Pediatricians urge parents to vaccinate children under 5 years of age against influenza

pediatricians from Primary care This Friday they did call parents to vaccinate belonging flu your children minors from 5 yearsa measure with which they will protect their health, as well as the health of their family members, but which last year covered only 36% of this population.

“This year we must change this situation,” stressed the Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatricians (AEPap), which it blames low rate It is a “mistake” to believe that the flu vaccine is intended exclusively for other groups population, as well as older people.

According to the Ministry of Health, first campaign from childhood immunization against the flu, which spread last year in all populated areas, it covered 36.1% of children under 5 years of age.

Despite the differences between communities, being Galicia (55.8%); Murcia (51.1%), Andalusia (45.8%), which started a year earlier, and Castile and Leon (45%), which received better coverage. In contrast, Catalonia (24.4%), Balearic Islands (19.9%) and Basque Country (18.4%) had the lowest rate.

As AEPap reminds us, the flu more serious V older regarding mortality, but children small hospitalized in the same proportion as people over 60 years of age.

It is also more serious in children or adults at-risk groupsbut two out of every three hospitalized minors had no risk factors.

Therefore, “not only are children vaccinated to protect others and prevent them from acting as carriers,” but, mainly, vaccination protects minors themselves, since “even boys and girls who do not have risk factors can get sick.” serious conditions that require hospitalization.”

Just yesterday Carlos III Health Institute published a study that showed how the first flu vaccination campaign targeting children aged 6 months to 5 years, launched last fall in Spain, prevented 70% of infections and 77% of hospitalizations in this population.

Two drugs are available, intranasal vaccine which, although more convenient, has the limitation that it is not approved for children under two years of age, making it “ideal” for children from from 2 to 5; and intramuscular, which is given by injection, is the only one indicated from six months to two years.

There are none for children under six months, so in order to protect children of this age from risk, it is necessary to vaccinate cohabitants and adopt. basic hygiene measuresfor example, frequent hand washing by adults.