New Service for
TodaysSeniorsNetwork.com readers...roll mouse over, click on
highlighted links in stories to review items from Amazon
Cancer patients not getting life-saving Flu
and Pneumonia shots
Newswise — Although flu and pneumonia can be
lethal for cancer patients, more than one
quarter of patients undergoing radiation
therapy are not complying with national
guidelines to be vaccinated against these
potentially life-threatening yet preventable
illnesses, according to a study presented
October 28, 2007, at the American Society
for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology’s
49th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.
While Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention guidelines and the Joint
Commission recommend an annual flu
(influenza) vaccine for cancer patients aged
50 years or older, 25 percent of patients 50
years or older reported never having
received the flu vaccine.
Similarly, the pneumonia (pneumococcus)
vaccine is recommended to all cancer
patients 65 year or older; however, over
one-third (36 percent) of cancer patients in
this age range reported never having
received the vaccine. Cancer patients are at
a higher risk of acquiring and dying from
these illnesses due to a weaker immune
system, among other factors.
Three reasons accounted for almost 80
percent of why patients didn’t receive
either vaccine: Patients either believed
they didn’t need the vaccines, they didn’t
know about the recommended vaccination
guidelines or their physicians didn’t
recommend the vaccines.
While 44 percent of patients who received
either vaccine reported that they were asked
or informed about these vaccines by their
family physicians or internists, only seven
percent reported being asked or informed by
their oncologists.
“People undergoing cancer treatment and
their loved ones should ask their
oncologists about these vaccines. They are a
very simple, yet very effective, way for
people living with cancer to extend their
lives,” said Neha Vapiwala, M.D., a study
author and a radiation oncologist at the
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
in Philadelphia.
“Oncologists have the
opportunity to talk to patients about
recommended vaccines during their frequent
interactions with patients, whether it be
before, during, or after cancer therapy.
This discussion could result in better
cancer care and ultimately save lives.”
This was the first study done to find out
whether cancer patients receiving radiation
therapy complied with national vaccination
guidelines. The anonymous study asked 207
patients from August 2006 to January 2007
about whether they received the flu and
pneumococcus vaccines. Those who reported
receiving neither vaccine were asked further
questions about the reasons why they didn’t
receive them.
For more information on radiation therapy,
visit
http://www.rtanswers.org.
The abstract, “Compliance with National
Vaccination Guidelines in Patients Receiving
Radiation Therapy,” will be presented for
poster viewing at 10:00 a.m, October 28,
2007. To speak to the study author, Neha
Vapiwala, M.D., please call Beth Bukata or
Nicole Napoli October 28-31, 2007, in the
ASTRO Press Room at the Los Angeles
Convention Center
...
...
...
