[ad_1]
By David Kavanagh | posted on May 31, 2019
ALBANY pharmacies and medical centers do not know if other shipments of influenza vaccines will arrive shortly after more than 180 people have been turned away or placed on waiting lists because a shortage in the region.
This comes as Australia faces what some health experts have termed a higher demand for influenza vaccines for years.
While government-provided stocks reserved for people at risk under the National Free Vaccine Program (NIP) have not been affected, many stocks provided by private manufacturers and distributors are currently depleted.
Pharmacies such as Amcal + Pharmacy Albany, Alliance Pharmacy Dog Rock and Albany Plaza Drug Store are waiting to receive an additional offer "during the month of June".
Other pharmacies in the area were not able to confirm if any other stocks would arrive for this flu season.
Jane McLean, pharmacist and owner of Spencer Park at Priceline, said some vaccines had been reserved for those who had already made an appointment, but that the general lot was exhausted.
"It's not that there was no supply, or that companies have earned less, they have progressed more gradually than last year," she said.
"It's just that everything has already been used.
"Hopefully we will have what we call herd immunity in the city, which means there are enough vaccinated people out of the stock that we already have not been able to transmit too much."
Dr. Toby Leach, general practitioner at the Aberdeen Medical Center, said the center had run out of private stocks and could no longer obtain more from its supplier or pharmacies.
"Our practice and probably every practice in town still has some reserves of free government," he said.
"They should be reserved for people who are more likely to die of the flu."
According to the Federal Department of Health, the PIN covers all persons aged 65 and over, pregnant women, all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged six months and older, and persons six months of age and older certain risk factors of a medical nature.
Dr. Leach said the shortage of vaccines was spreading across the country and was the result of a bad flu season and the beginning of the flu season and the increase corresponding demand for influenza vaccines.
"There have already been many deaths around Australia because of the flu this year, so people are reacting and very wisely wanting to be vaccinated," he said.
The influenza season in Western Australia usually peaks in August and September and people are encouraged to be vaccinated in May to account for it.
Data from the weekly report on reportable diseases in the state of the Australian Ministry of Health showed that there were 3,013 cases of influenza reported this year in the week to 20 May.
This compared to 1151 cases of OA during the same period last year and to 624 cases in 2017.
In the four weeks to May 20th, 43 influenza cases were also reported in the South, compared with just four in 2018.
"This is certainly the season of the strongest demand in my experience in recent years," said Dr. Leach about vaccines.
"I spoke to a pharmacist today; I think they said that 200 people on their waiting list wanted to be vaccinated against the flu, but they are not yet available.
"There is going to be a situation where demand will continue to outstrip supply."
According to Dr. Leach, vaccines are custom-made each year to respond to newly mutated strains of the flu.
The viral strain A / H3N2, otherwise called Swiss strain after the place where it was first isolated, was at the origin of the majority of cases in WA.
A spokesman for the Federal Department of Health said the number of notifications this year was higher week after week than in previous years.
Recent figures from the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System indicate that there were just under 62,000 notifications and 139 influenza-related deaths as of May 27, compared to about 14,000 notifications and 35 deaths at the same time. period in 2018.
According to the spokesperson, this does not mean that the flu is more serious.
"There is no indication of the potential severity of the 2019 season at the moment," they said.
"The current case fatality rate (…) corresponds to previous years, given the high number of cases in January-May".
Ms. McLean stated that it was not certain that the influenza season will only start very early, which will soon make her disappear or that she will experience a higher than normal peak in August or August. in September.
"Tell people not to panic; I hope there is herd immunity, "she said.
"If people get [flu symptoms] they should wear a mask and seek treatment at the doctor or hospital.
Typical influenza symptoms in adults may include sudden fever, headache, sore throat, runny nose, cough, fatigue, general aches and pains, and congestion of the nose, throat, and lungs.
"If you are eligible for free government shooting, you must go and make an appointment with the GP as soon as possible," said Dr. Leach.
Anyone seeking health advice can contact Health Direct's 24-hour help line at 1800-222-222.
Source link
