Progress!

The CDC, in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), reported a record number of seasonal flu shots were given this last year. Note that those are seasonal flu shots, not the H1N1 vaccine—which experienced delays.

Next year, the seasonal flu shot will include the H1N1 virus so that there is no need for two shots.

How good is a record number of flu shots? The MMWR report provides the numbers.

Children

• Children averaged 40 percent, compared to 24 percent for the 2008-2009 flu season.

Adults

• Rates among adult age groupings remained stable in all but one.

• Among younger adults who did not have high-risk conditions, vaccine coverage averaged 28 percent, seven points higher than last year.

Bloomberg/Business Week

“Apparently spurred by concerns about the recently discovered H1N1 swine flu virus, a record number of Americans — especially children and younger adults — got seasonal flu shots during the just-concluded flu season, U.S. health officials reported Thursday. (Emphasis added)

“The increases in seasonal flu vaccinations — which did not offer protection against H1N1 flu — were largely driven by public programs instituted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to get children and others to receive a seasonal flu shot, as well as the H1N1 vaccine. For the first time, children 5 to 18 were encouraged to get a flu shot this past flu season, CDC officials reported in the April 30 issue of the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

“CDC officials said the 2010-2011 seasonal flu shot will include a component to protect against the H1N1 flu. Unlike traditional seasonal flu, the H1N1 flu — first identified last spring — strikes children and young adults harder than older adults.“(Emphasis added)

Source: Business Week/Bloomberg, April 29, 2010

Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, April 20, 2010