The Ministry of Health of the province reported that a total of 21,244 doses of the flu vaccine have already been applied to people included in the risk groups throughout the province, with the aim of reducing complications, hospitalizations, sequelae and deaths caused by influenza virus infection in the population.
The data was provided this Thursday by the Provincial Directorate of Prevalent Pathologies and Epidemiology, a few days before the start of the “Vaccination Week in the Americas 2024”, the regional initiative promoted by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) that will be carried out from April 20 to 27, under the slogan “Act now to protect your future. #GetVaccinated.”
Flu vaccination is aimed at the following risk groups: health personnel; pregnant people, in any trimester of pregnancy; postpartum people, until discharge from the maternity hospital, with a maximum of 10 days, if they did not receive the vaccine during pregnancy; and boys and girls from 6 to 24 months of age.
In addition, people between 2 and 64 years old who have risk factors are also included in the risk groups, who must present documentation proving them, except in the case of obesity; and people aged 65 and over, who do not require medical indication to receive the vaccine. Strategic personnel whose performance is key to maintaining essential functions are also contemplated, for example, the State security forces.
It is worth remembering that the official launch of the “Flu Vaccination 2024” campaign was led on March 21 by the head of the Chubut health ministry, Sergio Wisky, at the “Santa Teresita” Subzonal Hospital in Rawson.
Timely vaccination
In this regard, the provincial representative of the Expanded Immunization Program (PAI), Daniela Carreras, pointed out that “the flu vaccination must be carried out in a timely manner, before the beginning of winter, the stage of greatest circulation of the influenza virus,” and also highlighted that It is “an opportunity for health teams to offer the community other vaccines available in the National Vaccination Calendar and recover delayed schedules.”
In this sense, it is worth remembering that the vaccines that can be applied together with the flu include vaccines against Pneumococcus, Whooping Cough, Covid-19 and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and the Acellular Triple Bacterial vaccine, specified the representative of the Expanded Immunization Program.
Public health challenge
From the provincial health portfolio they explained that the Flu continues to be one of the biggest public health challenges in the world: according to international statistics, it is estimated that each year there are 1,000 million cases worldwide, between 3 and 5 million serious cases, and between 290,000 to 650,000 influenza-related respiratory deaths.
In this sense, seasonal flu vaccines have been used for more than 60 years to immunize the population against the three most prevalent circulating strains each year, since vaccination is the best way to reduce the probability of suffering from severe flu. and to spread it to others. “Avoiding the flu means avoiding added costs in medical care and loss of income due to not going to work or school,” said the authorities of the Provincial Directorate of Prevalent Pathologies and Epidemiology.
It should be noted that flu vaccination is available, free of charge, for people included in the risk groups in the 140 vaccination centers in the province.
