As flu season starts, CDC urges vaccination

With the start of flu season around the corner, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday urged everyone to get a flu shot.

More than 171 million doses of this year's flu vaccine already have been produced, with 40 million doses distributed, said Dr. Tom Frieden, CDC director, during a conference call with reporters.

Each year, the flu can cause millions of illnesses, hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths. Flu season typically lasts from October to May, with the illness peaking from January to March.

The Iowa Department of Public Health estimates 300,000 Iowans contract the flu every year. In addition, the flu and its complication of pneumonia cause an average 1,000 deaths annually in Iowa.

Flu comes on suddenly, and symptoms include fever, headache, tiredness, cough, sore throat, nasal congestion and body aches. The illness typically lasts two to seven days.

This year's vaccine protects against four strains of flu, including the influenza A (H3N2) strain that was predominant last season and caused a high number of hospitalizations nationwide.

The strain drifted, or changed, last year after batches of the vaccines already were manufactured and distributed, causing the vaccine to be less effective.

But Frieden said the CDC has closely monitored the flu strains affecting people in the Southern Hemisphere, which has an earlier flu season than the United States, to have a more effective vaccine this year.

Manufacturers also have cut down the time it takes to produce the vaccine, he said.

The CDC recommends flu shots for everyone 6 months of age and older. It is especially important for young children, people 65 and older and pregnant women.

During the 2014-15 influenza season, 50 percent of pregnant women were vaccinated before or during pregnancy, similar to the 2013-14 season, according to the CDC. Frieden said that while this is progress, the CDC wants that number to be higher, as the vaccine also can help the infant fight the flu once the mother gives birth.

'We need more young and middle-aged people to be vaccinated,” he added, and getting vaccinated helps young and healthy individuals not spread the disease to more vulnerable populations.

CDC data shows that adults 18 to 49 years old have the lowest vaccination rates, hovering below 35 percent since 2012.

'Flu is unpredictable. Make getting the vaccine normal for you and your family,” Frieden said.