AAP Urges Health Care Pros to Get Flu Shots

According to a new policy statement per the American Pediatric Academy website, the agency is recommending that all health care professionals be “required to receive an annual influenza vaccine.”

The policy statement, which is entitled “Recommendation for Mandatory Influenza Immunization of All Health Care Personnel” cites the financial toll the flu places on the health care system every year ; specifically that influenza places an albatross around the nation’s neck that costs us $87 billion a year.

According to the CDC, despite all of the positive press both the swine and seasonal flu shots got last year, only 37% of health care workers received the swine flu vaccine while only 35% received both.

‘Tis the Season

Receiving an annual flu shot helps to prevent the voracious onslaught of a disease that’s been around since Adam; Hippocrates mentioned an illness that certainly presented itself in flu-like fashion about 2500 years ago.  The Plague of Athens is thought by some to have actually been an influenza outbreak.

Although the first documented flu epidemic didn’t occur until 1889, based on records kept by the early colonists, the flu made its visitation on a regular basis during the United States’ colonial days.  The flu has without a doubt been a regular viral predator since Plymouth Rock.

For all of our techno breakthroughs, scientists have yet to find a way to prevent an outbreak from occurring in the first place.  Where there is winter, there is an outbreak of the flu.  Every year, right about the time we head into the autumn equinox, plugs to get a flu shot are as common as advertisements for back-to-school sales.   This year, the AAP’s suggestion for mandatory shots for medical personnel has added a little more “oomph” to the intensity.

This year, as previously reported in Food Consumer, the swine flu vaccine will be given in tandem with the seasonal flu vaccine; last year, the swine flu came on the horizon after the seasonal vaccine had already been created.
 
Other Preventive Measures

Experts suggest that frequent hand washing and avoiding close contact with those infected with the illness is the best defense against it.  If you have school aged children, make an effort to regularly sanitize surfaces in your home.  You might also want to soak toothbrushes weekly in hydrogen peroxide, or run them through the dishwasher every few days.

In addition to health care personnel, the flu shot is especially recommended for those who are more vulnerable to respiratory infections, such as young children over the age of six months, and of course, the elderly.