Health department finds 43 people died from flu last season

In the last season (2022-2023), 184 people were diagnosed with influenza at the Central University Hospital of Asturias (HUCA), 21 required admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), and 14 died. Technicians who extrapolated these data to the General Directorate of Public Health said that if the entire Asturian population was included, “it would mean that 567 people were hospitalized with confirmed influenza, 65 of whom would have been admitted to the ICU and 43 will die”.

Experts emphasize that two waves of influenza epidemics occurred in Asturias and Spain during the autumn and winter of last year. The dominant virus in the first wave was AH3N2, and the dominant virus in the second wave was influenza B virus. A total of 12,742 cases of influenza have been confirmed, or 1,268.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

For the campaign starting now, people in the target groups must make a corresponding appointment through their office or health center, where they will be vaccinated.

“The Ministry of Health has five vaccines, which are the vaccines that best suit the needs of the people,” the Health Bureau said. Four of them have been obtained through the framework agreement signed by the Ministry of Health. All these drugs are administered in the classic way: intramuscularly. The fifth one is different. Designed for intranasal administration in children.

The Ministry of Health has purchased 514,000 doses of the vaccine through exclusively negotiated contracts at a price of 5.5 million doses. Medically speaking, the following groups need to be vaccinated: 1) People over 60 years old. 2) People over 50 years old who are trapped in centers and nursing homes for the disabled, and other long-term institutionalized people. 3) People under 60 years old with high-risk conditions such as diabetes, morbid obesity, chronic cardiovascular, neurological, renal, respiratory or neuromuscular diseases, cancer patients or immunosuppressed patients, and patients with cognitive impairment. 4) People with chronic illnesses, regardless of age. 5) Pregnant women. 6) People who live with others who are highly immunosuppressed.

Another goal of the campaign focuses on reducing the impact of the virus and maintaining essential services, including staff in public and private health and social health centers and institutions. In addition, vaccination is recommended for children 6 to 59 months old and for people aged 5 to 59 years who are at higher risk of complications, such as smokers.