Flu vaccinations can’t prevent everything but they can give you the best chance of not catching the flu.

Photo by CPL Simone Liebelt

* The flu vaccination shot is voluntary. Influenza spreads through airborne droplets. Once breathed, it can take up to four days for the virus to make you sick. Vaccination does not work immediately. It takes up to two weeks for antibodies to build up to sufficient levels. Vaccination does not cause the flu. There is no live virus in the vaccine though some people will suffer some discomfort or a short-lived fever. More information is available on the Defence Health Services website

The annual flu vaccine is not something that most young healthy adults bother about.

But with the 2006 flu season fast approaching and the release of the seasonal vaccine, Defence Health Services are undertaking a marketing campaign to encourage the uptake of the voluntary vaccination.

The current ADF policy regarding vaccination against epidemic influenza which occurs each winter, is that the vaccination is to be voluntary.

Influenza vaccination is only a requirement when specified as part of a health support plan, and this is the case for current deployments to the Middle East Area of Operations.

However, it is now important that as many people as possible get this vaccination and Chief of Air Force, AIRMSHL Geoff Shepherd, is keen to encourage members to vaccinate themselves.

The influenza that strikes each winter is not the dreaded pandemic that may kill millions around the world, but it is still an unpleasant illness that will cause disruption to both your work and personal life.

There are a number of reasons for this campaign:

• Defence facilities, by their nature, can be susceptible to outbreaks of influenza. This is particularly so in training establishments where there is extended close contact with/of/amongst large groups.
  
• The loss of productivity and capability during an influenza epidemic can be significant. In 2005, for example, there were outbreaks at Kapooka and Laverack which led to significant downtimes and disruptions to training. A ‘routine’ episode of influenza will result in absence of a member for at least a week, and reduced physical capacity for several more weeks.
  
• Defence facilities can potentially act as a source for disease progressing into the wider community. Several State health departments have expressed concern about the vulnerability of some high-risk groups, such as the elderly and immune-compromised, who may live near military establishments.
  
• A reduction in the circulation of influenza strains in the community reduces the risk of mixing of viruses, thus reducing the risk of the shift in genetic makeup, the basis of influenza pandemics.
  Often people struggle in to work even when unwell. By that time they may have been spreading the virus for days without even realising it.
  

• Cannot prevent all coughs, colds and viral infections. However, preventing flu will reduce infections in the nose and throat, which often follow flu.
  
• Cannot provide instant immunity. The vaccine takes about two weeks to start working. People who catch the flu in that fortnight tend to mistakenly blame the vaccine for causing flu.
  
• Cannot cause influenza. There is no live virus in the vaccine, so it cannot cause influenza. Some people will get local redness and discomfort around the injection site and occasionally a short-lived fever.

• Can give you the best chance of not catching the flu. No vaccine is 100 per cent effective. Typically, flu vaccines prevent influenza in 70-80 per cent of those vaccinated.
  
• Can stop you passing flu on to someone at high medical risk. The vaccine doesn’t guarantee 100 per cent protection for those at high risk who have been vaccinated. It is important to minimise their exposure to the flu virus carried by other people.
  
• Can provide some protection against related strains of the flu. New strains of influenza are constantly appearing. Because each new one is a mutation of an old one, flu vaccines often provide some level of protection against the new strains.
  
• Can reduce the potential risk of lost earnings, missed social events, and disruption to education, sport or career.
  This year, why not weigh up the pros and cons of vaccination and then decide whether you can afford to risk getting the flu.

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