Alabama Adult Immunization Task Force Update

The Alabama Adult Immunization Task Force met on 23 October 2003 to continue working on the goals and objeclives to meet the Healthy People 2010 Goals.

The purpose of this Task Force is to improve the overall immunization health of person's 19 years old and above in the state of Alabama, with emphasis on high-risk groups, under served groups, and rural populations where lack of access to health care is a problem.

The 90 Billboards advertising the Flu Vaccination Programs have been installed across the state of Alabama. The flu and pneumonia vaccines are available and in many cases have been distributed to various clinic sites for distribution.

This Task Force, made up of numerous agencies throughout the state, is working toward making the Alabama Adult Immunization Program the pre-eminent adult immunization program. For additional information, please read the following article by Mike Hudgens, Public Health Advisor, Immunization Division.

Alabama loses approximately 1,200 people, most of them over the age of 65, each year to complications of a disease that can most likely be prevented by a single injection. Influenza has killed millions worldwide over the past 100 years. Complications of influenza are responsible for over 114,000 hospitalizations each year in the United States, and influenza is the nation's seventh leading cause of death. According to the latest statistics, influenza is the eighth leading cause of death in Alabama.

Hi, I am Mike Hudgens, Adult Immunization Coordinator with the Alabama Department of Public Health. I want to take this opportunity to urge each and every one of you, especially over the age of 65, and persons of any age with heart, lung or other chronic diseases like diabetes and asthma, to take an annual flu shot. If you have already gotten your flu shot that's great, but please encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same.

Please don't let the cost of vaccine be a barrier to receiving your flu shot. Fees for Influenza and Pneumonia at county health departments are nominal and vary from county to county, usually from $5 to $15 per vaccine. However, for Medicare Part B recipients, the vaccine is free from any healthcare provider to accepts Medicare.

County health departments have already begun to hold clinics across Alabama. A schedule of influenza clinics to be held in county health departments can be accessed on the Alabama Department of Public Health Web site at www.adph.org/immunization. or by calling the Immunization Division at (334) 206-5023 or 1-800-4694599. For more information about influenza, please contact your doctor or local county health department.

by Mike Hudgens, ADPH

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