Sharp Community Medical Group is committed to helping you avoid illness and stay healthy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone 6 months and older get a flu vaccine each year starting with the 2010-2011 influenza season.
In collaboration with Vons Pharmacies, SCMG members will be able to receive their flu shots throughout San Diego County at various Vons locations beginning September 1, 2010.
As an SCMG member there is no charge for this vaccination. Flu shots are fully covered by your HMO when administered at one of these immunizing sites. There will be a fee for all non-SCMG members who receive flu vaccine. It is required that you bring your Health Plan insurance card with you when you come to the flu clinic for the vaccination to be free of charge. Please indicate to the pharmacist that you are a Sharp Community Medical Group member when presenting your card.
It is advised that patients call Vons to confirm if a licensed immunizer is available.
SCMG Flu clinics will not be able to accommodate children under 8 years old. Please contact your child’s primary care physician for their vaccination.
The 2010-2011 seasonal flu vaccine will protect against three strains of influenza: the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, which caused the 2009 pandemic, and two other influenza viruses (an H3N2 virus and an influenza B virus). It is recommended that seasonal influenza vaccine Afluria not be used in children age 6 months to 8 years.
Getting vaccinated:
- Can lower your chances of getting the flu and reduce the severity of the illness.
- Is a “killed” virus and cannot cause the flu.
- Is safe and for most people, causes only minor, if any side effects.
Flu shots are not recommended for people who
- Have ever had a severe reaction to eggs or the flu shot.
- Have ever had Guillain-Barre Syndrome.
- Children less than 6 months of age.
- People who have a moderate-to-severe illness with a fever (they should wait until they recover to get vaccinated).
How effective is the flu vaccine?
Vaccine effectiveness varies from year to year, depending upon the degree of similarity between the influenza virus strains included in the vaccine and the strain or strains that circulate during the influenza season. Vaccine strains must be chosen 9 to 10 months before the influenza season, and sometimes mutations occur in the circulating strains of viruses between the time vaccine strains are chosen and the next influenza season. These mutations sometimes reduce the ability of the vaccine-induced-antibody to inhibit the newly mutated virus, thereby reducing vaccine effectiveness.
Vaccine effectiveness also varies from one person to another, depending on factors such as age and overall health.
What are the side effects of the flu vaccine?
The most serious side effect that can occur after influenza vaccination is an allergic reaction in people who have a severe allergy to eggs. For this reason, people who have an allergy to eggs should not receive the influenza vaccine.
The National Center for Infectious Diseases (a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC) says that influenza vaccine causes no side effects in most people who are not allergic to eggs. Less than one-third of people who receive the vaccine experience some soreness at the vaccination site, and about 5 to 10 percent experience mild side effects, such as headache or low-grade fever for about a day after receiving the vaccination.
Because these mild side effects mimic some influenza symptoms, some people believe the influenza vaccine causes them to get influenza. However, according to the CDC, "influenza vaccine produced in the United States has never been capable of causing influenza because the only type of influenza vaccine that has been licensed in the United States to the present time is made from killed influenza viruses, which cannot cause infection."
When should I get a flu shot?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends getting the flu shot every year, between September and mid-November, before the flu season hits (usually December to April). The flu shot takes one to two weeks to become effective.
Although there are many new medications designed to treat flu symptoms and even shorten the duration of the illness, the flu vaccine still offers the best protection against the flu.
If I get the flu shot, can I still get the flu?
Every year, the flu shot "cocktail" changes to combat the current strains of influenza affecting the population. The World Health Organization (WHO) monitors flu outbreaks worldwide and recommends appropriate vaccine compositions to be used for the next year. However, sometimes, a strain may appear that was not included in the flu vaccine. People who have had the flu shot tend to have milder symptoms if they contract the flu.
Who is considered "high-risk" for the flu?
- Pregnant women
- Children younger than 5, but especially children younger than 2 years old
- People 50 years of age and older
- People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions
- People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities
- People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu, including:
- Health care workers
- Household contacts of persons at high risk for complications from the flu
- Household contacts and out of home caregivers of children less than 6 months of age (these children are too young to be vaccinated)