Children and flu: a difficult pairing in winter

between 60 and 80% of children hospitalized for influenza had no previous health problemsas warned by the head of scientific and virological surveillance of the National Influenza Center of Valladolid, Ivan Sanz, who recalled the importance of vaccinating healthy children during the recent presentation of the “Flu School” campaign.

According to the specialist, Between 4,000 and 6,000 hospitalizations occur annually. in the pediatric population Because of this disease, about a thousand of them end up in intensive care units. In addition, about 20% of hospitalized people may develop pneumonia and, in a high percentage, seizures. Sanz, in turn, noted that Every year, 10 to 20 children under the age of 18 die. for this reason.

“We never remember the flu“- said the expert, comparing the attention paid to this disease with others, such as meningococcus. “Parents need to know that The flu virus is not a cold and that you will be able to take your children to the hospital,” he warned.

In fact, with children returning to school, flu cases have multiplied, as they do every year, a disease that in a normal year affects 10 to 20% of the world’s population, causing three to five million severe cases and about 650,000 cases. deaths all over the world.

For this reason the campaignFlu school“which is part of the initiative”The ABCs of Flu” from AstraZenecaremember the importance of knowing the flu and its preventive measuresespecially in the pediatric population. Through the video, minors demonstrate that they can not only understand what the flu is, but also explain it. how to prevent disease and protect the most vulnerable. During influenza outbreaks, young children are usually the first to become ill, and the highest rates of influenza are seen in children 0 to 4 years of age, followed by children under 15 years of age. Except, Children are considered a fundamental factor in the chain of transmission of influenza. because they destroy a large number of viruses over a longer period of time.

Thus, during the presentation of the campaign, experts emphasized the importance of protecting babies from the flu. In this context, they emphasized the importance of following simple rules such as adequate hygiene, hand washing and maintaining interpersonal distance in some cases, which, when combined with adherence to vaccination schedules, can help prevent infection.

Thus, they emphasize that ” Our main means of preventing influenza is universal vaccination.” In this regard, they referred to the vaccination campaign for children under five that began last year, which reached almost 50% coverage and they expect it to gradually increase.