Influenza Vaccine Stats

With winter now in full force, it is important for people to get vaccinated against influenza, a serious respiratory disease that can lead to hospitalization and sometimes even death. Every flu season is different, and influenza infection can affect people differently. An annual seasonal flu vaccine (either through a shot or nasal mist) is the best way to reduce a person’s chances of getting seasonal flu and spreading it to others.

Influenza vaccination rates among U.S. adults aged 18 and over inched up slightly from 35% in 2010 to 37% in 2011.  This represents a big improvement from 1989 when only 9.6% of the adult population were reported to be vaccinated. Women are more likely than men to have ever received a influenza vaccination. Adults aged 75 years or older are more likely to have ever received a influenza vaccination compared with adults aged 65 to 74 years. And white adults are more likely than Hispanic and black adults to have received the vaccination.

Vaccination from influenza is one of the most important public health strategies. Between 2001 and 2011, annual influenza vaccination (for noninstitutionalized adults) increased among those aged 18–49 and 50–64 but was stable among those aged 65 and over (decreases in influenza vaccination coverage in 2005 were related to a vaccine shortage)

For more information on influenza, please check this link from the CDC.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus12.pdf#080