The percentage of all Americans receiving flu vaccines is increasing, although Illinois’ coverage has remained flat, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases reports.
The foundation, based in Bethesda, Md., released the latest estimates Thursday showing that 46.2 percent of the entire U.S. population 6 months old and older got a flu vaccination during the 2013-14 season. That is up 1.2 percentage points from the prior year’s coverage, the foundation stated.
Illinois’ coverage was 43.4 percent, virtually the same as last year’s rate of 43.1 percent, the foundation reported. The six-state Midwest region’s average was 44.1 percent, second lowest of all 10 regions in the U.S.
Representatives of the foundation and the Illinois Department of Public Health were unable to offer insight on why the state and region had vaccination rates below the national average.
Although coverage for the entire nation stood at more than 46 percent, the vaccination rate for healthy adults ages 18 to 64 was 33.9 percent. The foundation said adults may decline vaccinations because they think influenza poses no risk to them, but it noted that last year, 18- to 64-year-olds were hit with the highest flu-related hospitalization rates since the 2009 pandemic.
“It is encouraging that over the past few years more people are getting their flu vaccine,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “But we need to encourage more young and middle-aged adults to get vaccinated because they also can suffer serious consequences from the flu.”
The estimates, published in this week’s issue of CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, also showed that vaccination rates for hospital-based professionals are nearly 90 percent. That figure drops to 63 percent among professionals based in facilities that provide long-term care.
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