While getting vaccinated against influenza is important for everyone, the flu shot can have particular benefits for individuals with certain health conditions. As an infectious disease specialist recently told NPR:
“As we get older, more of us get heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, asthma. . . . Those diseases predispose us to complications of flu — pneumonia, hospitalization or death. We need to make vaccination a routine part of chronic health management.”
While receiving vaccinations is a safe and effective means for combatting disease, there are certain diseases and medical conditions that can increase an individual’s risk of an adverse reaction or other negative side effects. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) refer to these as “contraindications” and “precautions,” and it advises that:
“Contraindications (conditions in a recipient that increases the risk for a serious adverse reaction) and precautions to vaccination are conditions under which vaccines should not be administered. Because the majority of contraindications and precautions are temporary, vaccinations often can be administered later when the condition leading to a contraindication or precaution no longer exists. A vaccine should not be administered when a contraindication is present. . . . However, certain conditions are commonly misperceived as contraindications (i.e., are not valid reasons to defer vaccination).”