Vaccination is timely, Zeng Guang: The flu situation this year is not optimistic
Zeng Guang, a researcher at the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention and an expert in public health and epidemiology, stated in Beijing on the 7th that the influenza situation this year is not optimistic. It is necessary to have a correct understanding of the dangers of influenza and overcome the misconceptions of influenza vaccination. Now is a great time to get vaccinated against influenza.
The press conference on the attitudes and behaviors towards adult vaccination was held in Beijing on the same day. Zeng Guang said at the meeting that everyone felt relieved after the COVID-19 pandemic, and this relaxation would also affect influenza vaccination.
The Adult Vaccination Attitudes and Behaviors Report shows that 21.5% of respondents believe that getting the flu vaccine during a flu outbreak is sufficient, and 15% believe that getting the flu vaccine only once in a lifetime is enough. Zeng Guang believes that these are two major misconceptions about influenza vaccination. He said that vaccines are mainly for prevention, and the outbreak period of influenza is generally from October of the same year to February of the following year. If vaccination is done after the influenza epidemic, it is "delayed" and cannot be said to have no effect, but the effect will be greatly reduced. Therefore, now is a great time to get vaccinated against influenza.
"Some people think that getting the flu vaccine once is enough, which equates or confuses it with other vaccines that only need to be vaccinated once. However, the flu virus mutates year by year, and it is impossible to get vaccinated once to adapt to all changes." Zeng Guang said.
Zeng Guang also emphasized that influenza should not be confused with the common cold. The harm of influenza far exceeds that of other respiratory diseases. It not only endangers the respiratory tract, but also has a wide range of impacts on the cardiovascular system, digestive system, urinary system, nervous system, etc. Moreover, the mortality rate of severe influenza, especially in elderly patients with chronic diseases, reaches over 10%, which must be given sufficient attention.
In order to better guide the national influenza prevention and control and vaccine use work, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention has recently released the "Technical Guidelines for Influenza Vaccine Prevention and Administration in China", which recommends that all individuals aged ≥ 6 months and without contraindications should receive influenza vaccines. Priority recommendations include timely vaccination for key and high-risk populations such as pregnant women, elderly people aged 60 and above, those suffering from one or more chronic diseases, healthcare workers, children aged 6 to 59 months and their family members and caregivers.
However, the data from the Adult Vaccination Attitudes and Behaviors Report shows that among the participants in the survey, 38.2% have never received the influenza vaccine, and 30.3% have only received it once, indicating that public awareness of influenza vaccine and vaccination still needs to be improved.
