WHEN IT COMES TO H1N1 BEING OLD LOOKS LIKE A GOOD THING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SWINE FLU INFLUENZA A VACCINATION

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Winston Churchill , when asked how it feels to be old was said to remark that considering the alternative it's not bad. Generally though, it seems that when it comes to disease and health the elderly take a disproportionate hit but perhaps not in the case of the swine influenza A flu H1N1. I was surprised when I read the CDC recommendations about the priority of who should be vaccinated for swine flu H1N1.


"The committee does not expect that there will be a shortage of novel H1N1 vaccine, but availability and demand can be unpredictable. There is some possibility that initially the vaccine will be available in limited quantities. In this setting, the committee recommended that the following groups receive the vaccine before others:

pregnant women,

people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age,

health care and emergency medical services personnel with direct patient contact,

children 6 months through 4 years of age, and

children 5 through 18 years of age who have chronic medical conditions.



The committee recognized the need to assess supply and demand issues at the local level. The committee further recommended that once the demand for vaccine for these prioritized groups has been met at the local level, programs and providers should begin vaccinating everyone from ages 25 through 64 years. Current studies indicate the risk for infection among persons age 65 or older is less than the risk for younger age groups. Therefore, as vaccine supply and demand for vaccine among younger age groups is being met, programs and providers should offer vaccination to people over the age of 65".

CDC Advisors Make Recommendations for Use of Vaccine Against Novel H1N1




How the Flu Virus Can Change: "Drift" and "Shift"

Influenza viruses can change in two different ways.


One is called "antigenic drift." These are small changes in the virus that happen continually over time. Antigenic drift produces new virus strains that may not be recognized by the body's immune system. This process works as follows: a person infected with a particular flu virus strain develops antibody against that virus. As newer virus strains appear, the antibodies against the older strains no longer recognize the "newer" virus, and reinfection can occur. This is one of the main reasons why people can get the flu more than one time. In most years, one or two of the three virus strains in the influenza vaccine are updated to keep up with the changes in the circulating flu viruses. So, people who want to be protected from flu need to get a flu shot every year.



The other type of change is called "antigenic shift." Antigenic shift is an abrupt, major change in the influenza A viruses, resulting in new hemagglutinin and/or new hemagglutinin and neuraminidase proteins in influenza viruses that infect humans. Shift results in a new influenza A subtype. When shift happens, most people have little or no protection against the new virus. While influenza viruses are changing by antigenic drift all the time, antigenic shift happens only occasionally. Type A viruses undergo both kinds of changes; influenza type B viruses change only by the more gradual process of antigenic drift.

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