After the scary flu pandemic during the 2009 flu season, people raced out in droves to get the flu vaccine for the 2010-2011 season.  Finally!  I would guess that preventing themselves or their children from giving it to other people was not the primary reason for getting a vaccination, but that is the end result.  The increase, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), was due to a significantly larger number of children receiving the vaccine.  For most flus the population that is at the highest risk for contracting the flu and suffering serious complications is the elderly.  The 2009 pandemic reversed that trend causing more complications and death among the very young to everyone’s surprise.  The CDC speculates that this is the most likely reason for the increase in vaccinations for children and specifically for  Hispanics (11.4% higher) and non-Hispanic blacks (12.4 % higher).   The increase for non-Hispanic white children was lower at 3.8% but still boosted the overall numbers.

I can only hope that this type of self-preservation continues.  Even if future flu strains aren’t specifically dangerous for children, they are active carriers of the flu, from not realizing that they are sick, to touching everything in sight and putting it in their mouths!  The record number of doses, 163 million, distributed to the United States and the increased number of locations providing them made getting a flu shot much easier than in past years.  People need to continue to be aware of the dangers of the flu and the community needs to continue to provide easily accessible vaccinations.  I’ll continue to get my flu shots early in the season to protect myself from those who can’t be bothered or don’t care that they are infecting those around them!

Written  by www.labtestingnow.com