If you haven't gotten your flu shot yet, this week is an excellent time to get it, with the holidays coming up

State health officials are encouraging Kentuckians to get a flu vaccination during National Influenza Vaccination Week, Dec. 7-13.

"Getting a flu vaccine is an early holiday gift you can give to yourself and your family,” said Dr. Stephanie Mayfield, commissioner of the Department for Public Health. “As the holidays approach, people will be traveling, and families will gather together, increasing the potential for exposure to the flu. We are strongly urging anyone who hasn’t received a flu vaccine, particularly those at high risk for complications related to the flu, to check with local health departments or other providers.”

National Influenza Vaccination Week is a reminder to those people who have not yet received a flu vaccine that the time to get vaccinated continues into winter – through January or later, when flu season typically peaks. Because it takes about two weeks for the body to develop protective antibodies against the flu following vaccination, Kentuckians who have not had a chance to be vaccinated should seek out the opportunity during this season.

Throughout the week, health departments and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will highlight the importance of vaccinations for those people at high risk, their close contacts and all those who want to be protected against the flu. In addition, good health habits such as washing hands often with soap and warm water; avoiding touching your eyes, nose or mouth; and staying at home from work or school when sick will also be emphasized.

Kentucky’s flu activity level has recently increased to regional, which indicates an upturn in influenza-like illness or outbreaks of flu in some regions of the state.

The best way to protect against the flu is to receive a flu vaccination. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends flu vaccine for all individuals 6 months of age and older. People who should especially receive the flu vaccine because they may be at higher risk for complications or negative consequences include:

• Children ages 6 months through 18 years;
• Pregnant women;
• People 50 years old or older;
• People of any age with chronic health problems;
• People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities;

• Health care workers;                               
• Caregivers of or people who live with a person at high risk for complications from the flu; and
• Out-of-home caregivers of or people who live with children less than 6 months old.

Kentuckians should receive a new flu vaccination each season for optimal protection. Healthy, non-pregnant people ages 2 through 49 can be vaccinated with either the flu shot or the nasal vaccine spray. Children younger than 9 years old who did not receive a previous seasonal flu vaccination should receive a second dose at least four weeks after their first vaccination.

High-dose flu vaccine is available for persons aged 65 years and older this year.

The CDC says some of the nation’s circulating flu viruses may not be covered well by this year’s vaccine.  That is not unusual. "Despite the possibility of a poor vaccine match for one of the circulating strains, vaccination still provides the best protection against influenza," a state news release said. "The vaccine appears to be a good match for many of the strains which are being transmitted, and because of antibody cross-protection, should help to reduce hospitalizations and deaths, even in persons who may contract the mismatched strain of influenza."

In addition to flu vaccine, the health department strongly encourages all adults 65 years and older and others in high risk groups to ask their health care provider about the pneumococcal vaccines. These vaccines can help prevent a type of pneumonia that is one of the flu’s most serious and potentially deadly complications. The CDC now recommends that adults 65 years or older receive the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13, Prevnar-13) in addition to the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23, PneumoVax-23). Getting both vaccines offers the best protection against pneumococcal disease. Between 3,000 and 49,000 deaths are attributed to flu and pneumonia nationally each year, with more than 90 percent of those deaths occurring in people age 65 and older.

Experimental drug being used to treat Ebola is being manufactured using special tobacco plants in Owensboro

A unique type of tobacco grown in Owensboro is used to manufacture the ZMapp compound that was given to two Americans who then survived Ebola. The company that produced it, Kentucky BioProcessing, has since gone into "full-scale production of the drug," Janet Patton reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

"All of our focus is solely on ZMapp production. We're hoping our efforts can help expedite the drug approval process," David Howard, spokesman for Reynolds American, the tobacco company that owns the facility that makes pharmaceuticals from tobacco, told Patton. The genetic makeup of tobacco makes it an easy vehicle for genetic engineering.

The drug has been sent to government agencies for testing, but it hasn't been used on any more patients since the two Americans, Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who have since recovered, were given the drug, Patton writes. She also noted that "it's uncertain whether the ZMapp helped cure Brantly or Writebol," but the drug has shown "promising results in testing in primates and mice, curing most of them even after they showed signs of infection."

ZMapp is "a cocktail of antibodies that has been proven to be the most effective treatment so far in fighting off the Ebola virus," Patton writes in a separate article. It was developed while working under contract for the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies to be a "post-exposure treatment for Ebola virus."

The process involves growing a unique tobacco plant and "infecting" the plant with a protein that will "battle the Ebola." The protein then reproduces inside the tobacco plant "like a photocopier." And when ready, the desired proteins are extracted from the plants and put into a serum, Patton reports.

According to the website of Mapp Biopharmaceutical, a company that collaborates with Kentucky BioProcessing, the supply of ZMapp was used up in August, Patton reports.

In September, the federal government announced that it had given Mapp an 18-month contract for as much as $42.3 million for "the development and manufacturing of the medication ZMapp toward the goal of U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval," Patton reports.

Mapp says it is is conducting studies that will help determine the safety and efficacy of the drug while improving its manufacturing process, increasing yields and scale.

"The Department of Health and Human Services is also in advanced discussions to enlist Caliber Biotherapeutics, a Texas company that can produce the drug in millions of tobacco plants," according to federal officials and pharmaceutical industry executives, Andrew Pollack reports for The New York Times.

He reports that federal officials along with two of the world's biggest charities are also looking at arranging for production of ZMapp in animal cells, a more conventional method that takes longer, but allows for for greater output.

But even if these new contracts are negotiated, Pollack reports that there will only be "hundreds or thousands of treatment courses by early next year, which would not be nearly enough if the epidemic continues to spiral out of control."