Authorities also recommend pregnant women flu vaccine

Health: Federal authorities also recommend pregnant women flu vaccine.

(13.09.2010) The flu season is around the corner and so the German health authorities are calling in particular older and chronically ill people, but for the first time the pregnant women for vaccination. According to Paul-Ehrlich-Institute President Klaus Cichutek, the vaccine protects against the three most common influenza virus types, including swine flu, which according to the World Health Organization (WHO) will return to Germany from next fall.

According to the health authorities, October and November are the optimal period for flu vaccinations, with the immune system taking about ten to fourteen days to build up vaccine protection. Who cares in this way, „not only protects himself from a severe influenza disease, but also avoids infection of others, "said the president of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Reinhard Burger.Generally, these experts warn against underestimating the flu as an infectious disease, while not only The health authorities are hoping that in-depth calls for flu vaccines will increase vaccination quotas and reduce the risk of major influenza outbreaks Up to 60 percent, as they are the rule in Scandinavian countries, in the view of the RKI President Burger long term desirable for Germany.

Critics, such as the author and vaccination expert Dr. Martin Hirte point out that the economic dimensions behind the vaccinations should also be considered, as the production and distribution of the substances represent a huge business.

Every year millions of people in Germany become ill with influenza, and this can be a serious health threat for certain risk groups such as people with a weakened immune system, chronic lung diseases, cardiovascular diseases or diabetes. Estimates by the Working Group on Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute assume that around 2.9 million additional visits to doctors and 5,300 influenza-related admissions to clinics took place during the previous influenza season 2009/2010. In addition, influenza sufferers have been written about 1.5 million times incapacitated. Overall, it was thus traded despite swine flu only a medium flu epidemic.

According to the experts, the fact that the recommendation for vaccination will be extended to pregnant women for the first time can be explained by their significantly higher risk of developing serious illnesses. In addition, specialists in hospitals, medical practices and geriatric care should in any case get vaccinated to avoid contracting the patients being cared for. According to Birte Kirschbaum of the Federal Center for Health Education (BzgA), the vaccination rate for medical staff is far too low at around 20 percent. In order to achieve a higher immunization coverage among the at-risk groups, all 65,000 doctors in the practice are provided with new informational materials from the BzgA.

For this winter, the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI), which is responsible for the approval of vaccines, has so far approved the release of 20.5 million doses of vaccine, with the vaccine being recommended annually by the WHO. The combination of influenza strains A and B with the H1N1 virus in the current Fluvax junior® vaccine was relatively unproblematic as it is a traditional split vaccine that does not require the controversial potentiators of the vaccines used in Europe against swine flu were. The vaccinations that were carried out in Australia in May on the occasion of the onset of influenza season, however, numerous side effects occurred. For example, some patients suffered from febrile seizures after administration and a two-year-old child died without known pre-existing conditions within 12 hours of vaccination. For these reasons, the Australian government has begun to discourage healthy children from flu vaccination with Fluvax Junior. In the context of such reports, it remains doubtful whether patients will in future more frequently follow the advice on the annual flu vaccine and achieve a vaccination rate that meets the ideals of the health authorities (50 to 60 percent). Because not only in naturopathy is there a great skepticism towards the inoculants, which in addition to the active ingredients for the most part still contain preservatives that may contain formaldehyde and mercury compounds. Since the influenza viruses are partially propagated in egg white, according to media reports, people with allergies should be careful here. (fp, Tf)

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