Recommendations from pediatricians for the influenza vaccination campaign
Bad weather is approaching and with it some of the most famous viruses of this era. The flu is, possibly, the most affected. Although the vaccine it is not recommended in all cases, it is a very favorable option in some cases.
For those parents who are not clear about what situations their children should take to receive this treatment the Spanish Association of Pediatrics, AEP, has developed a guide to clarify all those doubts.
Who should be vaccinated
Pediatricians recommend that people who belong to one of these groups receive the vaccine against the flu:
- Risk groups: children from six months of age and adolescents with some basic diseases.
- Healthy children from six months, teenagers and adults who coexist with people from the risk group.
- Members of the family of infants of less than six months of age belonging to risk groups since these children can not receive the vaccine.
- Health professionals.
Who are the risk groups
According to the pediatricians, the risk groups are made up of people who meet some of these points:
- Respiratory diseases chronic as cystic fibrosis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, bronchiectasis, asthma and bronchial hyperreactivity.
- Cardiovascular disease serious either congenital or acquired-Chronic metabolic disease such as diabetes mellitus, or congenital errors of metabolism.
- Chronic kidney or liver disease.
- Disease inflammatory bowel chronicle.
- Rheumatic disease.
- Congenital immunodeficiency, excluding isolated asymptomatic deficiency of IgA, or acquired.
- Functional or anatomical asplenia.
- Disease oncology
- Blood disease moderate or severe
- Disease neuromuscular chronic and moderate or severe encephalopathy.
- Cochlear implant.
- Malnutrition moderate or severe
- Obesity where the Body Mass Index is greater than 3 standard deviations above the mean.
- Children who had premature birth.
- Down's Syndrome and other genetic disorders.
- Patients who have continued treatment with acetylsalicylic acid for the risk of developing Reye's syndrome in the case of influenza virus infection.
What vaccines are there for children
This season, pediatricians assure that trivalent inactivated vaccines will be available for intramuscular administration. And as a novelty this campaign, in the community pharmacies A tetravalent attenuated vaccine for intranasal administration may also be purchased.
The trivalent inactivated intramuscular administration vaccine can be used in children from 6 months of age. Regarding attenuated intranasal use is restricted to children and adolescents between 2 and the 17 years.
Damián Montero
