Flu season is upon us and when you are age 65 or older, don’t delay getting your current vaccine for 2024-25.
Seasonal flu activity within the USA typically peaks between December and Februaryand the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everybody ages 6 months and older be vaccinated by Halloween. Dr. Robert Hopkins Jr.Medical Director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseasesencourages older adults to guard themselves just a little earlier.
“For older adults and people with chronic illnesses, I usually recommend getting a flu shot around mid-September to early October,” Hopkins said previously Assets“For those of us whose immune systems are not quite as robust, we want to make sure that we vaccinate at a time that is likely to provide us with immune protection throughout the flu season.”
In addition to young children, pregnant women and other people with chronic diseases equivalent to diabetes, older adults are also increased risk of severe flu complicationsThis is because with increasing age Your immune system becomes slower and weakerIn recent years, the CDC estimates, people aged 65 and over 70 to 85 percent of deaths related to seasonal flu and 50% to 70% of hospitalizations related to seasonal influenza.
In addition, an aging immune system might not be as effective at protecting against severe infection, hospitalization, and death when combined with standard doses of flu vaccines. For this reason, the CDC recommends the next specific flu vaccines for people over 64. All vaccines for 2024-25 are trivalentthat’s, they protect against three flu viruses.
Fluzone high-dose influenza vaccine
The Fluzone high dose vaccinemanufactured by Sanofi, incorporates quadruple protection than standard-dose vaccines. Medicare Part B, most Medicare Advantage plans and most private insurance policy cover Fluzone High-Dose, in keeping with Sanofi.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has only approved the vaccine for people aged 65 and over. A randomized controlled trial conducted in 2014 New England Journal of Medicine showed that high-dose vaccines were 24% simpler than standard-dose vaccines in stopping influenza in older adults.
Do not be alarmed when you experience more unwanted side effects than usual after a high-dose injection, advises Dr. Priya SampathkumarSpecialist in infectious diseases on the Mayo Clinic.
“This vaccine contains four times as much antigen – the active ingredient of the vaccine – as the other vaccines,” she says Assets“Because it contains more antigen, it generates a better immune response. But that also means there may be a little more local side effects, pain, mild fever, etc.”
Adjuvant influenza vaccine Fluad
Fluadmanufactured by Tois the one other flu vaccine approved by the FDA exclusively for people aged 65 and overAlthough Fluad is a normal dose vaccine, incorporates an adjuvantan additive that helps your body develop a stronger immune response. Fluad’s adjuvant known as MF59an oil-in-water emulsion containing squalene, a substance that happens naturally in plants, humans and animals.
Medicare Part B and most Medicare Advantage plans cover Fluad with no copayment, Seqirus says.
While Studies have shown Fluad protects older adults higher against flu than standard dose vaccines without an adjuvant, but in keeping with the CDC, there aren’t any randomized trials yet compared the effectiveness of high-dose and adjuvanted influenza vaccines.
Recombinant influenza vaccine Flublok
In the past, the production of flu vaccines has resulted within the replication of viruses in chicken eggs— a process that takes time and requires large quantities of eggs. Since 2013, vaccines have also been produced more quickly and synthetically within the USA, via recombinant technology. Flubloka vaccine from Sanofi and Approved by the FDA for adults ages 18 and olderis a recombinant influenza vaccine.
Flublok just isn’t only reserved for older adultsbut may offer them higher protection since it incorporates thrice the quantity of antigen compared to straightforward dose vaccines. medical health insurance Flublok is one among its preferred vaccines for people aged 65 and over.
If Fluzone, Fluad or Flublok aren’t available to you, the CDC says some protection is healthier than no protection and older adults are advisable to get vaccinated with a normal dose vaccine.
Further information on vaccinations:
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