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 The numbers are a down(er)
Despite the havoc that the flu can wreak on those with asthma and the strong evidence that the flu shot can prevent this, a low percentage of Oregonians with asthma get flu shots - and this has been consistent over the last five years. In 2003, only 41% of adults with asthma received a flu shot, though the proportion of people getting a flu shot increased with age - 29% of those aged 18-44 with asthma received a flu shot, compared to 45% of those aged 45-64 and 71% of those aged 65 and older (Figure 1, below).
 Flu shots were also more common among the insured. Among Oregonians with asthma, 24% of those with no insurance received a flu shot, compared to 41% of those with Medicaid and 44% of those with private insurance or Medicare (Figure 2, below). Associations between gender, educational level and race/ethnicity were less clear.6 National data paint a similar picture - only about one in three adults with asthma receive flu vaccinations.3 Among children with asthma, the national flu immunization prevalence is somewhere between 9% and 25%.7  |
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