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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With William Schaffner

Aired December 06, 2003 - 09:43   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: For months, millions of people ignored warnings to get flu shots. Now that the flu outbreak has hit early, spread fast, and has been especially bad, there's a sudden late demand for the shots.
Let's talk about it a little bit more with Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt Medical Center.

Good morning to you, doctor. Thanks for being here with us.

Let me begin by asking you, is it really hitting early, faster, and much worse?

DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, VANDERBILT MEDICAL CENTER: Oh, yes. The flu is here early, and it is spreading, and it's moving east.

COLLINS: Moving east, what do you mean by that?

SCHAFFNER: Well, it was introduced and spread first in Texas and Colorado and New Mexico, and now it's moving east just in the last week. It's just changed here in Nashville. We've got people coming into the emergency room, their doctors' offices. We've had an outbreak in a nursing home and a daycare center. So it's on the way.

COLLINS: So when you say moving east, is that unusual?

SCHAFFNER: It's not unusual. You can't always tell where influenza's going to start and how quickly it's going to spread. This time, it happened to be introduced into Texas and into Colorado, and now it's moving across the rest of the country.

COLLINS: What makes it more potent than some of the other strains? We've heard a lot about when people get the flu vaccine, you're certainly not guaranteed that you're going to be vaccinated against every single strain of the flu.

SCHAFFNER: Well, the vaccine is still very protective. Although the dominant strain this year is a little bit different than the strain that's represented in the vaccine, there is overlap. And furthermore, some of the other strains that are circulating in a minor way, about 20 percent of the cases, they're very nicely targeted in the vaccine. So the vaccine is still quite effective.

COLLINS: All right. So what should people do at this point? There's been a lot of press about it, obviously. People very aware now. Should everyone go and get a flu shot? I mean, what about these certain risk categories?

SCHAFFNER: Yes, the risk categories are the folks we worry about the most. They're the folks who are more prone to the complications of influenza, people over age 50.

If you're younger than age 50, if you have underlying heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, if you're immunosuppressed, if you're a pregnant woman and your pregnancy is in the second or third trimester of that pregnancy during this flu season, that's important to get vaccinated.

And then very young children, age 6 months to 24 months of age. They're also at high risk.

So those are the folks we worry about first. But then beyond that, any healthy person who wants to protect themselves against the flu ought to get vaccinated.

COLLINS: Let's talk about that vaccination for just a moment, if we could. We've also been hearing about this possible shortage of the vaccine. Yet a lot of the health officials are saying there was 87 million different vaccinations that were shipped this year. So we should be fine. What are your thoughts on that?

SCHAFFNER: Well, the companies have delivered all their vaccine, and the remnants of the vaccine are now with the distributors and with what are called the end users, doctors' offices, clinics, and the like. There's still vaccine out there.

Now, here and there, there may be a spot shortage. But it's a little like shopping for a Christmas present. If you want that special toy, you may have to go to another store. If your doctor, your favorite place is out of flu vaccine, make another call, go to the next place, and see if you can't still get vaccinated.

COLLINS: OK. Want to take a look if we could, quickly, at some of the warnings and some of the symptoms that people could be suffering to try to figure out if they have the flu before it goes too long.

First, starting with children, when we look at those different symptoms, we realize that you should be looking for your kids to be a little lethargic?

SCHAFFNER: Well, you know, children can get fever. They can get lethargy. They can have sometimes difficulty breathing. They won't feed as well. They may have a little crampy pain in their tummies. Flu in babies and young children involves the whole child, not just the lungs. So there are going to be lots of moms who are concerned about their children when they get fever and call their doctors, and you know, that's appropriate.

COLLINS: All right. Also, dehydration and confusion, and then trouble breathing, which we also see as a symptom for adults. Talk about that for a moment. SCHAFFNER: Sure. Adults get obviously the cough and bronchitis and sometimes sputum production. But they can also feel terrible. You get muscle aches and cramps. Sometimes you can get some confusion, because there's an element of encephalitis that can occur with influenza. It's a serious disease, it's worth preventing.

COLLINS: Also be on the lookout for fevers between 103 and 105.

Doctor, we appreciate your time this morning. Lot of people really thinking about this one. We hope everyone stays well, including you.

SCHAFFNER: Happy, happy and healthy holidays, Heidi.

COLLINS: Great. Thank you so very much.

