Illinois Residents: These Groups Recommended For Flu Vaccination

CHICAGO, IL — As we head into fall, we're also heading into the dreaded flu season, which led to an increase in school-related absences earlier this year across Kane County and several other areas . The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' (ACIP) 2019 to 2020 recommendations regarding using vaccines to help prevent and control influenza, especially during the flu season.

The Illinois Department of Public Health also recommends people get the flu shot.

According to the release from the CDC, the ACIP recommends the following groups get routine annual influenza vaccination:

• Routine annual influenza vaccination is recommended for all persons aged ≥6 months who do not have contraindications.
• A licensed vaccine appropriate for age and health status should be used. Consult package information for age indications.

Related: Kane County Flu Cases, Flu-Related School Absences Increase

According to the ACIP, emphasis should be placed on vaccination of high-risk groups and their contacts/caregivers. But what happens if vaccine supply is limited? According to the release, when this happens, vaccination efforts should focus on giving shots to (in no particular order):

• Children aged 6 through 59 months
• Adults aged 50 years and older
• Individuals with chronic pulmonary (including asthma), cardiovascular (excluding isolated hypertension), renal, hepatic, neurologic, hematologic, or metabolic disorders (including diabetes mellitus).
• Those who are immunocompromised due to any cause, including (but not limited to) medications or HIV infection.
• Women who are or will be pregnant during the influenza season.
• Children and adolescents (aged 6 months through 18 years) receiving aspirin- or salicylate-containing medications who might be at risk for Reye syndrome after influenza infection.
• Residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
• American Indians/Alaska Natives.
• Persons who are extremely obese (BMI ≥40 for adults).
• Caregivers and contacts of those at risk: 1) Household contacts and caregivers of children under 5 years of age, particularly contacts of children aged less than 6 months, and 2) adults aged 50 or older.
• Household contacts and caregivers of persons with medical conditions associated with increased risk of severe complications from influenza.
• Health care personnel, including all paid and unpaid persons working in health-care settings who have potential for exposure to patients and/or to infectious materials, whether directly involved in patient care or not.

More information: 2019-20 Summary of Recommendations

According to a release from the CDC, a CDC multi-country study reported in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Healthexternal icon found that the number of children younger than 1 year who are hospitalized with flu is at least double current estimates.

“Vaccines are an amazing global health intervention, but governments need information on disease burden in their countries—especially among people in high-risk groups like infants—to be able to weigh which programs make the most sense to invest in,” senior author Aubree Gordon, PhD, an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan, said in the release.

According to the CDC, these findings underscore the danger flu poses to young children, and the importance of vaccination policies that "protect babies, including vaccination of pregnant women, babies 6 months and older, and the close contacts of babies younger than 6 months who are too young to be vaccinated themselves."

More information and updates: CDC study and cdc.gov/flu/index.htm