The trivalent vaccine that the Ministry of Health (Minsa) and regional governments apply to Peruvians does not provide full protection against type B influenza, warned the regional initiative Voces Ciudadanas. According to data from Minsa, as of June 2023, there are more than 3,202 cases of Type A and B influenza; being of these 15% of type B.
For the civil organization, it is necessary for the State to acquire quadrivalent vaccines, which provide greater coverage against the disease, since they protect people against the two strains of type B influenza: Yamagata and Victoria, as well as against the AH1N1 lineages. and AH3N2 from influenza type A.
“There are no technical reasons for not offering a higher level of protection to our population at risk, and even countries like El Salvador, Honduras and Paraguay are already vaccinating their risk groups with quadrivalent influenza vaccine, as are Panama, Costa Rica and Uruguay”, expressed Pilar Collantes, president of Voces Ciudadanas, in a letter addressed to the Minister of Health, César Vásquez, indicating that, after COVID-19, various countries strengthened their policy against influenza with quadrivalent vaccines, in the face of greater cases and the increasing appearance of type B strains.
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According to the letter signed by the president of Voces Ciudadanas, the national authorities must take action; since the main objective of the vaccination process against influenza should be prevention, even more so when from time to time new strains appear and others reappear. “It is unpredictable to know if 3 or 4 viruses will come each year, and a trivalent vaccine leaves the population at risk of an infection not covered by the vaccine, developing severe forms or dying,” she said.
For this reason, the head of the Minsa was asked to correct what they did in the past and opt for quadrivalent vaccines; so that they arrive in Peru in 2024. He said that the Technical Immunization Standard of the Ministry of Health (approved and published in 2022) allows this acquisition to proceed, and obliges the Peruvian State to buy vaccines that have greater coverage.
Currently, only the private health sector applies quadrivalent vaccines in Peru. It is urgent to reinforce the vaccination process with emphasis on the departments of the jungle and the south of the country, which are further behind in vaccination coverage.
“The MINSA must have as a priority to end the inequity and inequality that prevents girls, boys, adolescents, older adults and people with comorbidities from accessing vaccines that those with greater resources do,” he concluded.
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2023-07-19 06:09:54#Cases #type #influenza #increase #vaccines #applied #state #protect #variant
