Unfortunately there is a lot of misleading information regarding flu vaccines. Recent chaos in the news has weakened the public’s opinion regarding its strongest “weapon” against widespread disease, the flu shot. The result is a decline of vaccinations reaching a peak of up to 80%, where unfortunately even high risk groups are included. These groups run the greatest risk of complications caused by the influenza disease if infected.
We asked Professor Alberto Mantovani, scientific director at Humanitas and lecturer at Humanitas University, for a scientific point of view on the topic of “vaccination”.
5 Reasons you should be getting your flu shot
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The risks of an influenza outbreak
Do not mess with the flu. The data Institute of Health shows that about 8,000 deaths per year are related to complications of influenza. “The flu is a disease that can have severe repercussions to the health of certain groups of people. These include the elderly, patients with chronic diseases, and patients with weakened or compromised immune systems, among them children”, highlights Professor Mantovani.
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The vaccine is the result of global cooperation
“Flu vaccines are the result of one of the few forms of cooperation in global health”, says Professor Mantovani. “Every year, the World Health Organization makes a prediction about which flu strain will fuel the pandemic and communicates it to all public and private entities, who work on tackling the issue”.
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Influenza vaccines are safe
“The technology behind the production of the vaccine is safe and reliable – says professor Mantovani -. It is an evolving technique that is also useful for monitoring productions involving adjuvants, which are substances that enable the human immune system to “defend itself” against the viruses. ”
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It’s a mistake to think that vaccines are ineffective
Sometimes people doubt the effectiveness of the vaccines. Even in cases where incomplete coverage is within the tiniest margins, confusion arises. “We must not forget that patients often complain about symptoms and disorders that are “like” or “para” flu – recalls Prof. Mantovani – but that are not caused by the influenza virus. We think that this is a common mistake and call into question the effectiveness of vaccines”.
So often symptoms are mistaken for the influenza virus and people that have taken the flu shot doubt its effectiveness.
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Vaccines have changed the history of mankind
Vaccines are not only being used for the flu, they have also allowed elimination or minimization of the action of numerous diseases at a global level. “If nowadays we have forgotten smallpox, eliminated (in the Western world) the risk of fetal death from tetanus and built a dam against Polio, we owe this only to vaccines”, points out Mantovani. “Suffice it to say that the WHO has estimated that by the end of this decade, vaccines will save 25 million lives.”
