Raúl Ortiz de Lejarazu and Fernando Moraga-Llop.
The flu vaccination campaign approaches and, before this news, the information circulates that the Ministry of Health intends to overtake her. Despite the fact that this research is not official or confirmed, from the medical field they have made their position clear regarding this intention: “The date of flu vaccination cannot be brought forward”. This is how it manifests Raul Ortiz de Lejarazuspokesperson for the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (Seimc), in statements to Medical Writingwho assures that “it is a tremendous mistake”.
The Seimc spokesman explains that “the original date must be maintained. Ideally, the flu vaccination campaign begins in early OctoberTherefore, remember that “antibodies drop to previous levels in 50 percent of those vaccinated after six months of administering the vaccine.”
Along the same lines, Ortiz de Lejarazu stresses that “the further ahead the flu vaccine is, before the protection will be lost“. So “the vaccination campaign should start in October, so that protection is maintained until april“.
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Raúl Ortiz de Lejarazu: “The further ahead the flu vaccine is, the sooner the protection will be lost” |
An opinion that he also shares Fernando Moraga-Lop, vice president of the Spanish Association of Vaccinology (AEV), who confirms that “the flu vaccination campaign has to start in October, especially in the middle of the month.” In addition, he emphasizes that “advance this vaccine was only done in 2020-2021 because there was no vaccines against Covid-19 and given the risk of co-infection of this virus with the flu, it was decided to start earlier”.
Intensive flu vaccination campaign
For the entire population to reach April with the protection of the flu vaccine, “you have to start vaccinating in mid-Octobercarrying out a intensive flu vaccination campaign so that the entire population has the dose administered in mid or late November”.
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Moraga-Llop: The immune response to the flu vaccine “lasts six months and if vaccination begins next month it will continue to be active until April” |
An immune response that, like Ortiz de Lejarazu, Moraga-Llop explains “lasts six months and if you start vaccinating in the next month, it will continue to be active until April”, thus covering the months with higher flu peaks in the Spanish population.
How was the flu vaccination with covid?
Ortiz de Lejarazu shares through his Twitter profile how the vaccination campaign took place a year ago, 2021-2022, even with the pandemic of Covid-1 very present in Spain. The virologist highlights in the first place that the virus responsible and protagonist in those months was H3N2.
In addition, Ortiz de Lejarazu emphasizes that in the past flu epidemic Spain lived was the first time that two peaks of type A virus occurred separated by more than four weeks in the same season. In this regard, he adds that the second largest infection spike and long that the first coincides with a decrease in antibodies.
For everything lived, the virologist insists on keep the start of the flu vaccination campaign as it has always been done: in October.
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