Every year, 5% ~ 15% of the world’s population suffers from influenza, and the incidence rate in the epidemic season can reach 14% ~ 50%, which will cause a variety of complications and significantly increase the mortality rate.
The reason for this is that influenza viruses are easy to mutate, human beings are generally not immune to influenza viruses, and influenza epidemics spread very fast, which results in a high prevalence rate.
Influenza that bullies the weak
Like other diseases, influenza is also a risk-averse who bullies the weak and fears the strong. The elderly and children with lower resistance are the high-risk groups for influenza.
However, adults have strong resistance and are much less likely to suffer from influenza than the elderly and children. Even if infected with influenza, many people can rely on their own resistance to defeat the flu and recover within a week.
However, the elderly and children are different. They are often the biggest victims of influenza. After the elderly and children are infected with influenza, the course of the disease lasts for a long time and often cannot be cured for a long time, resulting in an increase in the chance of infection with other pathogenic bacteria and easy to cause serious complications, such as pneumonia, myocarditis, meningitis, etc.
The elderly and children need additional protection
The resistance of the elderly and children is relatively poor. Facing influenza, they need additional protection-vaccination against influenza.
Influenza vaccine is an inactivated vaccine, that is, a killed virus. Injecting it into the human body will not infect the human body, but also can promote the human body to produce antibodies and resist the invasion of the virus.
Under normal circumstances, on the 7th day after injection of influenza vaccine, the number of cells in blood that can produce protective antibodies reaches a peak, and the vaccine begins to play a protective role in human body.
After that, when the human body comes into contact with the flu virus, it will not be infected.
Does influenza vaccine need to be vaccinated every year?
Because influenza viruses are especially easy to mutate, the strains contained in the vaccine will vary from epidemic strain to epidemic strain every year, and because the protective antibody of influenza vaccine will decrease with the continuation of time, it is necessary to vaccinate the influenza vaccine of the current year every year.
Only by inoculating influenza vaccine every year can the best immune effect be achieved, good immune protection be produced, infection of strains with similar antigenicity to vaccine strains be resisted, and [successful recruitment] or symptoms of onset be avoided.
Optimum vaccination time for influenza vaccine
One to two months before the influenza epidemic is the best time to vaccinate against influenza.
In our country, the influenza epidemic is mainly concentrated from November of each year to March of the following year, so the vaccination time is arranged from September to November.
In the area south of the Yangtze River, because the weather is cold and late, the vaccination time is usually concentrated from October to December.
This is what you can do to prevent influenza.
1. Influenza vaccination
Since influenza vaccines in our country are non-free vaccines, if you want to vaccinate the elderly or children, you can go to the local health administrative department to designate and announce to the public the purchase and vaccination of vaccines at vaccination sites with vaccination qualifications, such as community health service centers, township hospitals or village clinics.
All vaccination sites will have a clear [vaccination designated unit] sign or mark. Therefore, if you want to vaccinate, you must find out whether the vaccination site is a designated vaccination unit, not a designated vaccination unit, and you are not qualified to carry out vaccination.
Can pregnant women not be vaccinated against influenza due to egg allergy?
Before, we thought egg allergy was a taboo for influenza vaccination, but the current guidelines at home and abroad clearly pointed out that influenza vaccination is also safe for children with severe egg allergy and should not affect vaccination because of egg allergy.
Pregnancy is currently taboo in domestic pharmacopoeia and domestic influenza vaccine instructions. However, the mainstream inactivated influenza vaccine (that is, the type that can be vaccinated at present in China), Whether imported or domestic is inactivated vaccine) pregnancy is also allowed to vaccinate. For pregnant women who need to defend against influenza more, influenza vaccine definitely has more advantages than disadvantages. We look forward to domestic and international standards and revise the relevant requirements as soon as possible. Before the pharmacopoeia and instructions are revised, pregnant women can be vaccinated with imported Pasteur influenza vaccine.
2. Other preventive measures
Influenza vaccination is the most effective measure to prevent influenza and its complications. Other preventive measures include:
- Maintain indoor air circulation; Avoid going to places where people gather during the peak period of epidemic. Use paper towels when coughing or sneezing. Wash hands frequently to avoid dirty hands touching mouth, eyes and nose. When flu-like symptoms such as high fever, soreness and weakness occur during the epidemic period, you should seek medical treatment in time and rest at home as much as possible.
Precautions after Influenza Vaccination
- Please observe at the vaccination site for at least 30 minutes after vaccination. The inoculation site should be kept dry and clean within 24 hours. After inoculation, if the inoculation site is red, with pain, soreness, low fever, etc., it is normal and will disappear naturally after 24 hours. If there is persistent fever or other serious adverse reactions, you should seek medical treatment nearby and report to the vaccination unit.
Responsible Editor: Zhang Qing