Every autumn and winter, flu will "come as promised", but its severity is still underestimated. At the 2019 seasonal influenza prevention and control strategy academic exchange meeting, sponsored by the Chinese Society of Preventive Medicine and supported by Sanofi Pasteur, experts at the meeting reminded that influenza vaccination is the most effective means to prevent influenza and can significantly reduce the risk of influenza and serious complications for vaccinated people.
Influenza is not Common cold The harm is underestimated
Influenza, as an acute respiratory infectious disease, is not a common cold. influenza virus directly invades the human respiratory system, causing viral pneumonia, secondary bacterial pneumonia , acute respiratory distress syndrome, shock, diffuse intravascular coagulation and other serious life-threatening complications.
Influenza virus changes a lot, and every winter it will appear in a new look, causing a seasonal epidemic. Influenza and its complications have always been seriously underestimated by the whole society. WHO (WHO) estimates that globally, the flu seasonal epidemic can cause 290,000 to 650,000 deaths.
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention Respiratory Infectious Diseases Department, Feng Luzhao, director of the respiratory infectious ward of the Infectious Disease Department, introduced that the burden of influenza is very serious. The annual influenza incidence rate in the entire population can reach 5%-10%, and children can reach about 20%.
It is understood that high-risk groups for influenza are divided into two categories: one is the group with a higher risk of serious influenza complications, including elderly people over 60 years old, children from June to 5 years old, pregnant women and patients with chronic diseases; the second is the group with a higher risk of exposure, including on-campus students and medical workers.
Feng Luzhao said that the current counted incidence and death cannot fully reflect the true level of influenza, and fewer influenza patients diagnosed than the actual number of patients. At the same time, it also involves the attribution of the cause of death caused by influenza.
"Influenza can cause serious complications such as pneumonia, and it will aggravate other chronic diseases of the patient. These dead patients will not classify it as the cause of influenza death, but will use its complications as the cause of death, such as pneumonia, COPD , diabetes complications, etc.," said Feng Luzhao.
Strengthen vaccination awareness and enhance vaccine value awareness
At present, vaccination is the most economical and effective intervention measure for influenza prevention and control, and vaccination is preferred for high-risk groups.
It is reported that in order to effectively control and prevent influenza and protect the health of citizens, since 2007, Beijing has carried out large-scale free vaccination activities among locally registered elderly people and primary and secondary school students over 60 years old.
For patients with chronic diseases, Dr. Rodewald, senior consultant to the immunization program of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, believes that many pilot studies, including China, can be learned from: For example, inclusion of influenza vaccines in the care standards for patients with chronic diseases such as asthma, COPD, diabetes, etc. This should first make doctors realize the importance of influenza vaccines in avoiding reducing the aggravation of the disease.
In this regard, Du Xin, director of the Department of Cardiology at Beijing Anzhen Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, said that influenza vaccine can play a role in preventing myocardial infarction. She cited the evidence mentioned in the paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine: Influenza and myocardial infarction are clearly related, which can increase the risk of myocardial infarction by 6 times.
"We have done a broad statistics. Among the patients hospitalized for heart failure in China, 33% are caused by infection, which of course includes influenza. If infection is to be controlled from the source, controlling influenza is also a very important factor." Du Xin said.
However, the importance of influenza vaccines has not been fully recognized by the whole society. At present, the total coverage rate of influenza vaccines in China is less than 2%.
Du Xin said that there are even a large number of grassroots doctors and community doctors who believe that cardiovascular disease cannot be vaccinated with influenza vaccine. Medical personnel need to improve their understanding of the value of the vaccine, and at the same time help patients reduce misunderstandings about influenza vaccines.
"In the future, I think doctors should recommend influenza vaccination in their medical advice to high-risk patients, including cardiovascular diseases, which will be of great help to improve the vaccination rate and reduce the acute attacks of some patients with chronic diseases." Du Xin said.
"I hope our country can accelerate the introduction of more products to better help key groups improve vaccine protection." Feng Luzhao believes that national support is of great significance to improving the vaccination rate. In order to strengthen people's understanding of the necessity of influenza vaccination, it is necessary to vigorously carry out health education, and encourage strengthening investment in public-funded vaccines, promote people-friendly policies, and further build a more convenient and accessible vaccination service system.
Medical personnel are high-risk people in the flu, and protection should be strengthened
Medical personnel themselves are high-exposure people in the flu, but their awareness of prevention and control needs to be improved. Through personal experience, Du Xin learned that the influenza vaccination rate of medical staff is relatively low.
"Many medical staff, like the general public, also have a fluke mentality, believing that influenza vaccine is a preventive measure, and it doesn't hurt to not be vaccinated. But in fact, medical staff will encounter many patients during the treatment. They are always in a state of high exposure to the virus, and the risk of infection during the flu season is 3-4 times higher than that of the general population."
Du Xin believes that doctors and nurses working in emergency departments and respiratory diseases related departments are all high-risk groups for influenza. "How to make our medical staff and the whole society realize the prevention value of influenza vaccines is a work that we work together, and it also requires the government to continue to strengthen guidance."
The public still has misunderstandings about influenza vaccines
At present, the public still has misunderstandings about influenza vaccines such as ineffective vaccination effects and inability to prevent influenza. In this regard, Feng Luzhao said that influenza vaccines are produced based on the strains predicted by the WHO every year and need to be vaccinated every year. In this case, first of all, it is not ruled out that the recommended strains do not match the actual epidemic virus, so there will be differences in the effect of influenza vaccination every year.
"This is currently limited by technology and cannot be accurately predicted. The general influenza vaccine has not been developed yet. But if the matching rate is good, the protective effect of the vaccine can reach 70-80%. If the matching is not good, the protection power can only reach 20-30%. " Feng Luzhao said.
In addition, the effectiveness of the vaccine is related to the vaccination rate. Feng Luzhao said that if the vaccine has a moderate protection effect of 50%, as long as the vaccination rate is high enough, it can still form an immune barrier, reduce the incidence rate, and reduce the medical expenses of individuals and countries.
Secondly, many respiratory viruses and bacteria, such as respiratory syncytial virus , adenovirus, or Streptococcus pneumoniae infection, will cause symptoms similar to influenza. Getting influenza vaccinated can prevent influenza virus infection, but it cannot prevent respiratory infections or common colds caused by other viruses. In fact, many people still have cold symptoms after getting the flu vaccine, but it is not the flu.
influenza vaccine is not given priority. Influenza vaccination should be given before the flu season
influenza ushers in a high season in autumn and winter, reaching its peak in January. Talking about the best time for vaccination, Feng Luzhao believes that it is best for people to get influenza vaccination before the pandemic season comes. During this period, it takes several weeks to produce antibodies after vaccination to ensure that the human body is protected before the highest risk of infection comes; and even if the vaccination is not completed before the sensation comes, as long as there is no influenza infection, people can still get vaccinated throughout the epidemic season. "Early vaccination is better than late vaccination, and late vaccination is better than not," said Feng Luzhao.
In addition, in response to the situation where babies under 6 months of age cannot receive influenza vaccine, family members and caregivers of the child are recommended to provide children with a safe and secure care environment, and encourage pregnant women to get influenza vaccine to prevent influenza from invading.
Feng Luzhao said that according to the "Technical Guidelines for the Prevention of Influenza Vaccination in China (2018-2019)", people who can receive different types of vaccine products from different manufacturers can voluntarily receive any influenza vaccine, and there is no priority recommendation. There are currently flu vaccines on the market, and residents can go to the vaccination site of the community health service center in their jurisdiction to make an appointment and get vaccinated.
Content source: Xinhuanet
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