|
By Shankar Vedantam
Taking a flu shot will not help people
tell if they have anthrax, health officials said on October
31, as medical groups sought to prevent anthrax fears from
causing a run on influenza vaccine.
Doctors reported that many people are asking for flu vaccine
in the mistaken belief that
if they develop flu-like symptoms after they have been vaccinated,
they will know they have anthrax. The early symptoms of anthrax
resemble the flu.
In reality, experts said, taking a flu shot will not help
diagnose anthrax, because numerous
viruses cause flu-like symptoms.
"We want to separate the idea that getting vaccinated
[for flu] increases or decreases your fears about getting
anthrax," said Keiji Fukuda, an epidemiologist at the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "When people
get vaccinated against influenza they have decreased their
chances of getting the flu, but they can get infected by cold
viruses."
Influenza causes far more deaths -- about 20,000 a year in
the United States -- than does anthrax. Some public health
experts said the flu's toll ought to prompt nearly everyone
to be vaccinated, which would require more vaccine than is
now available.
Manufacturers have sent about 45 million
doses of flu vaccine to clinics and hospitals this fall, and
40 million more are scheduled to be shipped soon.
Helen Schauffler, professor of health policy at the University
of California at Berkeley, said vaccinations could save the
lives of many elderly people and protect younger adults from
missing work.
"The flu shot is always good medicine," said William
Hall, president of the American College of Physicians-American
Society of Internal Medicine.
Hall's group said the emphasis should be on vaccinating high-risk
groups: the elderly, health care workers, and people with
heart and lung problems. But "we're also recommending
that most adults take the flu shot [and] not to panic if they
don't get it in October. December would be fine," he
said.
About 60 million people fall into the high-risk category,
but only 60 to 70 percent of them have taken flu shots in
past years.
The American Medical Association said doctors have not reported
any problem in vaccine availability. Last week, Health and
Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson called on vaccine
makers to avoid last year's problems, when some elderly people
could not obtain vaccinations early in the flu season.
"If we take October as a priority month for the higher-risk
people, then as we go into November and December, [plenty
of flu vaccine] will be available for other people,"
said Timothy Flaherty, chairman of the American Medical Association.
Distribution problems and shortages early in the season are
usually a bigger headache than the overall amount of vaccine
available, experts said.
"It would be a great boon if it ran out, but I don't
think that has been a problem for as far as I can remember,"
said Richard Levinson, associate executive director of the
American Public Health Association. "It is always a battle
to get people to take their immunizations."
Washington
Post November 1, 2001; Page A11
| 