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 December 6, 2003 - 09:43   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: For months, millions of people ignored warnings to get flu shots. Now that the flu outbreak has hit early, spread fast, and has been especially bad, there's a sudden late demand for the shots.
Let's talk about it a little bit more with Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt Medical Center.

Good morning to you, doctor. Thanks for being here with us.

Let me begin by asking you, is it really hitting early, faster, and much worse?

DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, VANDERBILT MEDICAL CENTER: Oh, yes. The flu is here early, and it is spreading, and it's moving east.

COLLINS: Moving east, what do you mean by that?

SCHAFFNER: Well, it was introduced and spread first in Texas and Colorado and New Mexico, and now it's moving east just in the last week. It's just changed here in Nashville. We've got people coming into the emergency room, their doctors' offices. We've had an outbreak in a nursing home and a daycare center. So it's on the way.

COLLINS: So when you say moving east, is that unusual?

SCHAFFNER: It's not unusual. You can't always tell where influenza's going to start and how quickly it's going to spread. This time, it happened to be introduced into Texas and into Colorado, and now it's moving across the rest of the country.

COLLINS: What makes it more potent than some of the other strains? We've heard a lot about when people get the flu vaccine, you're certainly not guaranteed that you're going to be vaccinated against every single strain of the flu.

SCHAFFNER: Well, the vaccine is still very protective. Although the dominant strain this year is a little bit different than the strain that's represented in the vaccine, there is overlap. And furthermore, some of the other strains that are circulating in a minor way, about 20 percent of the cases, they're very nicely targeted in the vaccine. So the vaccine is still quite effective.

COLLINS: All right. So what should people do at this point? There's been a lot of press about it, obviously. People very aware now. Should everyone go and get a flu shot? I mean, what about these certain risk categories?

SCHAFFNER: Yes, the risk categories are the folks we worry about the most. They're the folks who are more prone to the complications of influenza, people over age 50.

If you're younger than age 50, if you have underlying heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, if you're immunosuppressed, if you're a pregnant woman and your pregnancy is in the second or third trimester of that pregnancy during this flu season, that's important to get vaccinated.

And then very young children, age 6 months to 24 months of age. They're also at high risk.

So those are the folks we worry about first. But then beyond that, any healthy person who wants to protect themselves against the flu ought to get vaccinated.

COLLINS: Let's talk about that vaccination for just a moment, if we could. We've also been hearing about this possible shortage of the vaccine. Yet a lot of the health officials are saying there was 87 million different vaccinations that were shipped this year. So we should be fine. What are your thoughts on that?

SCHAFFNER: Well, the companies have delivered all their vaccine, and the remnants of the vaccine are now with the distributors and with what are called the end users, doctors' offices, clinics, and the like. There's still vaccine out there.

Now, here and there, there may be a spot shortage. But it's a little like shopping for a Christmas present. If you want that special toy, you may have to go to another store. If your doctor, your favorite place is out of flu vaccine, make another call, go to the next place, and see if you can't still get vaccinated.

COLLINS: OK. Want to take a look if we could, quickly, at some of the warnings and some of the symptoms that people could be suffering to try to figure out if they have the flu before it goes too long.

First, starting with children, when we look at those different symptoms, we realize that you should be looking for your kids to be a little lethargic?

SCHAFFNER: Well, you know, children can get fever. They can get lethargy. They can have sometimes difficulty breathing. They won't feed as well. They may have a little crampy pain in their tummies. Flu in babies and young children involves the whole child, not just the lungs. So there are going to be lots of moms who are concerned about their children when they get fever and call their doctors, and you know, that's appropriate.

COLLINS: All right. Also, dehydration and confusion, and then trouble breathing, which we also see as a symptom for adults. Talk about that for a moment. SCHAFFNER: Sure. Adults get obviously the cough and bronchitis and sometimes sputum production. But they can also feel terrible. You get muscle aches and cramps. Sometimes you can get some confusion, because there's an element of encephalitis that can occur with influenza. It's a serious disease, it's worth preventing.

COLLINS: Also be on the lookout for fevers between 103 and 105.

Doctor, we appreciate your time this morning. Lot of people really thinking about this one. We hope everyone stays well, including you.

SCHAFFNER: Happy, happy and healthy holidays, Heidi.

COLLINS: Great. Thank you so very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com