The return-to-school season has started and we are seeing a slight uptick in H1N1 influenza cases as schools and colleges come back from summer break. The good news is that the vast majority of the cases reported are similar to typical influenza (”flu”) with most people ill for 4 to 7 days before recovering. The other piece of good news is that we haven’t seen much change in the H1N1 virus since its appearance in April, which is one significant fear of many doctors and public health officials.
Why the concern about a change in the H1N1 influence virus?
The increased concern is due to the potential for the H1N1 virus to undergo antigenic shift, which could make it more virulent and also make the H1N1 influenza virus resistant to our current anti-viral medications and/or the upcoming H1N1 influenza vaccine die out in late October/early November.
Yes. In case you haven’t heard, several pharmaceutical companies have been steadily working on not only the annual seasonal flu vaccine, but also a second flu shot specific for the H1N1 influenza virus.
The recommendations for the regular influenza vaccine and the H1N1 influenza vaccine are slightly different.
The CDC is recommending that health care works, pregnant women and people from 6 months to age 24 years old receive the H1N1 vaccine initially. People in the 25 to 65 year old age group that have underlying health issues such as asthma or COPD should also get the H1N1 vaccine. Adults over the age of 65 are actually considered less at risk for contracting the H1N1 influenza virus due to prior exposure to prior H1N1 influenza viruses that were around in the 1960’s. However, this older age group should still get their regular influenza shots this fall since the regular influenza vaccine protects against different strains of influenza.
The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved the H1N1 influenza vaccine earlier this week and it is anticipated that doctor offices and pharmacies should be receiving the H1N1 vaccine by mid October. Originally, it was thought that two separate injections about a month apart were required to acquire immunity to the H1N1 virus, but the latest studies are actually showing that most healthy people are having a healthy immune response after just the first vaccination – great news, since this essentially doubles the number of vaccinations available to health officials.