Public Health Today analyzes campaigns targeting influenza, COVID-19 and syncytial viruses

Madrid, September 12 (EFE) – The Public Health Council on Tuesday analyzed recommendations for vaccination against influenza and covid-19 and against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in infants under six months of age. Starting in October.

A meeting of the Director-General of the Ministry of Health and Community Public Health will begin at 10:30 to analyze the situation after the new rebound of covid-19 in the summer and the evolution of variants. circulation.

Then, according to the agenda held by the EFE, they will discuss recommendations and start dates for the vaccination campaigns against covid-19 and influenza (which have been running jointly since 2021), as well as the first immunization against RSV. Causes bronchiolitis, all communities have been working in their organizations for a long time.

Some, like the Valencian community, even gave a date for the start of the double event: October 16th.

Regarding the joint COVID-19 campaign, in July the Committee approved the document “Recommendations for seasonal influenza and COVID-19 vaccination in Spain for the 2023-2024 season”, which identifies target groups.

These are people over 60 years of age; people over 5 years of age who are confined in residential and disability centers and others who are long-term institutionalized and living in closed institutions; high-risk groups under 60 years of age, pregnant women in any trimester of pregnancy, Postpartum women and cohabitants of immunosuppressed people.

There are also workers in public and private health and social hygiene centers (with the exception of students, for whom flu vaccination is only recommended) and workers in essential public services, with “special emphasis” on security forces and institutions, firefighters and emergency services. .

In addition, influenza testing is recommended for children 6 to 59 months of age and for people 5 to 59 years of age who are at higher risk for complications (those 5 to 18 years of age receiving long-term acetylsalicylic acid treatment and smokers), students, and smokers. Persons working as trainees in health and social care centres, and persons with direct occupational contact with animals on poultry, pig or mink farms or farms or wild animals or their secretions.

The document emphasizes that based on the epidemiological situation at the time and the immunity acquired by the population, “there is no reason for people not included in these groups to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.”

And he made it clear that “it would be best to proceed with new adapted vaccines”; Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax are all working on them, although so far only the first one (i.e. Comirnaty Ómicron XBB.1.5) has received approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Commission.

In the meantime, the first immunization campaign against RSV will prioritize high-risk babies – those born prematurely at less than 35 weeks, those with severe immunosuppression, those with Down syndrome or those receiving palliative care – and then at the start or during infants under 6 months of age. Virus season, that is, people born between April 1 this year and March 31 next year.

In addition to this, health departments and communities will discuss updates on health alerts such as an outbreak of botulism caused by the consumption of packaged potato tortillas in late July, vector-borne diseases and the status of cancer screening programs across the state health system

Ada/Ram