Health
As the number of cases increases, influenza vaccination is required. So how effective is this winter jab?
Australia had Virtually free of flu for a few yearsHowever, in the last month or so, the illness has recovered.
Just shy 10,600 cases of influenza reported In the first third of this year, 100% notification was sent to the disease monitoring system, and more than 7,000 people were diagnosed in the two weeks from April 25th to May 8th.
This is compared to only 598 cases of influenza reported throughout 2021, largely due to closed borders and COVID restrictions.
Now, Australians head for winter with little innate immunityAnd faces the potential risk of co-infection with COVID-19, experts say. Influenza vaccination is more important than ever..
“There are about 600,000 children under the age of two who have never had the flu, so it’s a significant number of completely vulnerable infants,” said Sina Sullivan, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the Doherty Institute. Told to. ..
“And for our older people … we don’t know exactly how often people get infected, but communities usually have a higher level of protection than they do today.”
Nick Wood, a pediatrician in Sydney, said hospitals are already increasing the number of cases of influenza in infants. Adults with chronic health — If infected, there is an increased risk of complications.
“In pediatrics, there are definitely more hospitalizations under the age of five than we saw with COVID-19,” said Dr. Wood, deputy director of the National Center for Immunization Research and Monitoring (NCIRS).
Slow uptake of influenza vaccination
A few This year, 6 million Australians have already been vaccinated against the fluBut it’s less than a quarter of the eligible population, said Ian Barr, deputy director of the World Health Organization’s Joint Research Center for Influenza at the Doherty Institute.
“It’s low. Last year, we were vaccinated about 35 percent of eligible Australians, so we’re even lower at this point.”
That said Older Australians generally have a much higher rate of seasonal influenza vaccination From their young counterpart. (In 2019, only 15% were vaccinated against influenza between the ages of 20 and 50.)
In Australia, it is recommended that all people over the age of 6 months be vaccinated against the seasonal flu vaccine. Vaccination helps protect you from serious illness and also protects the people around you by reducing the risk of passing it on.
Dr. Wood suspected that “vaccine malaise” contributed to the delay in intake in some age groups.
According to Dr. Sullivan, some people may postpone vaccination against influenza due to the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, especially booster immunization over the last 6 months.
“I was a little confused about whether I could get the flu vaccine at the same time, so the dose of the vaccine was a little low.”
(You can get you now COVID-19 booster and influenza jab at the same time.. )
Influenza vaccine is so far an “excellent match”
Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself from the flu, but the flu vaccine provides better protection in some years than in other years.
This is because the virus that causes the flu can mutate rapidly, bypassing immune defenses and vaccine protection.
To stay one step ahead, the World Health Organization (WHO) monitors which viruses are prevalent and where they are used to determine what will be included in the next seasonal flu vaccine each September. Predict.
So how was this year?
According to Professor Barr, the situation looks pretty good at this point.
“We still don’t know how it actually works in terms of vaccine efficacy, but looking at the match between the circulating virus and the vaccine, it’s a good match at this stage.”
Of the four influenza viruses targeted for vaccine, two are influenza A virus and two are influenza B.
Influenza B virus generally only infects humans, but influenza A viruses such as H1N1 and swine flu can bounce between us and other animals.
This year, influenza A virus accounts for the majority of laboratory confirmed cases. “H3N2 is about 75% and H1N1 is 25%,” said Professor Barr.
According to Ian MacKaye, a virologist at the University of Queensland, the B virus is rare and contains only 0.2% of the cases confirmed in the laboratory, but the vaccine seems to be less effective.
“It should be noted that it was to scale up or we were supposed to get more cases of it. [travellers] Introducing it into Australia … can cause more illnesses. “
A more powerful vaccine for older Australians
How well the flu vaccine works depends on age and overall health.
NCIRS estimates that influenza vaccination can prevent about 50-60% of illnesses in infants under the age of 65 and healthy adults, but this number varies from year to year.
However, older people and people with weakened immunity may not respond to vaccinations. In other words, it can be inadequately protected.
Therefore, Australians over the age of 65 are recommended one of two enhanced influenza jabs specifically designed to increase the immune system’s response to the vaccine.
“They have an adjuvant [in the vaccine] Higher-dose vaccines, basically because the immune system needs more immune stimulants, “Dr. Wood said.
“For younger children, their immune system is a little more robust … it’s the same we saw with the COVID vaccine.”
How bad is the flu this year?
Influenza can be a mild illness, leading to several days of leave with fever, pain, pain and sore throat, but it can also cause a very serious illness. Do not confuse with a cold..
“I think people are a little happy with the flu,” said Dr. McKay.
“But in 2017 and 2019, we saw a very big year of influenza where many people were hospitalized. There were deaths, ICU visits, and many holidays.”
According to this year’s year FluTracking dataThe level of respiratory illness is “moderate and rapidly increasing, especially in children under the age of 17”.
The officially reported numbers are Influenza in Australia hospitals about 5,100 people each year and kills 100However, it is widely believed that these numbers underestimate the true burden of illness.
A 2008 mathematical modeling study suggests that influenza is likely to be the cause More than 3,000 deaths and 13,500 hospitalizations each yearAnd it’s in people just over 50 years old.
It’s never too late to get vaccinated
NCIRS recommends that qualified Australians be vaccinated against the flu around April or May, when the flu season is beginning to increase.
Like other vaccines, the effectiveness of influenza vaccination diminishes over time, but even if the flu season peaks in August or September, the April / May vaccine provides good protection. Should provide.
According to NCIRS, if you haven’t been vaccinated against the flu this year, it’s not too late, but you should get the flu shot as soon as possible to take some precautions.
Influenza vaccinations will be provided throughout the flu season as long as they can be provided.
And what if you have already had the flu? You still need to get your shot.
It helps reduce the risk of getting sick from other influenza virus strains doing rounds.
Other ways to reduce the risk of getting the flu and other illnesses should now be fairly well known. Keep a social distance, wear a face mask around others, wash your hands, stay at home.
Sources 2/ https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2022-05-27/flu-vaccination-influenza-shot-disease-virus-immune-case-numbers/101100218 The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article |
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