CDC: 90% of kids who died last flu season didn't get vaccine

It's time to get flu shots for yourself and your family!

CDC: 90% of kids who died last flu season didn't get vaccine
By Jessica Ivins
September 18th, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY — The flu took the lives of more than 100 children in the U.S. last flu season, and most of those kids didn’t get a flu shot.

That’s according to a new report by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention , aimed to encourage Americans to get vaccinated now. The flu kills up to approximately 36,000 people each year, but less than half of the population gets an annual flu shot. That’s something the CDC wants to change.

This year, the CDC will have 150 million doses of the vaccine available to the public. New laws require that insurance cover 100 percent of the cost, negating the out-of-pocket expense. And those with needle phobia can instead opt for a nasal spray or a new “needle-free” method that uses a jet to force the vaccine through the skin.

The CDC is also recommending that children ages 2 to 8 receive the nasal spray vaccine this year, as new evidence suggests this method is more effective for this age group, according to USA Today.

If you can't get this year's flu shot for free at your doctor's office, Costco is the next cheapest option if you have a membership there. Otherwise, you can see the prices available at King Soopers, Safeway, Walgreens, etc. at the link below.

Debbie's Deals: Flu shot deals in 2014
Deb Stanley
Sep 30, 2014

Need a flu shot? The best deal is to check with your doctor to see if you can get it for free with your insurance.

If not, here are some options.

Giving them blood transfusions from survivors is, in essence, vaccinating the victims. Those who have survived have created their own antibodies, and it used to be how immunizations were done. The difference being that each person who survived will create slightly different antibodies, so not every victim is getting the same effectiveness of an immunization, plus you don't want to be depleting a newly recovered victim of their blood when they need to be increasing their strength, not slowing it down (and they can't possibly produce enough blood, and antibodies, to administer to everyone at risk out there).

With a disease like this, there usually aren't enough survivors to adequately treat the number of new cases, so this is a great temporary fix until they can create a uniform, effective, safe vaccine that can be rapidly scaled up for the number of infected people they are projecting. The numbers I'm seeing from the WHO are frightening, as is the massive social chaos happening with lack of food, riots, and misunderstandings by locals of the good intentions of health workers isolating their loved ones when they fall ill, mistrusting and refusing vaccines believing they carry sterilization properties or other diseases, or not allowing them to perform burial rituals that they are used to doing because they don't understand disease transference mechanisms. It hurts to see every news story about the doctors, health workers, etc who are attacked and harmed/killed due to villagers' ignorance - so much harm that radiates is so senseless.

I hope the WHO, UN, Doctors Without Borders, etc. learn from this that they really need to focus on training and educating local healthcare workers. Villagers will trust their own before an outsider and those living there are the front line of defense - they deserve to have the best fighting chance possible, with outside aid to back them up - not replace them.

Yes, that is a great use of our troops - I'm very heartened that they are going, and hope they stay safe.

Regarding Jenny McCarthy, I'm sorry to be rude and blunt about this, but there's no fixing stupid. She's made up her mind, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that vaccines cause autism. I'm sorry that her child was diagnosed with autism, and wish them a full and healthy life, but to continue to blame vaccines is absurd. It's impossible to reason with unreasonable people, and she falls into that category. Better to move on and not waste time on that.

Edit to add:
This just came across the wire. This is why we need to try to contain it at the source as quickly as possible - with worldwide travel being what it is today, it could spread internationally in no time.

CDC: Ebola confirmed in Dallas patient
Gannett, news source 3:31 p.m. MDT September 30, 2014