The flu does not discriminate—it doesn’t care if you’re healthy or sick, old or young. But for people with chronic kidney disease (CKD), those on hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis and those who are kidney transplant recipients, the flu can be particularly serious and lead to a worsening of chronic health conditions.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an average of 36,000 Americans die from flu-related complications each year, and more than 200,000 Americans are hospitalized due to the flu. People at greatest risk of influenza related complications include people 65 and older; people with chronic kidney, pulmonary or cardiovascular conditions, cancer or diabetes; pregnant women; and young children.

“Influenza is not a disease to be taken lightly,” says Dr. Anne Schuchat, Assistant Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service, and CDC’s Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Because kidney patients can be especially prone to infection due to related conditions, such as diabetes and inadequate calorie and protein intake resulting from poor appetite, people with renal disease or renal failure should be proactive and get their annual flu vaccination. Vaccination also is important for healthcare workers and anyone living with or caring for people in high-risk groups, Schuchat adds. Annual vaccination is critical to protecting against the flu. This is because different influenza viruses circulate each season and a new flu vaccine must be made each year to fight these viruses. This year’s vaccine contains three new influenza virus strains compared to last year’s vaccine.

Fact vs. Fiction
Fiction: The influenza vaccine can actually cause influenza.
Fact: This is not true. The flu shot contains inactive viruses and the nasal spray contains weakened strains of the viruses that cannot cause the flu. If a person gets respiratory symptoms after getting a flu vaccine, it usually means that person was exposed to a non-flu virus around the time of vaccination. Or, it could mean that person was exposed to the flu and got infected before their immune protection from vaccination took full effect. It can take up to two weeks from the time the vaccine is given for immunity to kick in.

Fiction: The vaccine’s side effects are worse than getting the flu itself.
Fact: Many people have no symptoms at all after getting a flu shot, or just redness at the injection site or a sore arm. These mild symptoms usually resolve themselves in one to two days. The most serious side effect is an allergic reaction in people who have a severe allergy to eggs (the vaccine viruses are grown in eggs). For this reason, getting an influenza vaccination is not advised for people with an egg allergy.

Fiction: The flu vaccine is not effective.
Fact: The effectiveness of a flu vaccine is different every year. But in past studies when there is a good match between circulating influenza viruses and those in the vaccine, the vaccine has been 70-90 percent effective in healthy adults. Although the vaccine does not prevent everyone from getting ill, vaccinated people who do get the flu tend to have milder symptoms. Plus, the vaccine greatly reduces the chance of hospitalization and death.

The Scoop on Flu
Although influenza is thought to be spread mainly from infected people coughing and sneezing, flu may also be transmitted by a person touching an object, such as a doorknob or telephone receiver, that is contaminated with flu virus and then touching their face. Some people infected with influenza may not develop symptoms but still have the capacity to infect others. Of particular note is the fact that even those who do develop symptoms may be infectious beginning the day before they get symptoms.

A person with influenza is most likely to spread the illness to others during the first three days of illness. Influenza usually starts suddenly and is worse than the common cold. Symptoms such as fever, body aches, extreme tiredness and dry cough are typical and more intense than a cold.

To find out when or where to get a vaccine, contact your doctor or local health department. To learn more, call CDC at 1-800-CDC-INFO or visit www.cdc.gov/flu. If you have questions about the flu vaccine, please talk to your healthcare provider.

This article originally appeared in the December 2008 issue of Kidney Beginnings: The Magazine.

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