ARTICLE
With another flu season underway in the U.S., a new survey found that over half of adults have yet to get a flu shot, and more than 40% say they won't get flu shots for their children. In a survey of 1,020 adults done in early November, 37% of respondents said that they do not intend to get the flu shot this year, while 18% said that they do intend to get one, but haven't yet. Only 44% said that they had been vaccinated against the flu. Moreover, 43% of adults who had children under age 18 living in their home said they did not plan to get their children vaccinated against flu. The CDC reported an increase in influenza activity in the U.S., according to its most recent FluView data. In addition, there have been media reports about early high flu activity in several southern states, which is early, according to the agency. When asked why they did not intend to get the flu shot, the most common major reason was worry about "side effects" (37%), such as feeling sick afterwards or even injection site reactions, followed closely by the belief that the flu shot doesn't work very well (36%). The survey also examined data by age, and found that, not surprisingly, 65% of adults ages 60 and older are vaccinated against flu, although they noted that about 20% do not plan to get vaccinated this season. In fact, only a third of adults, ages 49 to 59, said they had the flu shot as of early November, which Pearson partially attributed to this group not seeing their healthcare provider as often, and thus having to get their flu shots from either a workplace clinic or a pharmacy. Source: https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/uritheflu/83695