UConn nursing student Emilie Kasper (left) administers a flu shot at an Employee Health Services flu clinic at the UConn School of Medicine. (Photo by Janine Gelineau)
Employee Health Services is holding a series of flu clinics over the next several weeks, at which free flu shots will be available to staff, students, residents, volunteers and vendors.
While some clinical institutions require all employees be vaccinated against influenza every year, UConn Health does not. But UConn Health is required to report the flu vaccine status of its employees to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.
Those who attend an Employee Health flu clinic can receive a flu shot, report that they are declining it altogether, or report that they either have received or will receive it somewhere else.
Once recorded in a password-protected database, the information is reported in aggregate to CMS. It remains confidential. An employee’s flu vaccine status is protected health information and cannot be used against him or her.
Click image to view/download UConn Health Influenza Program brochure.
“Your cooperation goes a long way in helping us be in compliance,” says Cheryl Marenick, the nurse who oversees the Employee Health flu vaccine program. “Even if you don’t get a flu shot, we need you to report that to us. If you choose to get a flu shot, even better—we’re happy to do that for you. It’s the best way to protect yourself, your family, and our patients from influenza.”
Employee Health has scheduled several walk-in flu clinics, with reminders and updates to come in Lifeline and The Pulse:
Monday, Oct. 24, 12:30 to 4 p.m., Onyiuke Dining Room
Thursday, Nov. 10, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Munson Training Room
Monday, Nov. 14, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., ARB Large Conference Room
Monday, Nov. 21, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Outpatient Pavilion 7th floor large conference room
A UConn Health ID badge or employee number is required.
Individual flu shot appointments also can be made by calling Employee Health Services at x2893. Those who get the flu shot elsewhere or decline it altogether can report by email to Louisa Pickett.
Study nurse Carlene Bartolotta applies a bandage after giving the flu shot to Nick Cesaro, who regularly has participated in the UConn Center on Aging’s flu vaccine research for a decade. “We’re really dependent on one another, it’s as simple as that,” Cesaro says. “I’ve lived long enough to have the opportunity to help, and it’s nice to be able to help.” (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health)
Now is the time to get the flu vaccine, especially if you’re older.
UConn Health researchers urge those who haven’t gotten this year’s flu vaccine yet to consider coming to the UConn Center on Aging to receive the vaccine as a participant in a flu shot study.
“Every older person should be getting the vaccine,” says Dr. George Kuchel, director of the UConn Center on Aging. “By volunteering for one of these studies, you do what’s good for you anyway, it doesn’t cost you anything, and at the same time you contribute to helping us develop vaccines that are going to work better in future years.”
Kuchel says most flu-related deaths in the U.S. each year are among the elderly. He and professor of immunology Laura Haynes, also an investigator in the Center on Aging, are leading two studies. One focuses on the differences in the way younger people and older people respond to the traditional flu vaccine. The other compares the traditional flu vaccine to the high-dose vaccine, which has four times the antigen. Both vaccines are proven effective, but the degree of their effectiveness varies by individual.
Dr. George Kuchel is director of the UConn Center on Aging. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
“The purpose of that study is to identify—using very innovative blood tests, some of which were first developed here, and also frailty measurements—the older adults who require the high-dose vaccine, as opposed to those who’d do better with the regular vaccine,” Kuchel says. “As we age, we get more and more different from each other, with some people remaining very robust and highly functional, other people becoming frail and even disabled, and everything in between. We know that on average, the high-dose vaccine may be better for the elderly. What we don’t know is, who are the people who get that greater benefit?”
Influenza manifests itself differently in older patients than in younger ones. Although the symptoms in older patients usually are actually milder, that brings other problems.
Laura Haynes studies the efficacy of the flu vaccine in older patients at the UConn Center on Aging. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
“When older people get the flu, it’s much more serious,” Haynes says. “Since the symptoms are less severe, people may not go to the doctor, they may not take the care that they need to when they get sick. This is even more problematic with the older population because they’re going to have more co-morbidities. They’re going to have more secondary infections that would then develop, which is really what the issue is, especially secondary pneumonia after flu. And that’s really what leads to death.”
“Dr. Haynes’ work is the first to show that a type of blood cell called T-lymphocyte plays a role in the declining ability of the aging body to respond to flu infection,” Kuchel says. “Because of that, we still need to give the vaccine to the elderly. If we want to make more progress, prevent more death, and prevent more hospitalization, we need to get even better vaccines.”
While the researchers don’t expect their studies to lead to the perfect vaccine for everyone immediately, participants at least can expect an immediate benefit this flu season.
“Even though the flu vaccine doesn’t work as well in older people as it does in younger people, using it becomes even more important in the elderly as a way helping to stay out of the hospital,” Haynes says.
The UConn Center on Aging flu vaccine studies are not limited to older patients. Researchers are seeking study volunteers as young as 20 years old. All participants receive an FDA-approved flu shot at no cost to them, nominal compensation for their time, and free, convenient parking for study visits. To learn more about the studies, call 860-679-3043.
