By David Shinstrom

The Sounder is now running periodic columns from island medical practitioners. This is the first in the series, which will appear six times per year.

It’s time to think about flu season, and new recommendations for children to receive vaccines.

“As we get toward the middle of September it is time to begin thinking about the upcoming flu season. “There are new recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) regarding the composition of this year’s flu vaccine and who should receive it. You may recall the vaccine for last year was rather ineffective in preventing the flu. This year’s vaccine is an entirely new formulation containing three new virus strains not included last year with the expectation of greater success in disease prevention for this upcoming year.”

Reviewing the latest reports, Shinstrom comments “for the first time CDC is recommending all children between the ages of 5 and 18 years receive the vaccine in addition to previous recommendations that children 6-59 months be vaccinated. As previously has been the policy, all adults greater than age 50 should also receive the vaccine. Additionally, there are special groups of patients who should receive the vaccine: those less than age 50 with chronic illnesses, healthcare workers, pregnant women, and those caring for patients at high risk for influenza complications. Lastly, any adult between the ages of 18 and 49 who wish to be vaccinated should be able to receive the vaccine. Depending on availability, children between 6-35 months may need to receive their vaccine at the San Juan County Health Department.”

“Recently, there has been another option to the standard ‘flu shot’ (trivalent inactivated vaccine) for selected patients. A nasal spray (live attenuated influenza vaccine) may be given to healthy patients age 2-49. The decision as to which vaccine should be given can be made between the patient and their health care provider. In any given year, the optimal time to vaccinate patients cannot be precisely determined because influenza seasons vary in their timing and duration, and more than one outbreak might occur in a single community in a single year. Currently, some time in mid-October is the target to begin flu vaccine, a date that may change depending on recommendations of the CDC and county health department.”

David Shinstrom is medical director of the Orcas Family Health Center (OFHC).