For older adults, the seasonal flu can be very serious, even deadly. Each year in the U.S., an average of 36,000 people die and more than 200,000 are hospitalized from serious flu complications.Ninety percent of flu-related deaths and more than half of flu-related hospitalizations occur in people age 65 and older.Research shows that 30 percent of all Americans age 65 and older don't get an annual flu vaccination.

Getting vaccinated means not only protecting yourself, but not spreading the flu to your spouse, children, or grandchildren. CDC recommends getting the vaccine as soon as it becomes available in your community because it takes the body about two weeks to build up immunity.

However, if you don't get the vaccine early, it's not too late to get it in December and beyond, since flu is most common in January and February; it can even continue into April.

The flu vaccine is safe and effective, and because the influenza viruses in the flu shot are inactive,you can't get influenza from the vaccine.

H1N1 flu is a new flu virus that is spreading in the United States and throughout the world.  . It is contagious and spreads from person to person. Like seasonal flu, illness in people with H1N1 flu can vary from mild to severe.

Recent studies have shown that about a third of adults 60 years of age and older may have some level of immunity against the H1N1 flu virus. As a result, seniors are not among the priority group to receive the H1N1 flu vaccine. Federal guidelines call for the new H1N1 vaccine to be given first to pregnant women, those who live with or care for children 6 months or younger, health care workers, people aged 6 months through 24, and people with certain chronic health problems or compromised immune systems that put them at increased risk for complications from flu.

Persons aged 65 and older who have health conditions associated with a higher risk of flu complications should plan to get the H1N1 flu vaccine as soon as possible.These health conditions include

• Cancer

• Blood disorders (including sickle cell disease)

• Chronic lung disease [such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease  (COPD)]

• Diabetes

• Heart Disease

• Kidney disorders

• Liver disorders

• Neurological disorders (such as epilepsy, cerebral palsy, brain or spinal cord injuries,  moderate to profound intellectual disability [mental retardation] or developmental delay)

• Neuromuscular disorders (such as muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis)

• Weakened immune systems (such as people with HIV OR AIDS or who are on medications that weaken the immune system )

Ruby Bhayani