Older Adult Flu Vaccine

Welcome to the 2013 flu season!  There is a reason to celebrate the kickoff of the flu season.  Why?  Older adults have their own flu vaccine, Fluzone, that is FOUR times stronger than the traditional influenza vaccine for younger folks.  Keep reading!

As you know from reading this blog, older adults have weakened immune systems and therefore, less antivirulant resistance.  The immune system wanes over time as a part of NORMAL aging, as you also know from reading this blog.  Of the 36k flu-related deaths annually, 90% or 32k are older adults. 

While the uber flu vaccine is BIG news, I am disappointed that it has not been publicized or widely available since it became available last year.  One drug store refused to give my husband the Fluzone vaccine, as he does not have any chronic conditions.... and so they either did not have enough on supply or had erroneous information about how to dispense it.   Fred's Drugs had it and the pharmacist said anyone age 65+ can get the Fluzone vaccine.  While the Fluzone literature claims that it is covered under Medicare B, for some odd reason my husband had to pay for it out of pocket.  Not to worry, it was around $45 and I say that was money well spent. 

Get vaccinated NOW.  Do not wait.  The flu vaccine takes about two weeks to kick in and the flu season has already started.  While flu trends cannot be predicted in advance, the CDC research indicates that 2011-2012 was a "relatively mild compared to other years."