Influenza, more commonly know as the flu, is more than just a bad cold. It is a serious illness with a fever, cough, sore throat and body aches.  The flu causes about 20,000 deaths each year with elderly and chronically ill people at the greatest risk.  The flu can sometimes lead to pneumonia.  Pneumonia is a lung infection that can be the result of the flu.  Pneumonia which can also cause an infection of the blood and the lining of the brain is common with approximately 2-3 million cases reported each year in the United States.  

Flu shots are recommended to prevent contraction of influenza each winter season.  It is estimated that the flu shot can prevent thousands of deaths each year.  In contrast, pneumonia shots are usually given only once during an individual’s lifetime but are often given with the flu shot.  Adults with multiple health problems, heart disease, diabetes, respiratory complications such as asthma or emphysema, and those over age 65, may especially consider obtaining flu and pneumonia shots. Nationally, however, only about one out of six older adults receive these vaccinations. 

Since October is flu and pneumonia awareness month, the following article examines flu and pneumonia vaccination rates among older adults in Southeastern Pennsylvania (SEPA) using data from PHMC’s 2002 SEPA Household Health Survey. 

Flu Shots

In SEPA, seven out of ten (70.2%) older adults age 60 years and older received a flu shot in the past year; this percentage represents 474,400 older adults who received this important vaccination.  However, nearly three out of ten older adults have not received a flu shot in the past year.   The most frequently cited reasons given for not receiving the flu shot in the past year include: not thinking the shot was needed (36.1%), allergic to it (15.7%), don’t believe in it (11.5%), and a fear of the shot (8.2%). 

Certain population groups are more likely to receive flu vaccinations including whites, Latinos and older adults 75 years of age and over.

• Older adults age 75 years of age and older are more likely to have received a flu shot in the past year compared to younger adults ages 60-74; nearly eight out of ten adults age 75 and over received a flu shot in the past year compared to 64.6% of adults 60-74. 
  
• White older adults (72.6%) are more likely than black (62.3%) and Asian (42.6%) older adults to have had a flu shot in the past year. 
  
• More than eight out of ten Latino older adults received a flu shot in the past year compared to seven out of ten non-Latino adults (81.7% versus 70.1%, respectively). 
  
• Poverty does not appear to have an impact on receiving a flu shot among older adults in the region; approximately seven out of ten poor and non-poor older adults received a flu shot in the past year.  
  
• Men and women were equally as likely to have received a flu shot in the past year (69.2% versus 70.9%, respectively).

• Older adults in fair/poor health were slightly more likely to receive a flu shot in the past year compared to those in excellent/good health (72.7% versus 68.9%, respectively).
  
• Not surprisingly, older adults with a chronic health condition were more likely to receive a flu shot in the past year than those without a chronic health problem (75.8% verse 65.9%, respectively). 
  

Pneumonia Vaccination

Despite the fact that the flu sometimes develops into pneumonia, particularly among those individuals who are older and have chronic health problems, the data show that many older adults in the region have not had a pneumonia vaccination; 55.5% older adults, representing 367,700 individuals, have never had a pneumonia vaccination. 

• Men are less likely to ever have had a pneumonia vaccination compared to women (53.6% versus 56.9%, respectively).
  
• Younger older adults ages 60-74 are less likely to have had a pneumonia vaccination (53.6%) compared to older adults age 75 and older (56.9%).
  
• White older adults (57.8%) are more likely than black (48.2%) and Asian (28.7%) older adults to have ever had a vaccination for pneumonia. 
  
• Latinos are less likely (51.3%) to have ever had a pneumonia vaccination compared to non-Latinos (55.7%).
  
• The poor are less likely to have ever had a pneumonia vaccination compared to the non-poor (52.5% versus 55.9%, respectively).
  
• Older adults with a chronic health condition are more likely to have had a pneumonia vaccination (62.6%) compared to those without a chronic problem (50.2%). 
  

The data show that many older adults in the region need to be educated about the importance of receiving flu and pneumonia vaccinations.  Educational campaigns should focus on the myths about adverse reactions to the shots and the importance of the vaccinations in saving lives. For more information about flu and pneumonia vaccinations in the region, please contact Francine Axler  at Francine@phmc.org or visit these websites:

http://www.seniors.gov/articles/0103/flushots.htm
http://cms.hhs.gov/media/press/release
http://www.biomed.lib.umn.edu/hmed/20030403_flu.html
http://www.pslgroup.com