Experts recommend that asthmatics get flu shot.

2002 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- People with asthma should get a flu shot this fall to help prevent asthma attacks during flu season, the American Lung Association (ALA) recommends.

Although the flu poses a major health risk to people with asthma, only about 10% of people with asthma currently get a flu shot. But recent research conducted by the ALA found that influenza vaccines are safe for children and adults with asthma.

The research has important health implications, because influenza causes substantial illness in both children and adults with asthma, according to Norman H. Edelman, MD, scientific consultant for the ALA.

"This flu season, people with asthma will have a safe, effective way to help prevent asthma attacks," Edelman said. "If every adult and child with asthma receives a flu shot, we can prevent millions of asthma attacks, many of which would have been severe and resulted in hospitalizations."

The study puts to rest previous concerns about possible side effects of the flu shot in people with asthma. This is good news for the estimated 24.7 million Americans (3.8 million under the age of 18) who have been diagnosed with asthma in their lifetime, Edelman said.

The ALA estimates that if all adults with asthma received the influenza vaccine, then approximately 52,000 hospitalizations would be prevented, at a cost savings of $504 million. Even after taking into account the cost of the vaccine ($10 each), the savings would be $502 million.

If all children with asthma received the influenza vaccine, approximately 138,500 hospitalizations would be prevented. At an average cost of about $4,000 per hospital stay for a child with asthma, vaccinating all children with asthma would save approximately $562 million (or $560 million after the cost of the vaccine is taken into account).