Free flu vaccines will soon be available.
The delivery of free flu vaccines to general practitioner practices and occupational health doctors has begun, so the vaccines produced for the 2024/2025 season will be available throughout the country at the end of October, the National Center for Public Health and Pharmaceuticals (NNGYK) announced on Wednesday.
It was also announced that in the 40th calendar week, the operation of the respiratory monitoring service, which aims to monitor infections caused by the influenza virus, SARS-CoV-2 and RSV (respiratory giant cell virus), began.
The occurrence of acute respiratory infections, including influenza-like illnesses, is monitored with the help of family doctors and family pediatricians participating in the monitoring service, who provide information on the number of patients who consult a doctor in a given week and the number of people presenting to a doctor with flu-like symptoms by age group.
The representative data coverage covers 20 percent of the population of our country, on the basis of which the national estimate is prepared, giving an accurate picture of the epidemiological situation and its changes.
As part of the monitoring service, virological data collection covering the entire country is also carried out, which represents the geographical regions. In Hungary, 150 general practitioners who participate in the monitoring service, i.e. also provide clinical data, were asked to send respiratory samples.
Respiratory samples are tested at the National Influenza Reference Laboratory.
The NNGYK announced that, just like last year, 949,000 doses of the 3Fluart influenza vaccine, which can be used over the counter, are available this season for people over the age of three who belong to the risk group.
According to the experience of the past decades, the spread of influenza viruses in Hungary can be observed among the population from the end of November, and the epidemic level is usually reached in January. Therefore, it is recommended to administer the influenza vaccine before the onset of the epidemic, i.e. in November and December.
Vaccination is especially recommended for people over 60, chronic patients, health and social workers, and pregnant women.
Looking at the last 14 years, the number of vaccinations against influenza was the lowest in the 2023/2024 season. According to the data, 594,465 people over the age of three received a free flu vaccine, of which 442,943 (74.5 percent) were over 60 years old.
The NNGYK drew attention to the fact that different variants of Covid-19 are still present worldwide, in Hungary they are currently sub-variants of the JN.1 lineage, of which KP.3 predominates, but also the recombinant XEC variant, which is spreading more and more rapidly in Europe. can be detected.
These variants no longer cause as severe an illness as the variants that spread during the pandemic, and the symptoms are practically the same as the usual symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections.
The NNGYK started the procurement of the Covid-19 vaccine after the publication of the WHO recommendation on the composition of the vaccine to be used for the 2024/2025 season. Information on the domestic availability of the vaccine and when the population can request the vaccine will be provided in a timely manner, the announcement reads.
MTI
Cover image: Influenza vaccination will soon be available
Source: MTI/Dániel Kiss
