Pharmacology expert, Enrique Terán, explains the reasons for all adults and children to receive their dose of the influenza vaccine. The vaccination day began this Tuesday at the national level.
“Flu vaccines will not prevent you from getting the flu, but they will will mitigate the consequences of the disease or that it gets worse.” With this phrase, the PhD in pharmacology and professor at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Enrique Terán, urges all adults and children in Ecuador to get vaccinated.
Influenza vaccination day It started this October 24 at the national level, although prioritizing the so-called risk groups, such as pregnant women, older adults and children from zero to four years old.
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Can someone get sick from the vaccine? Or, are there any negative effects? This and other myths are clarified by doctor Terán.
Although the Ministry of Public Health (MSP) announced that the population with risk factors should be vaccinated against influenza, doctor Terán explains that This does not exclude adults in general.
“They cannot deny us the vaccine if we go to an MSP health center, because vaccination is universal,” says Terán.
Health starts the immunization campaign with a part of the population, because at the moment it only has two million vaccines, but the plan, Terán assures, is acquire a total of five million doses.
#OurWorkContinues | He #Distrito09D04 of @Salud_Ec 🏥 immunizes children and older adults 💉 against #Influenza in the parishes #Tarqui, #FebresCordero y #GarcíaMorenoin order to avoid respiratory diseases. pic.twitter.com/dAogSw4APW
— Zonal Coordination 8 🇪🇨 (@Salud_CZ8) October 24, 2023
Why the vaccine is important
The flu vaccine is seasonal and gives the body temporary immunity against the virus.
The dose acts with two objectives: to prevent the flu symptoms during the winter get worse with a flu.
And the second, as a sense of social responsibility, to cut virus transmission in the environment.
“I get vaccinated so that the rest of the people who were not vaccinated don’t do so badly,” says Terán.
Nobody gets sick from getting vaccinated
One of the most common myths is that those who get vaccinated against the flu will contract the disease within a few days.
They will reiterate that, in effect, there will be vaccinated people who will get sickand this occurs, “because the purpose of the vaccine is not to prevent the disease, but to attenuate its effects.”
The expert indicates that it is essential to eliminate this myth among the population, because it is one of the great impediments to immunization campaigns.
“Many say that the flu has been present all our lives, and it is true, but this should not prevent us from saving the rest of the population with a vaccine,” he adds.
Vaccination in private offices
The anti-influenza dose is updated every year, and is free for multiple pharmaceutical companies to manufacture and sell on the market.
Hence, it is not the exclusive responsibility of the MSP to apply the doses, and people can visit a private office, where the vaccine ranges between USD 60 and USD 80.
The expert from the San Francisco de Quito University, Enrique Terán, indicates that there is no impediment for a person to apply the flu vaccine and Covid-19 at the same time.
At the moment, Health continues to apply the monovalent or booster dose against Covid-19, to complete the vaccination schedule against this virus.
Why vaccination is advanced
The flu vaccine is generally given once a year, and coincides with the fall and winter period in the Northern Hemisphere.
In the case of Ecuador, the dose It is administered from Decemberwhen the winter or rainy period begins.
But now, given the arrival of the El Niño phenomenon, which is expected at the end of October 2023, Salud has advanced the calendar.
In the opinion of doctor Terán, The campaign started a little latesince the levels of influenza cases returned to previous levels of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Furthermore, there is another aggravating factor: climate change that destabilizes temperatures in the environment and “makes individuals more prone to flu symptoms.
According to doctor Terán, the side effects of the influenza vaccine its stupid and include:
General malaise Low fever of 37.5 degrees Celsius Headache Body ache
These symptoms should disappear after 48 hours after the vaccine is administered, and are treated at home with a household pain reliever.
2023-10-24 20:08:34
#flu #vaccine #vaccinated
