Salud pilots the flu campaign to several schools with the aim of extending the initiative to the entire educational network next year
Jorge did not look very convinced yesterday when, upon entering the classroom, he met several nurses with masks handling some small vials. Suspicious, he sat on the knee of her teacher, María José Ramón, while nurse María del Mar Albero held one of those tiny tubes up to his nose. His companions attended the scene with wide eyes, expectant. Before Jorge wanted to realize it, the health worker had already sprayed the contents of the device into his nostrils. The ‘spray’ was nothing more than a dose of the flu vaccine that Health is administering, intranasally, to children of 2, 3 and 4 years of age in the Region of Murcia.
If Jorge, 4 years old, had reacted differently, perhaps the morning of vaccinations at the Juan XXIII school in El Ranero would have taken place in a sea of tears due to contagion, but there was the expertise of the teacher and nurse to prevent it. Jorge did not cry or flinch, and the other children took note: the ‘spray’ in the nose is not a big deal.
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child vaccination
The Region of Murcia is one of the first three communities to incorporate protection against influenza into the childhood immunization schedule. Specifically, the vaccine is aimed at children between 6 and 59 months. -
To children under 2 years
they are administered the conventional intramuscular vaccine. To the rest, an intranasal vaccine. The Region of Murcia is the first community to incorporate this intranasal vaccination which, according to Salud, offers a better response, by acting on the entry gate of the virus into the body. In addition, it is less invasive for children, as the puncture is avoided. -
coverage
So far, Salud has administered just over 18,000 doses of flu vaccine to children between 6 and 59 months. This represents a coverage close to 28%.
The Juan XXIII school is one of the six centers selected in Murcia and Lorca to pilot the introduction of the flu vaccine in schools, as is already the case with the meningococcal or human papillomavirus vaccine. The Ministry, the SMS, the municipal health service of Murcia and the Ministry of Education collaborate in the program.
If the results are as expected, all children aged 3 and 4 in the Region of Murcia will be able to receive the flu vaccine at their school next year. At the moment, and beyond this pilot test, the doses are being administered this season in health centers.
intranasally
The Region of Murcia, Galicia and Andalusia are the first communities that have incorporated protection against influenza into their childhood immunization calendar. Specifically, children between the ages of 6 and 59 months are being vaccinated. Children under 2 years of age are given the vaccine intramuscularly. For the rest, in the Region of Murcia, a single intranasal dose is being administered, in a pioneering way. No other community has yet acquired these new intranasal vaccines.
«They represent a huge advance; they are less invasive and offer very good results”, explains Francisca Tornel, pharmacist at the Vaccine Service of the Ministry of Health. When administered on the mucosa of the nose, the vaccine acts directly on the door of entry of the pathogen into the body.
more awareness
Since the start of the campaign, in early November, Salud has vaccinated just over 18,000 children in the Region against the flu. It is a coverage of 28%, quite low if compared with the results in the rest of the vaccinations in the children’s calendar. However, Salud hopes to improve rates through awareness campaigns. “The flu is a disease that causes high percentages of hospital admission in children. You have to protect them, but this is difficult to transfer to the parents because most of them do not get vaccinated, and do not perceive the risks of the flu”, reflects Francisca Tornel. According to Health figures, about 160 Murcian children are admitted to hospitals each year with the flu. Of them, 31 are hospitalized in serious condition, and 10 require a stay in the ICU. Of course, fortunately, mortality is minimal.
A program that works
Salud believes that vaccination against influenza in schools can help to significantly improve coverage. “School vaccination is a success. Not all the communities have incorporated it, but in the Region it is working very well”, emphasizes Tornel. Alonso Lozano, director of Juan XIII, attests to this. «Fifteen days ago they came to vaccinate the 6th grade students against meningococcus and human papillomavirus. The response was massive even in children, who have been vaccinated against papilloma for the first time », he emphasizes. The result in the pilot trial of the intranasal flu vaccine is more discreet. In total, 23 doses were administered yesterday at this center in El Ranero, but it must be borne in mind that the majority of parents who want to protect their children from the flu have already gone to the health centers, recalls Lozano.
The Health pilot program continues today in three other schools in El Ranero and Nonduermas, and next week, in two centers in Lorca.
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