Fox doctor ｜ Why do you have to take the flu vaccine every year？ Can I get the flu vaccine after COVID-19 vaccine？
Fox doctor
The weather turned cold and the temperature plummeted, and the flu season is coming soon. While the global COVID-19 epidemic situation is still grim, this year’s flu season still needs to be focused on.
The stomach of a 25-year-old office worker is bulging, and it turns out to be cancer! On major media platforms, we can often see similar real cases. Stories that happen around us seem to remind us that more and more young people have been "entangled" by stomach cancer. Professor Bei Zhang explained the reasons.
Vaccination against influenza is the most effective means to prevent influenza. At this time, it is also the hot topic that people discuss the most. But when it comes to whether or not to get the flu vaccine, there are still many doubts, such as "Do you still have to get the flu vaccine after getting the COVID-19 vaccine?" "Why do you have to fight every year?" Wait a minute. In order to make more people have a clear understanding of influenza vaccine,Zheng Dongying, Deputy Chief Physician, Department of Prevention and Health Care, First Affiliated Hospital of Tsinghua UniversityThree key questions are summarized and answered in detail.
COVID-19 vaccine and influenza vaccine prevent diseases caused by two different viruses, so they are irreplaceable. If you have been vaccinated against COVID-19 before, you can get the flu vaccine again as long as the interval is 14 days or more.
However, it should be noted that if the two vaccines are given in the same arm and the same inoculation site, the interval between the two needles should be greater than or equal to 28 days. Only by vaccinating both vaccines can we resist the invasion of Covid-19 and influenza virus.
There are many subtypes of influenza virus, and they mutate rapidly. Therefore, the World Health Organization has established an influenza surveillance network around the world to predict in advance which subtypes of influenza virus will cause transmission in the next influenza season. According to these recommended results and predicted results, a more suitable and effective influenza vaccine can be made.
In addition, the flu vaccine is an inactivated vaccine, and the protection time after vaccination is about 6-8 months, so if you fight this year, it will not have a preventive effect next year. For these two reasons, the flu vaccine is vaccinated every year.
In principle, people over 6 months old and above can be vaccinated against influenza.It is strongly recommended that the following four groups of people be vaccinated in time.
The first category:People with low immune function, that is, infants or preschool children aged 6 months to 5 years old and elderly people over 60 years old.
The second category:People who work or study in special places, such as medical staff working in medical institutions, people who work or study in crowded places such as pension institutions, welfare homes, kindergartens and schools. On the one hand, activities in these places are easy to contact with influenza virus; On the other hand, these places are crowded and the air circulation is relatively poor.
The third category:Some people with chronic diseases or infirmities. Patients with chronic diseases have already lost their physical function and their immunity will be reduced. These people should be vaccinated against influenza in time as long as the chronic diseases are stable.
The fourth category:People who often travel and go abroad. These people will take public transportation such as trains, cars and planes frequently or for a long time, and they will often go to crowded places, so they should be vaccinated against influenza in advance.
Of course, you should not take the flu vaccine lightly. You should take protective measures, such as opening the window for ventilation as usual, washing your hands frequently and wearing a mask. At the same time, you should ensure a reasonable and regular work and rest system, have a reasonable diet, exercise regularly, enhance your immunity and better resist the flu virus.
In addition to the above three questions, we also sorted out some problems that need attention according to the Technical Guide for Influenza Vaccination in China (2021-2022) issued by China CDC on September 16th this year, so as to help you do a good job in prevention.
Influenza generally manifests as acute onset and fever (some cases may have high fever, reaching 39-40℃), accompanied by chills, headaches, muscle and joint aches, extreme fatigue, loss of appetite and other systemic symptoms, such as sore throat, cough, nasal congestion, runny nose, discomfort behind the sternum, facial flushing, mild conjunctival congestion, vomiting, diarrhea and other symptoms. Mild influenza is often similar to the common cold, but its fever and systemic symptoms are more obvious. Severe cases may have extrapulmonary manifestations such as viral pneumonia, secondary bacterial pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, shock, disseminated intravascular coagulation, cardiovascular and nervous system, and various complications. The symptoms of influenza are the main basis for routine clinical diagnosis and treatment. However, due to the lack of specificity of symptoms and signs of influenza, it is easily confused with the common cold and other upper respiratory tract infections.
Usually, after 2-4 weeks of influenza vaccination, antibodies with protective level can be produced, and the antibody titer begins to decline after 6-8 months. The time and duration of the annual peak of influenza activity are different in different parts of China. In order to ensure that the vaccinated people get immune protection before the high-incidence season of influenza, it is suggested that all localities arrange vaccination as soon as the vaccine is available, and it is best to complete immunization before the end of October. For those who have not been vaccinated before the end of October, immunization services can be provided throughout the epidemic season. In the same influenza epidemic season, people who have completed the whole vaccination according to the vaccination procedures do not need to be vaccinated again.
Pregnant women can be vaccinated against influenza at any stage of pregnancy. It is suggested that they can be vaccinated as soon as this year’s influenza vaccine is available.
Egg allergy is not recommended as a taboo for influenza vaccination. People’s Republic of China (PRC) Pharmacopoeia (2015 edition and 2020 edition) does not take people who are allergic to eggs as taboos. The measurement of egg protein content in commonly used influenza vaccines in China shows that the highest content is not more than 140 ng/ml. Since 2016, ACIP in the United States has suggested that people who are allergic to eggs can also be vaccinated against influenza.
There are trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV3), tetravalent 20 inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV4) and trivalent live attenuated vaccine (LAIV3) which have been approved for marketing in China. IIV3 includes split vaccine and subunit vaccine, IIV4 is split vaccine and LAIV3 is attenuated vaccine. In the season of 2021-2022, there are 10 manufacturers supplying influenza vaccine. See Table 1 for the specific information of influenza vaccine manufacturers and their products.
reference data
Technical Guide for Influenza Vaccination in China (2021-2022)
https://www.chinacdc.cn/yyrdgz/202109/P020210916330493651111.pdf
