 75.

I think that mostly people don't realize the magnitude of influenza and pneumonia fatalities in the somewhat advanced in life " said Dr. Stephen Ostroff a Medical Epidemiologist from CDC in the Viral Diseases Section. Commenting upon the right time to master the shots, Dr. Ostroff said: "We take care of to have two different stratigies-one for the well somewhat advanced in life and one for those living in nursing to one's homes In the frail elderly, we know that if you give them a bullet in September, by March or April, the station of protection offered by the vaccine will have decreased. in like manner in nursing homes, we usually praise that patients not be immunized until November when the flu usually begins to point out up.

For the well or ambulatory somewhat old living in the community, we commend that they get the discharge any time after September. That's because we know that they may barely go to the doctor couple or three times a year and we don't want an opportunity to secure the shot to be dissipated Dr. Ostroff explains that it's all right for the well somewhat old to get the shot early in the fall because they have a stronger answer to the vaccine than ill seniors. As for the pneumonia ball it's fine to get it any time or in combination with the flu missile in the fall. Although there is no permanent way to predict the virulence of the flu originals that will arrive, Dr. Ostroff said, "We believe that the vaccine will adequately disguise the strains that will be circulating this year." For the somewhat advanced in life cost may be a deterrent to immunizations-but barely in the case of the flu vaccine. Medicare completely covers reasonable charges for the pneumonia discharge Within the next several years, flu projectiles may also be covered by way of Medicare.

In January, 1988 Congres approved a Medicare demonstration plan to provide free flu marksmans at selected sites, such as Health Maintenance Organizations, health departments, nursing place of abodes and possibly community centers. permanent funded at $25 million a year for sum of two units years, with the possibility of extension, the scheme will study the cost of various distribution courses the effectiveness of free marksmans in increasing vaccination rates, the outlay of illnesses avoided, etc. If the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines after couple years of study that providing flu vaccine is preciousness effective, Medicare will automatically pay for influenza balls for all beneficiaries, beginning October 1 1990