The Government of Chubut, led by Ignacio “Nacho” Torres, reported through the Ministry of Health that so far 46,000 doses of the flu vaccine have been administered to people included in the risk groups throughout the province.
The objective of vaccination is to reduce complications, hospitalizations, sequelae and deaths caused by influenza virus infection in the population, as explained by the Provincial Directorate of Prevalent Pathologies and Epidemiology.
Risk groups
The risk groups include health personnel; pregnant people, in each pregnancy and 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.
People from 2 to 64 years old who have risk factors are also included, 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.
Timely vaccination, before the beginning of winter
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 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.”
Some of the vaccines that, depending on each risk group, health teams can apply along with the flu are vaccines against Pneumococcus, Whooping Cough, Covid-19 and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and the Acellular Triple Bacterial vaccine, Carreras said.
Global public health challenge
Influenza remains one of the world’s biggest public health challenges. According to international statistics, it is estimated that each year there are 1 billion cases worldwide, between 3 and 5 million severe cases, and between 290,000 and 650,000 respiratory deaths related to influenza.
Seasonal flu vaccines have been used for more than 60 years and immunize against the three most prevalent circulating strains each year. In this sense, vaccination is the best way to reduce the probability of suffering from severe flu and spreading it to others. Avoiding the flu means avoiding added health care costs and lost income from not going to work or school.
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.
