The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) give a yearly analysis of influenza strains and outbreaks and provide ongoing monitoring. Although narrowing down when an outbreak may occur or where the first cases will be found is more of an academic guessing game, the experts still strongly recommend flu vaccines as the best way of preventing illness.
Vaccines may include three or four forms of the flu virus. The CDC reports that, Influenza A (H1N1) viruses, influenza A (H3N2) viruses, and influenza B viruses are used to produce the most commonly used flu vaccine.
This year a quadrivalent flu vaccine will be available for the first time that includes a second strain of influenza B virus. Historically, the flu has started as early as October and has still been present in May. In the United States, flu cases generally peak around January and February.
As hard as it is to predict what the coming flu season has in store for health professionals and patients, the CDC underscores that even with emerging viruses, the cases of influenza are always less in areas where vaccines are widely administered.
The CDC reports that there are between 135 and 139 million doses of flu vaccine projected to be made available for the 2013-2014 flu season. About 30 million of those will be the new quadrivalent flu vaccine. Considering that the population of the United States is currently 313.9 million people, signing up for a flu shot early means building immunity ahead of any shortage that could arise should a particularly bad outbreak occur.
During this time of year community health educators, nurses and other medical professionals should spend time talking to patients about the pros and cons of flu vaccination. In the vast majority of cases, the pros highly outweigh the cons.
Healthcare professionals who use email communication with patients and utilize other social media communication can play a vital role in raising awareness of the importance of understanding the influenza, its complications and the role of vaccination in public health and safety. The CDC provides comprehensive information on their website about influenza and related topics, such as vaccines for the general public, as well as special links for healthcare providers.
References:
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/flu-season-2013-2014.htm
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