The Consequences Of Neglecting Immunizations For The Poor

Although public health officials recommend immunizations on the basis of risk, flu shots are actually available on the basis of income. People who can afford the $10 to $50 for the injection out of pocket or who have good health insurance are more likely to get immunizations than those who don't. But even people in wealthy neighborhoods are at greater risk when people in poorer neighborhoods can't get preventive medical care for the flu.

How can that be?

Epidemiologists have found that when 50% of a population is not protected against the flu, the people in that neighborhood serve as an incubator to keep infections alive. When more than 50% of a population is not immunized against the flu, risk increases even more. The existence of the 80% at risk for the flu in South Los Angeles increased the risk even to the 20% in Malibu and Beverly Hills who did not get their shots.

Just How Dangerous Is It for Wealthy Neighborhoods If Poorer Neighborhoods Don't Get Flu Vaccine?

Let's suppose that you are one of those fortunate people who lives in a town like Beverly Hills or Malibu in California. If you don't get your flu shot, it's probably because you forgot or you just did not have time to get to your doctor's office. What difference does it make to you if people in a poor neighborhood over 50 miles/80 km away don't get a chance to get flu shots at all?

• If rich people get vaccinated first, for example, 30 days before poor people, rates of infection in rich neighborhoods still double after flu starts going around.

• If rich people get vaccinated and poor people don't get vaccinated at all, rates of influenza quadruple in rich neighborhoods after flu starts going around.

This means that if you forget your flu shot, or you choose not take a flu shot, your risk of infection is much higher if other people do not take their flu shots. If flu shots are available to everyone, your risk of catching flu, even if you yourself do not get your flu shot, is considerably lower--and if you make it through the first six weeks of flu season without getting sick, chances are you won't get the flu at all this year.

Where are the flu zones this year? In the United States this year, there was enough flu vaccine to go around.

In Europe, where 75% to 95% of the population got flu shots this year, "flu zones" are determined in a different way. In Europe, the most important factor in determining risk of flu is weather. The flu virus survives in the air only at certain temperatures. When the temperature is above 0 C but below 10 C in the late fall, the flu virus spreads quickly. When the temperature again rises above 0 C in the spring, there is a second, less severe flu season. Towns in Europe where the weather is cool and grey but not below freezing tend to be relative flu zones, but are usually healthier than the flu zones of America.

What can you do if you find yourself in a flu zone and you haven't had your flu shot?

The best way to prevent the flu is surprisingly simple: Wash your hands. 

However, if you want to prevent the flu, wash your hands with warm water and soap. Don't rely on alcohol-based hand wipes.

Scientists in flu-prone Finland have found that using alcohol-based hand sanitizers does not significantly reduce the risk of the flu. Only washing hands with soap and water, regularly, throughout the day, especially after shaking hands, opening doors, or picking up tissues, will reduce your risk of the flu.

Just how much does washing hands lower your risk of catching the colds and flu? The reduction in risk is only about 17%, much less than the reduction in risk for getting the flu if you get your shots. If you haven't been immunized, however, carefully washing your hands with soap and water is your best bet for preventing the flu, and keeping you from passing it on to others.