“Vaccines do not save lives, vaccination saves lives”has commented Pilar Arrazola Martínez, head of the Preventive Medicine and Public Health Service of the HU October 12during the book presentation: ‘Adjuvanted flu vaccine: 20 years protecting us from the flu’. This publication contains a brief history of influenza vaccine development. Since the creation of the first monovalent inactivated vaccine in 1936 until the authorization of the first MF59-adjuvanted vaccine in Europe in 1997going through the US authorization of the first bivalent inactivated vaccine for use in the civilian population in 1945.
Together with the co-author of the book has been Ángel Gil, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health King Juan Carlos Universitywho has also participated in its preparation and in which they have emphasized the importance of research and development of vaccines with improved formulations for an adequate prevention strategy to deal with the flu.
Both experts have been introduced by the host of the event, Professor Fernando Bandres Moya, director of the Gregorio Marañón Study Center of the Ortega-Marañón Foundation, at whose headquarters a symposium has been held in which the fundamental points of the publication have been explained. In its preparation, apart from the already mentioned Ángel Gil and Pilar Arrazola, have participated Jose Maria Eiros BouzaProfessor of Microbiology at the University of Valladolid, Adolfo Garcia-Sastre from the Microbiology Department of the ICAHN School of Medicine, Mont Sinai Hospital, NY, USA and Joan Puig Barberasenior researcher at FISABIO.
For their part, the specialists have highlighted the importance of the adjuvant substances that, when administered together with the Vaccinal AG, “accelerate, prolong and increase the specific immune response”. Showing that this type of vaccine induces a significantly higher immune response than that generated by standard non-adjuvanted vaccines, offering protection against heterologous strains.
Epidemiological surveillance
Every year they die from the flu between 4,000 and 5,000 people. The cases usually begin with the arrival of winter and mainly affect the smallest, but as the weeks go by it spreads among adults.
“Mortality occurs more in the elderly, especially when they have a chronic pathology,” commented Gil, who recalled that even so this 2022-2023 season has focused more on children. “This has made the Ministry of Health has included the recommendation of the flu vaccination for children between six months and six years of age“, has added.
The expert recalled that vaccines serve to protect people who are at greater risk of serious illness or death in the event of suffering from the flu and that they are essential for reduce the transmission of infection.
“The direct and indirect costs associated with the flu compromise the healthcare capacity of the NHS”
Pilar Arrazola Martinezhead of the Preventive Medicine and Public Health Service of the HU October 12
On the other hand, it has highlighted the importance of the epidemiological surveillance to reduce influenza-associated mortality and morbidity and the impact it has on society. In this way, it has valued the control methods to carry out this surveillance and to know the weight of the disease. “Thanks to the new triple tests we can know if the a person’s symptoms derive from the flu, RSV or COVID. It is important to continue doing them to promote epidemics”, stated Gil, who considers it relevant to differentiate flu from other infections that cause respiratory tract diseases.
The importance of know the viral strains to allow determining the vaccine composition.
In fact, one of the conclusions of the book is that achieving adequate levels of vaccination coverage represents one of the greatest current challenges for the success of the influenza prevention strategy.
Security, costs and access
The publication also emphasizes that the administration of adjuvanted vaccines is a cost-effective intervention in older adults and represents significant savings health and financial resources. “The direct and indirect costs that flu entails compromise the health care capacity of the SNS”, explained Arrazola.
Apart from saturate health centers and hospitalsthe flu affects indirectly due to the work absenteeism. For this reason, some companies already carry out very active recruitment of these improved vaccines.
“You have to be well informed about the severity of the flu and all the complications in the different body systems that it can cause”
Angel Gil, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
Another topic that has been discussed during the presentation of the book has been the equity in access to vaccines and security from the same. “Adjuvanted vaccines have proven to be safe and well tolerated. Although local and systemic side effects are seen more frequently, they are generally of mild and limited in time”, commented the expert.
One of the most curious data shared in the book is the percentage of flu vaccination in people over 65 years of age. “One has to Inform well about the severity of the flu and all the complications in the different body systems that it can cause. This information must be directed both professionals and the public in general”, Gil continued. “If we manage to get more than 90 percent of the population vaccinated with COVID, it should be similar with the flu,” added the professor.
The reality is that in the last campaign (2020-2021) 67.7 percent were vaccinated within this age range, a figure that has increased significantly since the 2011-2012 season where 58 percent was never reached. This rise of 10 percentage points is related to fear by COVID.
Unfortunately, Ángel Gil considers that these figures will not be reached again, as he explained to EG. Since the COVID has subsided, “there is not as much interest in flu vaccination anymoreso that in the next seasons it is likely that we will see figures that are closer to 50 percent again than at 70″.
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2023-05-05 08:46:41
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