Sanidade expects 70,000 Galicians aged 65 to 79 to enter the study with the flu vaccine

Saúde Pública trusts the high vaccination rates in Galicia against the intense wave recorded in Australia: “Be careful with the flu this year”

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, October 30 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Department of Health has started this Wednesday, October 30, the double vaccination against the flu and covid in large centers, called ‘vaccinodrome’. For the second year in a row, the campaign is together with the study ‘GalFlu‘, which confirms the effectiveness of the flu vaccine, which has already been used for those over 80 years old, between 65 and 79 years old.

After reaching 59,490 participants in the first phase, above the 50,000 set as a goal, for this second phase Sanidade is more “optimistic” and hopes to reach 70,000 people.

‘GalFlu’ is an initiative of the General Directorate of Public Health and the Health Research Institute of Santiago (IDIS) that tries to determine if the double dose offers the same immune response under the age of 80.

To present the second phase of the project and evaluate the figures of the first, although no conclusions have been offered at the moment, the Minister of Health, Antonio Gómez Caamaño, the general director of Public Health, Carmen Durán, said and researcher doctor Federico Martinón, who leads the initiative.

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‘GalFlu’ is developed together with vaccination in large centers, where the 450,000 Galicians aged 65 to 79 who are already vaccinated will be able to decide whether they should participate in the study voluntarily or not.

There, entrants must sign an informed consent and then receive a random vaccination. Half will be entered with the double load, and the other half will be entered with the normal one.

“That’s where their active participation ends” in the project, explains Martinón. And the patient’s evolution, such as possible complications and hospitalization as a result of the flu, is analyzed with the ‘É-Saúde’ databases. Patients will receive the information through the appointment SMS, but they can also find it on the Sanidade website or request it by phone.

At the moment there are no conclusions from the first stage of the study, because the study will be carried out when the second stage ends. The only figure given is that the flu positive among ‘GalFlu’ participants last year was 10.3%, compared to the average of 14.6% of Galicians aged 65 to 79. .

“Galicia is, once again, at the forefront of research,” said the consultant. In Martinón’s words, this is the “most complex study” carried out on vaccines in Spain so far.

THE “SEVEN” FIRST CENTURY

The researcher points to a “success” last year of almost 60,000 participants, above the initial goal of 50,000. On average, 2,500 people accessed this clinical trial per day, with peaks of up to 4,000. These are figures “that are not within the reach of any institution.”

Both Martinón and the director general of Public Health have insisted that the bivalent vaccine is marketed, just like the standard quadrivalent vaccine, and that it has been into people over 80 years of age. Therefore, the trial is trying to determine, “according to its technical pages”, whether it also generates a protective response in younger age groups.

In fact, “anyone could use the full load vaccine, because it is safe and able to produce a good response,” but it is more expensive than the normal one.

“Watch out for the flu this year”

At the same press conference, those responsible for Health took the opportunity to call for a vaccine. “Be careful with the flu this year,” Carmen Durán has warned, because there could be a “complicated” season as it has already happened in the southern hemisphere.

According to figures provided by the general director, at the moment there are 35 people admitted to Galicia for or with the flu, more than half with type B, although “at the moment the curve is not on start to rise” and the favorable rate is “very low. .”

Saúde Pública works with the hypothesis that “at the end of December” the strongest wave will arrive, even above last year’s figures. The peak of the previous season was very high, but it rose and fell very sharply.

This year, in the southern hemisphere, a very strong peak was found “that lasted longer”, hence the call for warning and vaccination of the population, especially the most vulnerable.

However, Carmen Durán has indicated that what happened in Australia does not need to be “reproduced” in Galicia. Although “they do not reach 30 percent” of vaccination, here the coverage is much higher, especially among older age groups.

More than 70% vaccination in more than 80

So far this campaign in Galicia, the flu vaccination among those over 80 years old, which was carried out a few weeks ago in health centers, is higher than 70%. At the same time, the vaccine against Covid-19 is also offered, although adherence is at 65%, five points lower than the flu rate.

Based on published studies, the general director has linked this difference to “pandemic fatigue” after more than four years since the population has been “losing fear” of this virus when it started showing symptoms similar to “common cold”. mainly due to vaccines.

However, there are currently 63 people in the hospital with or due to Covid, double the current number of flu, and year after year “there are still deaths.”

Among children under the age of five, influenza coverage is currently 35%, with the target set at at least 60%. At the same time, the vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has reached 88% of newborns.