If I have the flu, how long do I have to wait to get vaccinated? If I’m pregnant, can the vaccine affect the baby? If I’m receiving chemotherapy, would it be convenient to wait to get inoculated? These are just some of the questions answered by specialists from the Argentine Society of Infectious Diseases ( SADI) against the outbreak of influenza cases that crosses the country.
“The flu due to the influenza virus, which began to circulate strongly in Argentina since the beginning of March, is a disease that can be fatal for populations at risk, so vaccination is, as against Covid-19, the main tool to reduce hospitalizations and deaths,” assured this Wednesday thethe president of SADI, Claudia Salgueira.
Salgueira, along with her peer Analía Mykietiuk, gave a talk in which they evacuated doubts regarding this disease and the vaccination campaign that began last Friday (March 25) throughout the country.
-How is the flu different from any cold?
-We call the flu the respiratory disease caused by the influenza virus that is spread by contact with the secretions of infected people through droplets that are spread by coughing or sneezing and from surfaces or objects contaminated with these secretions.
-How do I distinguish the flu from Covid-19?
-The symptoms are very similar and it is very difficult to differentiate with the clinical diagnosis. In both cases, people may have a fever greater than 38°, cough, nasal congestion, sore throat, headache and muscle pain, and general malaise; in girls and boys may appear breathing difficulties, vomiting or diarrhea and irritability and drowsiness.
-Can it cause serious symptoms?
-Although in most cases people recover in one or two weeks without the need for treatment, very young children, people over 60 years of age, and those who present some risk factor can have severe forms, require hospitalization and even cause death. Against this, the main tool is vaccination.
-Who should be vaccinated?
-All people can be vaccinated and the vaccine has no contraindications. In Argentina, prioritized groups were defined to receive it free of charge within the National Vaccination Calendar. These groups are people over 65 years of age, children between 6 months and two years of age, pregnant and postpartum women, health professionals and people with risk factors.
-Who are the people with risk factors?
-They are those that present chronic pulmonary, cardiac, renal or metabolic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, etc.; also those with congenital or acquired immunodeficiencies, such as patients with HIV. It is important to call for the vaccination of people who are undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment, for example, because sometimes there is a myth that since they are immunosuppressed, the vaccines can “make them sick” or do nothing to them. The vaccine has a protective effect on these patients and will not harm them, on the contrary, it is key that they are given it precisely to prevent them from becoming seriously ill in the event of infection.
The same indication is valid for pregnant people, who sometimes doubt whether to get vaccinated or not. The vaccine is safe, there are no contraindications and it is convenient for them to give it to protect themselves and the baby.
It would also be important for the cohabitants of people at risk and workers in closed institutions to be vaccinated, especially in nursing homes.
-What are the vaccines that are being applied in this 2022 campaign?
-Influenza vaccines are applied every year according to the variants that are in circulation. For this year the trivalent vaccine includes influenza A H1N1, A H3N2 and a B lineage; the tetravalent, includes another lineage of influenza B.
The trivalent is available in the public sector and for those over 65 there is a special formulation that has adjuvants to enhance the effect; quadrivalent is available in the private sector.
The important thing is that both vaccines protect against the type of virus that is circulating right now (H3N2 and H1N1).
-Can the vaccine be given if I have the flu?
– The ideal is to be vaccinated without any acute pathology in both adults and children. One thing is a little cold and another if there is a fever, a lot of congestion, cough, etc. In that case it is advisable to wait seven days to apply the vaccine.
-Can the flu and Covid-19 vaccine be applied together?
– Yes, since September of last year that the Ministry of Health issued a recommendation in which it was reported that the flu and Covid vaccine could be co-administered. There is no minimum interval you have to pass nor maximum.
-From the application, how long does it take to provide protection?
-As with the Covid vaccine, the flu vaccine generates a response in the immune system from 15 days after application; That is why it is important to get vaccinated now, as soon as the campaign is enabled in each jurisdiction.
–
