Doctors are worried that thousands of vulnerable people in Wales have still not had their flu jab.

[HAIRBEAR_UK]

"Latest figures reveal more than half of those at risk under 65 across Wales have not yet had their jab.

Only 47.7% of patients - just under 135,000 - in this group have been vaccinated so far.

One public health consultant at Cardiff and Vale Health Board said many at risk people were not aware they were entitled to a free jab.

This group is more likely to develop potentially serious complications of flu such as bronchitis and pneumonia.

The health board said those most at risk include pregnant women and people who have a weakened immune system"

BBC Wales today .bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-255...

PHW say latest figures show "small numbers of sporadic detections" of flu in Wales and "it would not be surprising to see increases in influenza activity over the next few weeks"."

Of course this is about the entire vulnerable population and CLL people make up a very small minority, however it did raise questions in my mind.

CLL people are immune compromised, is this a Wales problem alone? Or part a larger issue. How many people who are made vulnerable by CLL and are not aware of guidance or need to be vaccinated?

Is this a patient education issue or one that also needs focus by primary care?

is this a Welsh national picture only or is it UK wide or even global??

I recall I was not made aware myself at diagnosis and was not informed by my GP either; are CLL people who are immune compromised and vulnerable to the consequences and complications of an influenza infection slipping through the net?

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero]

Uptake of flu vaccine is slow in Canada too, although I'm bombarded by information. I think there is a lot of misinformation on flu vaccines, pro and con on the internet, and a lack of fundamental research information. And there are concerns being voiced ...

theglobeandmail.com/life/he...

It appears that governments are spending far more money on program delivery, rather than basic science.

That said, I get two flu jabs a winter here in Canada... even a tiny bit of protection is better than none.

~chris

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator in reply to Cllcanada]

Chris, that article is rather alarming; I can see people who are ambivalent about getting an annual flu shot using that year's incident with the pandemic vaccine to avoid vaccinations in future, despite it being irrelevant to annual flu vaccinations. It's a pity the science was inconclusive as to the cause. Sadly if the cause is ever confirmed, it will be unlikely to get anywhere near the publicity and the damage will have been done.

With the pandemic that wasn't (kind of), it didn't help that governments and medical authorities were seen to over-hype the risk. In Australia, some schools were closed for weeks as soon as any students came down with the pandemic strain (often after returning from an overseas trip). Early reports of the pandemic's impact after the worst of it was over understated the actual number of infected people too. Later reports put the figures much higher, but by then the public had lost interest and I'm very concerned that next time the world will be in for an extremely serious outbreak due to the 'cried wolf' effect.

Neil

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero in reply to AussieNeil]

In Canada we had SARS, so we have come very close to the edge... I simply don't understand the resistance to vaccination. I can walk 1000 yards to my drugstore and get a free jab... no doctor involved...

My grandfather told me of the 1918 pandemic with coffins piled 6 high on every street corner in Montreal... we can't assume it won't happen again.

When is the next flight landing from Saudi Arabia?

theprovince.com/health/Saud...

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator in reply to Cllcanada]

Australia was incredibly lucky to escape SARS. There was one confirmed case and 6 probable. Considering Australia's proximity to Asia and how much air traffic from Australia travels through Singapore, which was considerably impacted, it could have been easily as bad as Canada. I wonder why the mortality rate in Canada was so high - nearly 20% ?

We are now losing the second hand memory of the 1918 influenza pandemic and I suspect people are complacent, not appreciating that the flu is a virus and not fixed by a pill...

The 1918 Influenza outbreak killed between 50 to 100 million in a year world wide (10 to 20% fatality rate) compared to 16 million deaths from all the World War I fighting. It also killed more than were killed by the Black Death in a century in the 14th Century:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_...

archives.gov/exhibits/influ...

Makes any inconvenience and risk from a flu jab rather inconsequential...

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero in reply to AussieNeil]

Well said Neil... H1N1 just took a major surge here in Canada in the last few days... PLEASE get the vaccination, it won't kill you but may save your life!

cbc.ca/news/health/flu-surg...

Common myths about flu vaccines...

cbc.ca/news/health/6-flu-va...

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator in reply to AussieNeil]

Even Lucy convinces Linus of the wisdom of a measles vaccination in today's Peanuts comic strip!

mycomicspage.com/peanuts/20...

[Newdawn Administrator in reply to AussieNeil]

I absolutely agree on the need for the flu jab (even though I wasn't advised on dx of the need). Immediate members of my family have also received it but my special needs son doesn't do injections I'm afraid. Not an inconvenience to him, just an impossibility and no medic would attempt it!

I had wondered therefore if he could have the flu nasal spray but as it's a live vaccine I understand that this could pose some small risk to me?

It's a dilemma because I cannot avoid exposure at home as a result.

Newdawn

[Myrddin in reply to AussieNeil]

Two canadian family members survived WW1 only to die on their way home. One reason the flu spread far and wide was the return of the troops after the end of the war. Planes make this spread even faster so a new pandemic can be worldwide in hours rather than months.

[Kam73]

I just read an article in the paper about the flu hitting those under 65 who have not been vaccinated. In the USA the vaccine is easily available and covered under health insurance. There is such a reluctance to getting a flu shot....the old myth of getting the flu from the shot. Still too many not getting their shot.

As for my husband, one of the first questions the oncologist asked was if he had the flu shot.