Hawai'i officials join nationwide push for flu shots
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer
Hawai'i health officials yesterday echoed a national call for Americans to get flu shots, as the October-to-May flu season nears.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
An especially virulent strain of flu from Australia and New Zealand is headed our way this fall, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.
Registered nurse June Niizuma prepares to administer a flu shot. Health officials warn of an especially virulent strain.
Another reason for Hawai'i residents to get vaccinated is that it may keep people who travel to places where SARS had been prevalent from being mistaken for having a suspected case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, whose symptoms are similar to those of the flu.
If folks get a shot that prevents them from getting the flu, "people won't be worried (that) 'maybe I've got SARS,' " state epidemiologist Dr. Paul Effler said.
Dr. Alan Tice, infectious diseases specialist at The Queen's Medical Center and the University of Hawai'i medical school, noted that while SARS has killed about 800 people worldwide, more than 20,000 Americans die each year from flu.
The state Department of Health says people can get a flu shot from their doctor or at a clinic listed on the department's Web site.
"You can diagnose early, you can treat it, you can prevent it," Tice said.
Flu shots available
Usually, health officials recommend that the frail and the elderly get flu shots, but officials have an abundance of the vaccine this year and are urging everyone to get vaccinated.
Effler said that people sometimes make the mistake of treating the flu as a minor inconvenience instead of as a potentially serious illness that "knocks you down for days."
Tracy Ayers, state influenza surveillance coordinator, said this vaccine protects against strains of both influenza A and B.
Ayers said some school-age children in Hawai'i have been diagnosed with the flu, which might encourage parents to get their whole families vaccinated.
In June, the federal Food and Drug Administration approved a new nasal vaccine that has been approved for use by prescription for healthy people ages 5 to 49.
Tice said the nasal vaccine does provide a potentially more effective delivery. But it's new, and it can cost up to $70, considerably more than the typical $15 cost of a flu shot.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
