influenza It is often thought of as a “mundane infection,” but it can have serious consequences for so-called “common infections.” risk groupThese include people over 60, people with chronic diseases or pregnant women. “Some people die from the flu every year,” he noted. Blanca O’DonnellPreventive medicine experts at Our Lady of Victoria University Hospital warned, suffer complications For these groups, infection rates increase if you get the flu and Covid-19 at the same time.
“The flu is a respiratory tract infectionIt spreads from person to person and the initial symptoms are typical of a cold, before evolving into more severe forms, e.g. pneumonia», explained the doctor, who insisted that it was a It’s wrong to equate the flu with a cold. Likewise, he stressed that “you don’t have to be 80 years old” to experience adverse consequences from a flu infection. «On one side there are the elderly, but let us not forget People of any age can have conditions that put them at greater risk.such as chronic diseases such as diabetes, autoimmune diseases, cancer or blood disorders,” he stressed.
Vaccination rates decline
Therefore, the Department of Health and Consumer Affairs provides these risk groups with Likelihood of getting immune This is again a combined campaign for influenza and covid-19 during the vaccination campaign.But this year there seems to be Less adhesion Take part in this activity, especially in the following age groups Between 60 and 69 years oldbecause it comes from all of Andalucia. Only 31.8% The population in this group has received doses.quantity Reduced even more in case of covid-19according to data provided by the Ministry of Health, only 21.8% of Andalusians in these age groups have been vaccinated, given the low vaccination rates recorded so far. Appeal People over 60 years of age come forward to get vaccinated.
Malaga, one of the lowest
Málaga’s vaccination rate is also lower than expected. Only one person has received a flu shot since the event began on October 9. 38.8% of Malaga residents and a 28.4% faced covid-19.When it comes to flu coverage for kids, there’s only one 23.9% of children Already immune, which makes Malaga a The third province Andalusia and lowest ratebehind Cadiz (21.8%) and Huelva (23.1%).
one of the main news The theme of this year’s event is Number of adults starting to get flu vaccine drops, lowered from 65 to 60 for the first time. For Dr. O’Donnell, one of the reasons you might see lower compliance is that these people “They don’t know yet that they are a high-risk group Because that was an age that was not particularly old.Even so, he believes the main reason is that “we have great weather and Reduce risk perceptionbecause if you see summer weather, it’s hard to think about the flu.
The ‘ideal time’ to get vaccinated
However, he assured that this is the “ideal time” to get vaccinated and it’s your best time.It would be a mistake to wait for the temperatures to drop. “People tend to wait until a cold starts to get vaccinated, but you have to get it early because It takes time for people to develop antibodies “This protects us from these infections,” insists the doctor, who invites all high-risk groups to get vaccinated before the holidays and the onset of the cold, “when The virus spreads more The more severe the flu, the more likely we are to become infected.
As in previous years, Virus expected to peak when temperatures dropWell, as O’Donnell points out, influenza is a “well-known” bacteria that is known to spread throughout our hemisphere during the fall and winter. «But let us not forget Coronavirusthere is no seasonality, it behaves the same, that is, it spreads from person to person through the small droplets released when we speak and through the air and space we share, so now Both expected to rise »warned doctors.
Vaccination rates by age
In general, all of Andalusia, 1,349,922 doses, out of the 2.2 million received in this year’s campaign. so far, Highest vaccination rate Realized now nursing home,Where is he 90.4% of people have received the flu vaccine. However, the amount decreases with age.in this case Over 85 years old66% of people have received influenza vaccine, and 52.6% of people have received COVID-19 vaccine; when Over 60 years old According to data from the Ministry of Health, only 45.8% of people have received a flu vaccine and 33.7% have received a COVID-19 vaccine.
Dr O’Donnell remembers COVID-19 “It’s not gone” as well as natural immunity (from exposure to the virus) and immunity from vaccines “It will go away over time”, so it is necessary to strengthen it with new doses. “It’s important for people to understand that we have a Preventive, free and effective tool For those who are more susceptible to severe infection,” insists the doctor. Likewise, remember that “the best vaccine we have now” is that it contains four types of influenza viruses and is Adapting to the most dominant covid-19 variants in Spain.