Protect Yourself Against The Flu

May 17, 2012

Dr. Do Thuy Trang from CDC Vietnam’s Influenza Program receives her annual influenza vaccine. (Photo by U.S. Embassy/BK Kapella)

The U.S. Embassy encourages people in Vietnam to visit their doctor to learn about being vaccinated against the influenza virus.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has supported influenza surveillance by Vietnam’s Ministry of Health since 2006, and results show that a summer influenza vaccine will protect the most people, since the majority of influenza A virus infections in Vietnam occur from May to September.

“Most influenza virus infections in the U.S. occur in the winter months, but flu season is not the same in the rest of the world,” said Dr. Bryan K. (BK) Kapella, U.S. Public Health Service Commander and Chief of the Influenza Program in CDC Vietnam.

The CDC Vietnam Influenza Program assists Vietnam’s Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with surveillance, research, and preparedness for all strains of influenza, including avian and pandemic strains. Vietnam is the only country outside the U.S. with two staff members from CDC’s Influenza Division.

Dr. James Kile, Chief of the Influenza Program’s Animal Human Interface, stresses the importance of keeping a close watch on the viruses circulating in animals to be better informed about the viruses with pandemic potential: “The transmission of influenza and other zoonotic diseases from animals to humans is of major importance in Vietnam and other countries in which the disease is endemic in animal populations,” Dr. Kile said.

To learn more about influenza and influenza vaccines, visit the CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov/flu.