The Government of Cantabria, through the Ministry of Health and Education, Vocational Training and Universities, has launched an influenza immunization information and awareness campaign targeting children under 5 years of age attending 212 educational centers in the Autonomous Region of Cantabria. Health experts say these minors are the most vulnerable to serious complications from flu infections.
The campaign for influenza vaccination for children under five years of age is a collaboration between the Director-General of Public Health, Isabel de Frutos, and the Director-General of Educational Quality, Equity and Academic Regulation, José Luis The main topic of the meeting held was Blanco Lopez.
In order to raise awareness among schoolchildren under the age of five, an influenza vaccination poster has been designed to normalize this preventive action to a certain extent. It will also provide school teachers with information on the immunization program, especially against influenza. . The first educational stage.
The campaign aims to strengthen influenza vaccination following the preliminary results of the current anti-influenza campaign in Cantabria, which for the first time includes vaccination between 6 and 59 months of age. The vaccination rate in this age group reached 35.57%, which the public health department considered “insufficient” and “there is an opportunity to improve future influenza vaccination campaigns, including through actions aimed at raising awareness and standardizing vaccination prevention habits.”
In this sense, Isabel de Frutos considers cooperation with educational centers a “very important source” to promote her department’s projects and raise parents’ awareness of the importance of vaccinating their children against influenza.
Overall, both departments stress the importance of immunizing against influenza with the quadrivalent vaccine during the first phase of life, especially if a person has not yet had a chance to contract the virus, as natural immunity from influenza illness develops Immunity fights against the strain that caused the first infection.
However, if immunized with a vaccine with four different influenza virus serotypes, immunity would develop with a wider range of serotypes and would be more susceptible to future influenza waves because the serotypes differ from those circulating in the previous wave. Protective effect, because antigenic variation is one of the characteristics of influenza viruses.
Promote mental health in schools
In addition to raising awareness about flu vaccinations among minors, the two departments will maintain an “ongoing collaboration” across the Legislature to promote all aspects of health. In this way, awareness of issues such as mental and environmental health will be raised, in addition to promoting good nutrition and physical activity. In addition, the “Health-Promoting Schools” project will be promoted, aiming to “give meaning and coherence” to all joint actions between health and education.
Preventing the consumption of energy drinks in schools and the importance of sex education to “stop the rise in sexually transmitted diseases” were also discussed during the meeting.
The Director of Education Quality and Equity also took the opportunity to highlight the school menu monitoring program driven by the Department of Health and Education, which includes recommendations to promote healthy eating and prevent health complications. As Isabel de Frutos highlighted, this is a “pioneering” and “very powerful” project, recognized by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) and represents a national reference for good practice.
In addition to the Director General, the meeting was also attended by Marián Rueda, Director of the Addiction Treatment Unit; Ignacio González, Head of the Food Safety Unit; Manuel Galán, Head of the Public Health Services Unit and Head of the Epidemiological Surveillance Unit Person Luis Javier Viloria.