Campus health centers
cope with flu shot shortage
by ajay singh
ucla today staff
Halloween’s around the corner, ushering in the holiday season.
But this festive period is also when the flu season kicks in, and
this time it will be complicated by the national shortage of flu
vaccine that is unlikely to be resolved by the end of the year.
Flu season begins in late November or early December and continues
until early March, causing some 36,000 deaths and 200,000 hospitalizations
annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). But those who aren’t at a high risk of serious complications
from influenza, even nurses and doctors who work with patients,
will have to wait for their shots, said J. Thomas Rosenthal, chief
medical officer for UCLA Healthcare.
Following CDC guidelines, the campus health system — including
the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center — has set
aside vaccines only for those considered to be at significant risk
if they catch the flu. These individuals include all children 6
months to 23 months old; adults aged 65 years or older; children
and adults with chronic health problems such as lung disease, blood
disorders, coronary disease, diabetes and weakened immune systems;
children and teenagers 6 months to 18 years old undergoing chronic
aspirin therapy (an aspirin a day); and all women who are pregnant
during the flu season.
October through November is the best time to get vaccinated, according
to the CDC, because the flu season peaks anywhere from late December
to early March, and it takes some two weeks after vaccination for
antibodies to develop. If the flu season peaks late, getting vaccinated
in December or later can still help.
The reason for the vaccine shortage has been widely reported: Citing
quality control problems, British authorities earlier this month
shut down the plant of Chiron Corporation, a major flu vaccine manufacturer
that supplies nearly half of the 100 million doses used annually
in the United States.
“Nobody could have predicted this would have happened,”
said Rosenthal, adding that UC San Francisco and UC Davis are both
experiencing an extreme shortfall because they ordered from the
British company. “We were fortunate that we ordered from a
[U.S.] company that was not shut down,” he said.
In fact, the medical center has approximately the same amount
of vaccine it received in previous years. “The problem is
that demand has been higher than in previous years,” explained
Rosenthal. “I wouldn’t call it a scare or hysteria,
but there has been great publicity in the press about the shortage,
causing people to wait in lines outside pharmacies.”
The vaccine shortage is unlikely to be resolved by the end of the
year, said Rosenthal, which means that many people will have to
wait until 2005 to get their shots. However, “the company
that supplies UCLA has been trying to make efforts to increase supplies
to Los Angeles County and other counties around the country,”
Rosenthal added.
For news updates on the availability of vaccine and advice on
how to keep from getting the flu, visit the Centers for Disease
Control Web site: www.cdc.gov/flu.
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