Annual vaccination against influenza is recommended for any adult who wants to reduce the risk of becoming ill with influenza or of transmitting it to others. Vaccination is recommended for all adults without contraindications in the following groups, because these persons either are at higher risk for influenza complications, or are close contacts of persons at higher risk:
- persons aged 50 years and older;
- women who will be pregnant during the influenza season;
- persons who have chronic pulmonary (including asthma), cardiovascular (except hypertension), renal, hepatic, cognitive, neurologic/neuromuscular, hematological or metabolic disorders (including diabetes mellitus);
- persons who have immunosuppression (including immunosuppression caused by medications or by human immunodeficiency virus;
- residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities;
- health-care personnel;
- household contacts and caregivers of children aged <5 years and adults aged 50 years and older, with particular emphasis on vaccinating contacts of children aged <6 months; and
- household contacts and caregivers of persons with medical conditions that put them at higher risk for severe complications from influenza.
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