VACCINATION. The fall vaccination campaign against respiratory viruses began on October 7 in Mauricie and Center-du-Québec, where more than 100,000 people are vaccinated each year. Since the start of the campaign, more than 13,000 appointments have been made on Clic Santé in the region.
The Mauricie-et-du-Centre-du-Québec Integrated University Health and Social Services Center (CIUSSS MCQ) invites the population to make an appointment to be vaccinated at one of the eight local service points in vaccination of the region.
“Rhinovirus and enterovirus infections cause approximately 50% of recorded cases. Added to this is the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) which is currently very widespread,” indicates Guillaume Langlois, medical consultant in public health at the CIUSSS MCQ.
“As for Covid, it only represents 16% of cases according to the data available in mid-October. Covid and influenza are down compared to what we saw three or four weeks ago,” he specifies.
In certain cases of Covid and influenza (flu virus), treatment is offered to vulnerable people to reduce the risk of complications or even death.
Guillaume Langlois would like to remind you that regardless of the respiratory virus, it must be taken into consideration that the virus carrier remains contagious. He recalls that certain habits established during the pandemic can still make a difference today, such as wearing a mask in public places or avoiding gatherings in the event of illness or symptoms.
“We must not trivialize these viruses when we are sick, we should try not to transmit them and try to break the chain of infection,” he emphasizes.
Reaching vulnerable people
The mobile vaccination campaign will visit 648 living environments in the region, including CHSLDs, RPAs, mental health care environments and alternative living environments (RI-RTF, RAC and others) for intellectual disabilities and spectrum disorders. of autism.
“Vulnerable people always remain our priority, in this case the elderly, diabetics, people with chronic illnesses or immune deficiencies,” indicates the medical advisor.
“Of course, we cannot vaccinate a baby aged six months and under, but we can vaccinate our family, for example. This is also a priority for us,” he comments on the question of vaccination priority.
Guillaume Langlois mentions that health professionals are also part of the priority of this campaign, “because they are the first to be in contact with the virus and it is important to protect them and to protect the patients who come into contact with them. »
Get vaccinated to better spend the holiday season
According to Dr. Langlois, the vaccine takes approximately two weeks before it is effective and functional. He believes the next two weeks are ideal for getting vaccinated before the big waves that would coincide with gatherings during the holiday season.
“This explains, in part, why in January several people fall ill and it spills over into emergency rooms. We also often have another peak in March and April,” he emphasizes.
He points out that RSV infections generally occur from late fall to early spring, during the cold months of the year.
