Fighting flu through vaccination

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine College of Chest Physicians (PCCP) and Sanofi Pasteur are taking the stand against flu with the “Bakunado sa Flu at sa Pneumo” advocacy partnership.

This decade-long advocacy aims to increase the awareness of the public on the seriousness of the disease and the benefits of vaccination.

Respiratory infections such as flu or trangkaso pose a significant global health problem. However, flu can now be prevented, and vaccination has been a proven global solution.

But despite the fact that there are evidence on the benefits of vaccination, there is still a low coverage rate for flu, especially in the adult population.

In the Philippines, the estimated coverage rate of adults is only less than two percent. And because there are no current news on pandemic flu, a continuous decline of people getting vaccinated has been noted.

But it is the seasonal flu that one should be concerned about as this type of flu happens every day. One out of 100 Filipinos suffer from influenza-like illness every year with higher risk in children, the elderly, those with underlying medical conditions, pregnant women, and even health care workers.

In fact, even healthy individuals can get the flu, which has been noted to be the leading cause of absenteeism in the workplace. This is the primary reason why doctors and other health authorities routinely recommend influenza vaccination every year preferably between February and June or when the vaccine becomes available.

Various initiatives such as lecture caravans and mass immunization for indigent patients have been organized by PCCP and Sanofi Pasteur to better inform the public about the burden of the disease and the importance of getting the yearly flu shot.

A multi-channel approach is now being used by the group to ensure that information about the disease and vaccination is readily available to the public.

Aside from printed information materials, people who are interested to know more about influenza and ways to prevent it may visit www.bakuna.ph and the Facebook page PCCP (PCCP Manila).