The Barton County Health Department will travel to several locations this week to administer flu shots to combat this year’s influenza strains.
“It is very important for the general public, as well as the high-risk groups, to make sure that getting vaccinated against influenza is a priority this time of year,” Barton County Health Department Director Shelly Schneider said. “Vaccines are like a training course for the immune system. They prepare the body to fight disease without exposing it to disease symptoms.
“We want to make sure that the vaccine has enough time to build antibodies against the virus so that we can have the most optimal protection during the holidays as well as into the heart of winter, when the virus is most prevalent.”
This year’s vaccine is based on the strains that were obtained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) since 2015 for evaluation of variances.
The strains to contain included in the 2017-2018 vaccine are:
• A/Michigan/45/2015 (H1N1)pdm09–like virus, an A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2)-like virus
• B/Brisbane/60/2008–like virus (Victoria lineage) and
• influenza B vaccine virus, a B/Phuket/3073/2013–like virus (Yamagata lineage)

CDC recommendations
Routine annual influenza vaccination is recommended for all persons aged 6 months and order who do not have contraindications, according to the CDC. Emphasis should be placed on vaccination of high-risk groups and their contacts and caregivers. These include:
• Adults 50 and order
• Persons with chronic pulmonary (including asthma), cardiovascular (except isolated hypertension), renal, hepatic, neurologic, hematologic, or metabolic disorders (including diabetes mellitus)
• Persons who are immunocompromised due to any cause (including medications or HIV infection)
• Women who are or will be pregnant during the influenza season
• Children and adolescents (aged 6 months through 18 years) receiving aspirin- or salicylate-containing medications and who might be at risk for Reye syndrome
• Residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities
• American Indians/Alaska Natives
• Persons who are extremely obese
• Caregivers and contacts of those at risk
• Health care personnel and medical emergency-response workers, and anyone who has contact with patients or residents of nursing home and long-term care facilities
• Household contacts and caregivers of children or persons who are in one of the high-risk categories
“FluMist Quadrivalent, the nasal preparation continues to not be recommended during the 2017-18 season due to concerns about its effectiveness against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses in the United States during the 2013-14 and 2015-16 influenza seasons,” Schneider said.