It’s the time of year to prepare for an unwelcome annual visitor: the flu season.
Post-transplant nurse coordinators and physicians remind organ recipients to receive a flu shot to protect them during the winter months when flu is most common. The best time to be inoculated is in October or November. Post-transplant patients, because of their immunosuppressed condition, may also receive priority within their health care provider’s system if there is a shortage of vaccine. "Receiving the flu shot does not guarantee prevention but it certainly helps," said Diane V. Skojec, M.S., C.R.N.P., of the Cardiac Transplant Service.
The medical team notes that the shot is the best way to get immunized against the flu. "The new nasal flu spray is not recommended for post-transplant patients," Ms. Skojec stated. "The nasal spray is live and is not appropriate for individuals with suppressed immune systems."
Relatives of transplant patients are also advised not to get the nasal spray. The vaccine remains contagious to immunosuppressed patients for one month and contact with individuals that have received this type of spray should be avoided for that length of time.
And, post-transplant patients have another seasonal vaccine to consider. The pneumonia shot should be re-administered if it has been five years since the last inoculation.
