School Flu Vaccine | Health Ministry to vaccinate 72,000 schoolchildren against flu

Starting in October this year, the Ministry of Health will vaccinate more than 72,000 students against influenza in schools.. This was reported by president Generalitat spokesman Carlos Mason this Wednesday, who stressed that The school vaccination campaign this 2024-25 school year targets preschool and special education students. K. Valenciana.

This initiative “will promote vaccination intranasally, without the need to travel to medical institutions, which contributes to family reconciliation“, How president. Minors born in 2020 and 2021 will be vaccinated. preschool students in state and subsidized centers, as well as students in special educational centers attended by young people under 22 years of age, whose families express their willingness to participate in the campaign.

The head of the Council explained that the purpose of this campaign is to “make it easier for families to protect minors from flu and stop infections between themand preventing transmission of the virus to vulnerable people, such as older people or people with underlying medical conditions who are at greater risk of complications.”

It will start on October 1st.

This campaign, which will start on October 1st, is First school flu vaccination launched Generalitat and is coordinated between the education and health departments. During the past season, teams of health workers have been planning vaccination days in the educational centers of their institutions. The Elda Health Department has already carried out a pilot vaccination experiment. against influenza in educational centres, culminating in successful participation, leading to its spread throughout the Community.

The vaccine, which will be given to children in preschools This is for intranasal administration. and only for students who have no contraindications to this type of vaccine. It is administered as a small dose into each nostril and is a trivalent vaccine. Similarly, in special educational centers, in certain cases, the administration of intramuscular vaccine and simultaneous immunization with the Covid-19 vaccine will be considered.

Pediatricians are asking for “reinforcements”, but Ampa rejects this measure.

Luis Blesa, President Valencian Association Pediatricians explain that this measure has clear advantages, but it will require “reinforcement” of medical personnel. “Medical centers have been at a minimum level for several years, and this leads to an even greater deterioration in their quality, and with it the quality of medical care. Programming and additional resources are a good idea, and we hope that they will implement them,” says Blesa. .

ConfederationAnd Ampas Gonzalo Anaya, for his part, is not convinced by such a measure and argues that that “the best place to get vaccinated is in a medical center.” Blesa agrees, saying “we have history, staff, and a lot of resources that relocation doesn’t have.”

However, just because it is the best site does not mean it is the most effective. According to Blesa, such universal vaccination campaigns are more effective the larger the percentage of the population they cover. And for that, it’s a good idea to go where there’s a concentration of people. “That’s what we’re aiming for: the more doses, the better, and we’re ensuring that by ensuring that parents don’t have to go to a health center, especially with kids aged 3 or 4,” he says. For ages 6 months to 2 years, there aren’t as many issues because “checkups are very frequent, and we can take advantage of that to administer a dose,” he says.

Another major problem that pediatricians require staff to solve is logistics.“You must think that permissions should be sent to everyone parents, ask them to sign them and send them to us, we’ll see if there are any students with special characteristics among them… It’s a huge logistical task, ideally it would be to have reinforced teams,” he says. AMPA also knows about this. At the same time, they demand that the vaccination campaign have “its own resources” and not be detrimental to medical centers.

The puncture can be avoided

Generalitat included for the first time an intranasal vaccine indicated for children aged 2 to 4 years in the latest campaign against flu, started in October 2023. This vaccine prevents the vaccination of very young children, as it comes in the form of a nasal spray, and among its advantages is that it neutralizes the virus at the entry point – the nasal mucosa.

At the epidemiological level, vaccination of the child population is of great importance, since it mainly Every year, children under 5 years of age are most often infected and sick with the flu.which also does not always occur in a mild form and in some cases requires hospitalization.

On the other hand, children are capable of transmitting the flu to other people who may become ill.d severe form with risk of serious complications. dProtecting minors from influenza thus prevents infection of older adults and other vulnerable groups and helps stop transmission of the virus.

During the previous campaign, the Valencian Community introduced childhood influenza vaccination for boys and girls aged 6 to 59 months, a recommendation also included by the Commission. public health for the 2024-2025 season.