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CNN Live Today
Fighting the Flu
Aired November 28, 2003 - 19:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Attacking early and often, a severe strain of influenza has sickened thousands of people across the nation. And health officials say a strain of the flu virus that's cropping up was not included in this year's vaccine. CNN's medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has details and tips.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: One of the strains of the flu that's particularly virulent that is really making people sick, it wasn't in the vaccine. They try to plan in the spring for what they should put in the vaccine for the fall, and they missed this one. This one just wasn't in there. And that happens sometimes. And so there may not be 100 percent protection against that particular strain.
The other thing is that flu seasons are cyclical. Every couple of years, every certain number of years, you get a bad flu season. A couple of easy ones, and then you get a hard one.
Another one -- and this has been true for a long time -- is that people aren't listening to the CDC and other public health officials when they say, get a flu shot. Most people simply ignore it. For example, if you take a look at asthmatic children, those are children who really need a flu shot, because if they get the flu they could really be in trouble, only 10 percent of children with asthma do get flu shots, even though there have been many campaigns to educate pediatricians to give their asthmatic kids flu shots.
Also, everyone over age 50 is supposed to get a flu shot. Look at the 50 to 64-year-old bracket. Only one-third of them actually do. And here is one from -- about people who really should know better. Less than 36 percent of health care workers get flu shots. And all of them are supposed to. And many public health officials find this particularly frustrating.
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, VANDERBILT SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: So many of them are really quite healthy that they don't see the recommendations pertaining to them. But what they've forgotten is the main reason we want them to get vaccinated is so they don't give the flu to their patients, so they have a responsibility not only to themselves and their families, but to their patients.
COHEN: Now, many people say that they don't get flu shots because they have certain misconceptions about the shot. So let's go over what some of those misconceptions are. Some people think that a flu shot is going to give them the flu. That's not true. Flu shots contain a dead virus and it won't give you the flu. And some people feel, oh, the flu shot is not for me, it's for my grandmother, it's for someone with asthma, or for someone with this disease or that disease, but really pretty much anyone can benefit from a flu shot. There are only very, very small numbers of people who aren't supposed to get it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 28, 2003 - 19:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Attacking early and often, a severe strain of influenza has sickened thousands of people across the nation. And health officials say a strain of the flu virus that's cropping up was not included in this year's vaccine. CNN's medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has details and tips.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: One of the strains of the flu that's particularly virulent that is really making people sick, it wasn't in the vaccine. They try to plan in the spring for what they should put in the vaccine for the fall, and they missed this one. This one just wasn't in there. And that happens sometimes. And so there may not be 100 percent protection against that particular strain.
The other thing is that flu seasons are cyclical. Every couple of years, every certain number of years, you get a bad flu season. A couple of easy ones, and then you get a hard one.
Another one -- and this has been true for a long time -- is that people aren't listening to the CDC and other public health officials when they say, get a flu shot. Most people simply ignore it. For example, if you take a look at asthmatic children, those are children who really need a flu shot, because if they get the flu they could really be in trouble, only 10 percent of children with asthma do get flu shots, even though there have been many campaigns to educate pediatricians to give their asthmatic kids flu shots.
Also, everyone over age 50 is supposed to get a flu shot. Look at the 50 to 64-year-old bracket. Only one-third of them actually do. And here is one from -- about people who really should know better. Less than 36 percent of health care workers get flu shots. And all of them are supposed to. And many public health officials find this particularly frustrating.
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, VANDERBILT SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: So many of them are really quite healthy that they don't see the recommendations pertaining to them. But what they've forgotten is the main reason we want them to get vaccinated is so they don't give the flu to their patients, so they have a responsibility not only to themselves and their families, but to their patients.
COHEN: Now, many people say that they don't get flu shots because they have certain misconceptions about the shot. So let's go over what some of those misconceptions are. Some people think that a flu shot is going to give them the flu. That's not true. Flu shots contain a dead virus and it won't give you the flu. And some people feel, oh, the flu shot is not for me, it's for my grandmother, it's for someone with asthma, or for someone with this disease or that disease, but really pretty much anyone can benefit from a flu shot. There are only very, very small numbers of people who aren't supposed to get it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
