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Last year’s door-to-door flu vaccination drive targeting pregnant women in Argentina

Flu: drive a vaccination campaign “house by house”

It will be focused on pregnant women; Is one of the risk groups and the lowest percentage of coverage

Rosario Marina

FOR THE NATION

May 25, 2016

Recommended to be vaccinated by the Influenza A.

Photo: LA NACION / Rodrigo Néspolo

LA PLATA.- The Buenos Aires Ministry of Health asked the municipalities to vaccinate the pregnant women house by house against the flu. Among the risk groups the vaccine needs to be administered to, vaccination of pregnant women is the one of a smaller percentage of coverage registered for the present.

“There are 71 confirmed cases of influenza A H1N1, most of them confirmed by laboratories in our network, and there have been reported six deaths so far,” said Ivan Insúa, provincial director of Epidemiology and Systematized Information of the ministry.

Through a circular that sent to all the health regions and to the secretariats of health of the 135 municipalities, the Minister Zulma Ortiz asked that they start “door-to-door” vaccination operations.

“Pregnant women are included within the target groups for influenza vaccination and should receive the vaccine promptly to reduce complications, hospitalizations and severe sequelae caused by the influenza virus,” he explained.

She also referred to the myth that if pregnant women are vaccinated against influenza they can get the disease or suffer some other type of respiratory disease. “It is a totally unfounded belief,” said the minister. “The goal of vaccination in risk groups is not to prevent them from getting the flu, but to prevent them from much more severe complications,” he said.

Goals

According to the ministry, the goal is to achieve coverages above 95%. So far, the statistics are far from that percentage: in many districts vaccines are only on demand in fixed vaccines.

In this instance an attempt is made to give the flu vaccine to women in any period of their pregnancy. On the other hand, they reported that the triple acellular bacterial vaccine which protects against whooping cough, tetanus and diphtheria, should be applied to pregnant women from the 20th week of gestation.

In addition to this group, there are others at risk that the influenza vaccine should be applied: postpartum women until they leave the maternity hospital – no more than 10 days after delivery but received during pregnancy; babies from 6 to 24 months, and people between 2 and 64 years old including those with risk factors, such as heart, respiratory or kidney diseases, immuno-depression, diabetes and obesity, among others. They also indicated that all persons 65 years of age and older and staff working in the health sector should be vaccinated.

According to Insúa, for those over 65, there is no need for a medical order, “the only procedure to be carried out in the vaccinator is to display your identity document,” he said.

In this city, a two-year-old girl was referred to the Children’s Hospital suspected of having influenza A. The studies were sent to the Malbrán Institute and yesterday the results were awaited. In this health region there are already three confirmed cases.

According to the health authorities, the deaths produced so far affected, for the most part, people who were in the risk group and had not been vaccinated. “We have to assure people that the circulation of the flu virus is advancing. Of all the serious cases that have been interned the majority belonged to groups at risk and did not have the indicated vaccine to avoid those scenarios,” said the national director of Epidemiology, Jorge San Juan.

Read the original article:
– Gripe: impulsan una campaña de vacunación “casa por casa”
http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1902222-gripe-impulsan-una-campana-de-vacunacion-casa-por-casa

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