Study Says Half-Dose Flu Shots OK For Some

[OhioChick]

Source: AP

Government Study Finds One Size Doesn't Have To Fit All

POSTED: 4:04 pm EST December 8, 2008
UPDATED: 4:18 pm EST December 8, 2008

CHICAGO -- Half-dose flu shots are effective in adults, especially in women and those younger than 50, and offer a viable way to stretch supplies during vaccine shortages, a government study found.

The strategy also might be an option during hard economic times since lower doses likely would mean cheaper shots, said Vanderbilt University vaccine expert Dr. Kathryn Edwards, who wasn't involved in the study. And the lower dosage could open doors to vaccinating people in poor countries where flu shots are little used, she said.

Even so, Edwards said giving half-dose flu shots isn't ready for prime time. It's still experimental and hasn't been approved by federal authorities.

The study involved 1,114 adults aged 18 to 64. It's the first to test half-dose flu shots in those aged 50 and older during a single flu season, 2004-05. The results among younger adults echo previous research, said lead author Dr. Renata Engler of Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The government-funded study appears in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine.

Read more: http://www.newsnet5.com/health/18229913/detail.html

[KT2000]

1. That is what they told my sister

after she developed fever and severe aches for 2 days after her flu shot.

They say flu shots are not supposed to make people sick but I knoe too many people who have had the same experience.

[ovidsen]

2. I had an uncomfortable experience with my flu shot, too.

I went to my primary care MD for the usual checkup (blood pressure, a blood test, lungs, cholesterol, etc.) last month, and told him, "As long as I'm here, why not give me a flu shot"? I'm 57 and a former smoker, so it seemed prudent.

That night, I couldn't sleep because it seemed all my joints ached. Mind you, this wasn't the kind of pain that made you scream and run for the nearest hospital, but it wasn't comfortable.

But the next morning, thanks (I guess) to a couple of Tylenol, I was fine.

When I compare that minor discomfort with the times I've been flat on my back for days with the full blown flu (and we all know how THAT feels), I consider the fleeting annoyance I felt after the shot to be worth it.

If the vaccination actually works, that is.