Those over 2, 3 and 4 years old will receive the intranasal vaccine, to avoid the discomfort of the puncture
Health began this Wednesday to administer the flu vaccine to children between 6 and 59 months of age in the Region of Murcia. In total, some 70,000 minors are called to protect themselves against this virus. In the Carmen neighborhood of Murcia, Lily, two years old, and her brother Lewis, one year old, were among the first to receive the vaccine. «In the last appointment with the pediatrician they told us that we could vaccinate our children, and here we are. Anything that makes them safer is a good thing, especially if, as it seems, the flu is coming strong this year. In addition, in this way we also protect the grandparents, ”explained the parents, Paloma Gómez and Adrian Cockings.
Lily received the vaccine intranasally, as will all 2, 3, and 4 year olds. Salud opted for this route to avoid the discomfort of the puncture, although this did not prevent Lily from shedding a tear. “The Region is the only community that is going to use the intranasal vaccine, which has been administered in other countries for years. It is just as effective as the punctured one, ”they emphasize from the Ministry. For children under 2 years of age, the intramuscular vaccine is maintained, because this is established in the technical data sheet. Those who have not been vaccinated in previous seasons will receive two doses separated by at least four weeks.
The Region of Murcia, Andalusia and Galicia are the first communities to incorporate children between 6 and 59 months into the flu vaccination campaign. Until now, only minors with risk factors were protected. The majority of autonomies will wait for the next season to join this measure, once it has already been approved by the National Public Health Commission. “The flu generates many consultations in children under 5 years of age, as well as serious cases, admissions and deaths, even among healthy children,” explains the Ministry. This year, “vaccination against the flu was especially important, after three years with practically no circulation of the virus,” they add from this department.
“We believe that this season is going to be complicated, because children have not been exposed to respiratory viruses for three years, beyond Covid,” María José Galiana, head of Nursing at the Carmen neighborhood health center, warned on Wednesday. Murcia. In all this time there have been outbreaks of bronchiolitis, but practically no flu has been recorded. Everything indicates that this season the usual seasonal flu epidemic will return.
Health reminds that the flu vaccine can be administered “along with any childhood vaccine”, so “they may be administered if it coincides with any review”. Parents can request an appointment at the health centers.
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