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Arezzo, October 26, 2018 – The flu vaccination campaign begins on November 9. The distribution of influenza vaccines has already begun this week in the southeastern territory of Asl and will end on November 8; For this, the flu campaign will officially start on November 9, but family doctors and paediatricians who will receive the vaccines gradually will be able to start vaccinating their patients. The distribution doses, broken down by province, are as follows: 73,000 for Arezzo, 44,000 for Grosseto and 52,000 for Siena. The disease Influenza is a disease caused by viruses that infect the respiratory tract. It is very contagious because it is spread by droplets of mucus and saliva, even just by talking to another person. The symptoms can be very variable, from simple cold to headaches, sore throat, bone and joint pain. In children, vomiting and diarrhea are more commonly seen. Influenza is considered a common febrile illness, but it can lead to serious complications requiring hospitalization in at-risk subjects and in the elderly, sometimes even in intensive care. Influenza is still the third leading cause of death from infectious diseases in Italy.
Vaccines: who, how and where
The 2017/2019 Vaccine Prevention Plan strongly recommends influenza vaccination as it prevents disease, reduces complications, hospitalization and death. Vaccination is offered free of charge to persons over 65 and to citizens in the so-called risk category. Risk categories include children (older than 6 months) and adults with chronic respiratory, cardiovascular, renal, diabetic, children and adolescents treated long-term with acetylsalicylic acid, premature and inferior children. birth weight; women in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Civil servants with public interest can be vaccinated free of charge (nursery and primary school staff, health workers, 118 volunteers, blood donors, nursing home staff, civil protection personnel and firefighters , employees). in post offices, armed forces and municipal police), family members of high-risk and personal subjects who, for professional reasons, are in contact with animals (pigs and birds) that could be a source infection with the non-human influenza virus.
Doctors and pediatricians
As every year, the vaccination will be carried out by the family doctors and pediatricians, whose collaboration is essential to increase the vaccination coverage which, over the years, has decreased considerably throughout the regional and national territory. For people who can not go to the clinic, home vaccination is always done by your family doctor or pediatrician. It will be possible to get vaccinated until the end of December. Vaccination of health workers is of fundamental importance as it ensures individual protection and reduces the spread of infection among the patients with whom they come into contact. Health professionals can also be vaccinated by their doctor or at ASL vaccination centers. The Tuscany region has already introduced in recent years the free offer of pneumococcal vaccination to people at risk and to those who reach the age of 65 (this year, those born in 1952); vaccination can be done at any season of the year, but the flu campaign is an opportunity to offer both vaccines in a single session. A single dose of pneumococcal vaccine protects for life serious respiratory infections, sepsis and meningitis. Starting in 2017, the National Immunization Prevention Plan also introduced the vaccination against shingles, which will be offered free of charge this year to the cohort of people born in 1953. People born in 1952 still have the right to be vaccinated. enter free. The pneumococcal and herpes zoster vaccines can be administered both at the company's premises and by the attending physician, not only during the seasonal campaign, but at all times of the year.
The data
Data The goal of the vaccination campaign remains that of a minimum coverage of 75% and optimal 95% of high-risk subjects of all ages and over 65 years, to guarantee, according to the definition of Department of Health "reduction of individual risk of illness, hospitalization and death" and "reduction of social costs related to morbidity and mortality by influence". An objective that for the moment has not reached any Italian reality. Last year, vaccination coverage against influenza was 58.5% in the province of Arezzo; for the province of Grosseto 50.6% and for the province of Siena 52%. The figure is far from 75%, which is the minimum goal. In 2017, 63 serious and complicated cases of influenza and 15 deaths were reported in the Tuscany region.
Prevention beyond the vaccine
The vaccine is the best way to defend against the disease. However, for the prevention of influenza, it is necessary to add to the vaccination very useful personal protective measures to reduce the transmission of the virus: washing hands (in the absence of water, use of alcoholic gels); good respiratory hygiene (cover mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing); voluntary home segregation of persons with febrile respiratory illnesses, particularly during the initial phase; use of masks by people with flu symptoms in health care settings (hospitals). These simple rules, considered among the most effective for controlling the spread of respiratory infections, are strongly recommended by the World Health Organization.
Where to inquire
You can get information from your doctor or pediatrician or from ASL vaccination centers.
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