Share:
Influenza Doctors Call for Influenza Vaccination
The current flu season has begun. How difficult it will be in this year, is currently not foreseeable. Health experts are now calling for vaccination. But even protective measures such as regular hand washing can reduce the risk of infection.
Protection against infection
The course of a flu season can not be predicted. Although the season usually starts in January and lasts on average three to four months, but this time already in September first flu cases were reported. Health experts call for vaccination against the virus disease. In order to protect yourself from an infection, it is basically also useful to strengthen the immune system, to keep away from patients and regularly wash their hands.
Health experts call for the flu vaccine. But also by other protective measures such as regular hand washing and distance to diseased persons, the risk of infection can be reduced. (Image: auremar / fotolia.com) Effectiveness of the flu shot not optimal
The flu season 2016/2017 was a severe flu episode and has hit especially the elderly hard. This is shown by the new seasonal influenza report, published by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
"Unfortunately, especially among seniors, the vaccination rates are particularly low at around 35 percent," says Prof. Dr. med. Lothar H. Wieler, President of the RKI, in a joint press release from the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA), the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) and the RKI.
Although the efficacy of influenza vaccine is not optimal, due to the frequency of influenza many cases of illness and severe disease can be prevented.
"Despite the fluctuating vaccine effectiveness, vaccination is the most important measure to protect against a disease," emphasizes Wieler.
In order to reduce the risk of influenza infection, regular and thorough hand washing with soap as well as distance to diseased persons are recommended in addition to vaccination.
Protection needs to be refreshed every season
Whether a flu vaccine makes sense, ultimately everyone must decide for themselves.
According to the RKI, it can also provide protection at the beginning and in the course of the flu epidemic.
The vaccine needs to be refreshed every year as the vaccine is reassembled for each season to counter the current flu virus.
PEI President Prof. Dr. med. Klaus Cichutek explains the offer of different vaccines: "In addition to the vaccines for intramuscular injection in the upper arm, this season there is also a vaccine that can also be injected under the skin, ie subcutaneously."
"In addition, there is a nasal spray vaccine for children and adolescents from two to 17 years of age and a vaccine for people over 65 with potentiators."
Three tetravalent influenza vaccines will be available this season to protect against all circulating main strains of the influenza virus.
Vaccination rates are too low
The Standing Committee on Vaccination recommends the flu vaccine, especially for people with an increased risk of serious illnesses. These are mainly people over 60 years, chronically ill and pregnant women.
The vaccine can be given with a tri- or tetravalent influenza vaccine (three or four components). Also, medical and nursing staff should be vaccinated because of his occupational exposure.
In addition to self-protection, the protection of treated patients or cared for persons is of particular importance.
However, the vaccination rates are still too low for medical staff. A pilot study of the RKI carried out in two university hospitals showed that only about 40 percent of the hospital staff were vaccinated, 56 percent were doctors, 34 percent were nurses and 27 percent were in therapeutic professions.
Dr. Heidrun Thaiss, Head of the BZgA, emphasizes: "According to our study data, the most important contact persons in vaccination education are the attending physicians and the medical staff. These professions should lead by example, have themselves vaccinated against the flu and pass on this information. "
This season there is no chicken protein free vaccine
Once again this year, the BZgA has sent out media packages with information material for influenza vaccination to important multipliers such as physicians in private practice, specialists from clinics, nursing homes, pharmacies and the public health service.
The brochures contained therein as well as further information on the influenza vaccine are available for download or free of charge at www.impfen-info.de/grippe.
Since 2006, the BZgA and the RKI have been conducting the joint education campaign "We've gotten the flu before" for information about the influenza vaccine.
The Paul Ehrlich Institute, which as the Federal Institute for Vaccines and Biomedical Drugs reviews the quality of all vaccine batches before they are launched, has already released around 17 million vaccine doses.
A chicken egg free vaccine is not available this season. "However, this does not need to worry people with chicken egg allergy," explains Cichutek.
A study by the PEI revealed that a large number of published clinical trial results now indicate that even in persons with an allergy to chicken protein, severe allergic reactions to influenza vaccination are rare or occur no more frequently than in persons without chicken protein allergy.
In case of known egg white allergy, however, the vaccinating physician should always be informed.
Especially the elderly are affected by severe illnesses
The optimal vaccination period is October and November. An overview of the influenza vaccines with the information on the approved age group can be found at www.pei.de/influenza-impfstoffe.
For the professional public, the RKI offers on the page www.rki.de/influenza-inpfung detailed answers to frequently asked questions about the influenza vaccine.
In a flu season dominated by the influenza A (H3N2) subtype, elderly and very elderly people are particularly affected by severe disease.
The data from the National Reference Center for Influenza in the Seasonal Report shows that in the 2016/2017 season more than 90 percent of the influenza viruses studied belonged to this H3N2 subtype.
Among the hospital patients with severe acute respiratory illness, the severity of the age group 60 years and over was higher in the 2016/17 season than in the severe flu epidemic 2014/15 and significantly higher than in the more moderate 2015/16 season.
The number of influenza-associated doctor visits was estimated at six million, lower than in 2014/2015.
The data for the estimated over-all mortality attributed to influenza in the Berlin Seasonal Report (920) was clearly above the 2014/2015 season (600), nationwide data are not yet available. (Ad)