Dr. Gustavo Fricke SSVQP Hospital He called for vaccination due to the increase in the circulation of respiratory viruses and their progressive impact on hospitalization.
Felipe Saavedra, doctor specializing in adult respiratory diseases, confirmed that “We have seen a significant increase in infection houses in the last week and with it an increase also in serious cases of influenza A, and that is why it is essential that the most risk groups, that is, children, patients with chronic diseases and older adults, and also especially the officials who work in health, receive vaccination to avoid an increase in serious cases.” The vaccine, the specialist recalled, does not reduce the possibility of contagion, “but it does reduce cases that can generate complications, such as pneumonia or admission to intermediate or intensive care units.”
In the same line, the immunologist Ignacio Faundes explain what “Basically, vaccines act in a very particular way, which is to try to activate the immune system and recognize these infections, with the aim that when one is exposed to the natural virus, the immune response is much more powerful and much faster. , thus preventing further severity and potentially mortality.”
Against vaccination myths
The specialist also addressed the myths around vaccination. For example, they cause the same disease they are trying to combat: “Vaccines, by stimulating the immune system, can eventually generate reactions such as, for example, having a slight fever, pain at the site of administration, but that is normal in the context in which we are stimulating the immune system to react.” activate. However, the vaccine, and in particular influenza, is not a vaccine that has a live virus, therefore it does not have the capacity to replicate or develop the disease itself. Therefore, a person who is vaccinated and who, days later, begins to have respiratory symptoms and an infection is confirmed, most likely has finally acquired an infection naturally and it is not actually the vaccine that generated that infectious condition.”
He added that the vaccine is not immediate action, but requires time to activate the immune system, which in the case of influenza requires two weeks. Finally, the immunologist highlighted that each individual vaccine reinforces the protection of the population: “One protects oneself with respect to the vaccine individually, but the objective is always to achieve a certain percentage of coverage in the population to somehow limit the transmissibility of the virus. Therefore, it is super important not only to get vaccinated, which is very important, of course, but also to maintain personal protection measures, for example, in areas with a lot of crowds, wearing a mask, frequent hand washing, “Avoid contact with people who are sick or even with people who are at higher risk if you have symptoms,” ended.
Good use of the network for timely care according to severity
And as a complement, the establishment reinforced the call to make good use of the healthcare network, that is, to resort to health devices throughout the region in a progressive manner, as explained by the Deputy Medical Director of the Hospital, Dr. Tatiana Aldunate: “If you feel symptoms of a cold, a low fever, and need medications such as anti-inflammatory drugs or aspirin to treat the symptoms, use primary care, the SAPUs that are distributed throughout the network. If the patient is a little more complex or has chronic illnesses or due to extreme ages, babies, children or older adults who start with fever, with muscle pain and have already had respiratory symptoms and that have become complicated and their respiratory difficulty increases or sometimes also cardiac symptoms, these patients go to a hospital establishment.”
The doctor ends by stating that “But if they are simple symptoms or for another reason, stomach pains, simple diarrhea, without dehydration, always go to primary care first. And leave that space, in the Emergency Unit, which are increasingly congested these days for the chronic, decompensated patient or with symptoms that one knows will require hospitalization.”
