Tens of thousands of us die every year from complications of the flu or pneumonia – indeed the combined death toll is ranked as America’s eighth leading cause of death.
Yet every year, the medical establishment feels that it has to urge us to get the shots that have a good chance of preventing those diseases. That advice comes because some feel that the shots may not be safe, or that the flu is really nothing more serious than a bad cold.
Nonetheless, the shots are your best chance to reduce the risk of illness. Here’s who should get a flu shot, each year (the strain of flu is different each year, so you need a yearly shot):
- Young people, from age 6 months to 19 years old, and older people, those 50 and up.
- Pregnant women.
- People with chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma or other lung diseases.
- Those who have weakened immune systems.
- Those who live in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities, even though the shots do not provide as much protection for those over the age of 65.
- Child care or other health care workers.
But some should not get shots. They include those who have had allergic reactions to the shots, people who are allergic to eggs, people who have developed Guillain-Barre syndrome in the past, and those who have a fever.
Pneumonia shots are also recommended, although there are many types of pneumonia, and the vaccine does not reduce the risk of all of them.
Half of pneumonia cases are viral, and tend to be less serious than the bacterial type. Up to 7 percent of the victims of bacterial pneumonia die each year.
The pneumonia vaccine protects against 23 types of bacterial pneumonia.
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