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Experts say about this year’s flu campaign after two pandemic winters, it is expected to be stronger than other seasons in terms of contagion. For this, they warn, this year it is even more important to get vaccinated against the flu, especially vulnerable groups, including pregnant women, the elderly and those with respiratory and / or chronic diseases, whose coverage suffered last year. year a notable decline, with a decrease of half in the vaccination rate (from 49.3% to 25.1%), which returns to pre-pandemic levels (according to data from the El gripómetro demographic study).
The elderly population is particularly vulnerable to influenza as it produces an increase in hospitalizations, a decrease in autonomy and an increase in mortality. As people get older, their immune systems weaken and your ability to fight infections and respond to vaccines decreases. This process is called immunosenescence. Additionally, they often have additional coexisting medical conditions, which make them more prone to flu-related complications.
And that’s it influenza is a virus that can affect almost any organ and body systems. It is known as acute respiratory disease, but it is much more than that. This is confirmed by various studies, which have shown that influenza increases the risk of myocardial infarction (AMI), and that the vaccine protects against both myocardial infarction and cerebrovascular accidents (strokes) over a very long period of time. .time.
“It has been known for many years that cold is associated with an increased risk of heart attack. Because colds and flu often go together, it was unclear whether the increased heart attack rate observed in the fall and winter was due to temperature, infections, or both. By analyzing more than 8,000 heart attacks collected by the Madrid Heart Attack Code health network, we have shown that both flu and cold increase the risk of suffering from them. In a second study, we used a registry from the Spanish Medicines Agency (Aemps) to assess whether the flu shot reduces the risk of heart attack. From the data of around nine million Spaniards, we have identified more than 24,000 heart attacks and we have been able to observe that there is a reduction in the risk of AMI in vaccinated people, which persists for more than 200 days after immunization “, explains Alberto García Lledó, head of the Cardiology Service at the Príncipe de Asturias Hospital in Alcalá de Henares, and lead author of the study published in the” Journal of the American Heart Association “.
Effect on stroke
And they are not the only ones. In a third study, similar to the previous ones, we observed the same protective effect with respect to the risk of suffering a stroke»Says García Lledó. Another work, also Spanish, published in “Neurology” last September: with 14,322 stroke cases and 71,610 controls, the authors report a vaccination rate of about 40% in both groups and a moderate protective effect of the vaccine against the influenza in stroke after full vaccination. This effect appeared within 15-30 days after vaccination. Influenza can therefore transiently increase the risk of vascular events, including stroke. Acute systemic inflammation can drive this relationship, possibly through endothelial dysfunction, atherosclerotic plaque instability, and a procoagulant state.
For all these reasons, concludes the expert, “it seems clear that the flu vaccine reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke, both in people who have already had these problems, and in the population that does not have them. It has recently been shown that vaccinating people who have just had a heart attack in the hospital not only causes no complications, but also reduces the risk of death and heart problems over the next 12 months. In other words, the flu vaccine is safe and prevents deaths in these patients. ”
The Public Health Commission approved the expansion of the childhood vaccination program to include influenza between 6 months and 5 years in the 2023/24 campaign. Influenza vaccine for children has been requested by associations of pediatricians: the Vaccine Advisory Committee of the Spanish Pediatric Association (CAV-AEP) had already recommended it last season for children over the age of 6 months not included in the risk groups, whereas it confers individual protection and favors protection of the family and the community, in line with organizations such as WHO and ECDC. In this way, and there is no confirmation from the Interterritorial Council, from next year’s campaign the National Health System will finance the flu vaccine for this cohort.
